Introduction

The discipline of memory studies in all its diversity has steadily gained importance within American studies and has increasingly proven to be an enriching addition to the field. Analyses of memories in the context of American studies have the capability of spanning the field and can range anywhere from history and the social sciences, literary and cultural studies to media studies, film studies, psychology, philosophy, geography, and the arts. aspeers, recognizing the growing significance of memory studies, therefore decided on the topical focus of American memories for its sixth issue. The call for submissions, instead of creating boundaries of definition for the topic, invited a wide array of scholarly approaches. The diverse critical engagements with American memories that we received showcase what emerging scholars consider the most relevant aspects of studying memories in an American studies context. Hence, we have allowed our body of submissions to map—if not by way of precise delineation—the most productive aspects of American memories. All submissions received as well as the contributions published by aspeers addressed many specific characteristics, notions, and theorizations of as well as tensions and conflicts within the topic. Although these foci are often overlapping and intricately connected concepts, they can be categorized and structured in a way that reflects current trends in the scholarship on memories in American studies.

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