美国研究:一个历史的解读

American Studies:A Historical Interpretation

作为美国人在历史和现实中所表现或表达的历史传统,美国研究这一独特的跨学科领域经过近一个世纪的发展和嬗变,从研究对象到研究方法都经历了纷繁复杂的演变过程———从“美国思想之父”帕林顿到“神话与象征”学派,从20世纪末的“后殖民主义”到“后结构主义”理论等不一而足。与此同时,布什政府的新保守主义和美国文化霸权也使美国研究面临前所未有的困境和挑战。

As a specific approach to interpreting the American history and social reality, American Studies has experienced continuous and comprehensive evolutions in both research methods and targets-from Vernon Louis Parrington, ＂the Father of American Thought＂ to the school of myth - symbol, from the postcolonism to the peatstructurism. At present, both the New Conservatism of Bush administration and the cultural hegemonism in American ideology have jointly made American Studies confront- ed with unprecedented dilemmas and challenges.