American Icons: An Encyclopedia of the People, Places, and Things that Have Shaped Our Culture » (Three Volumes)

DENNIS R. HALL is a Professor of English at University of Louisville and co-editor of The Greenwood Guide to American Popular Culture. He is a former editor of Studies in Popular Culture.

SUSAN GROVE HALL is an independent scholar and author of dozens of journal articles, as well as poetry, fiction, literature, popular culture criticism, and a history, Appalachian Ohio and the Civil War, 1862-1863 . She earned a PhD in English from University of Louisville.

What do Madonna, Ray Charles, Mount Rushmore, suburbia, the banjo, and the Ford Mustang have in common? Whether we adore, ignore, or deplore them, they all influence our culture, and color the way America is perceived by the world.

In this A-to-Z collection of essays scholars explore more than one hundred people, places, and phenomena as they seek to discover what it means to be labeled icon. From the Alamo to Muhammad Ali, from John Wayne to the zipper, the American icons covered in this unique three-volume set include subjects from culture, law, art, food, religion, and science. By providing numerous ways for the reader to engage in the process of interpreting these images and artifacts, the work serves as a unique resource for students of American history and culture. Features 100 illustrations.

What do Madonna, Ray Charles, Mount Rushmore, suburbia, the banjo, and the Ford Mustang have in common? Whether we adore, ignore, or deplore them, they all influence our culture, and color the way America is perceived by the world. This A-to-Z collection of essays explores more than one hundred people, places, and phenomena that have taken on iconic status in American culture. The scholars and writers whose thoughts are gathered in this unique three-volume set examine these icons through a diverse array of perspectives and fields of expertise. Ranging from the Alamo to Muhammad Ali, from John Wayne to the zipper, this selection of American icons represents essential elements of our culture, including law, art, food, religion, and science. Featuring more than 100 illustrations, this work will serve as a unique resource for students of American history and culture.

The interdisciplinary scholars in this work examine what it means when something is labeled as an icon. What common features do the people, places, and things we deem to be iconic share? To begin with, an icon generates strong responses in people, it often stands for a group of values (John Wayne), it reflects forces of its time, it can be reshaped or extended by imitation, and it often breaks down barriers between various segments of American culture, such as those that exist between white and black America, or between high and low art. The essays contained in this set examine all these aspects of American icons from a variety of perspectives and through a lively range of rhetoric styles.

VOYA

Popular culture is a fascinating subject that has come into its own in the past twenty years as a field of legitimate research. This treasure trove of information provides an "up-close-and-personal" look at an eclectic potpourri of people, places, and things that for some reason have special resonance for Americans. Subdivided into twenty-four broad topic groupings covering Art and Architecture; Community and Civic Identity; Home and Family; Leisure, Travel, and Pilgrimage; Masculinity; and Social Class, Sophistication, and Style, the entries are written to appeal equally to students, scholars, and casual readers. Each essay explores the origins and changes, influences, and meaning of a particular icon, defined by the editors as something that stands for a group of related things and values (e.g., John Wayne), that generates a strong response (e.g., Marilyn Monroe), that has roots in history (e.g., The Lorraine Motel), and that can be reshaped within its own image (e.g., train travel). Icons that are included range from the ridiculous (MAD magazine) to the sublime (Mount Rushmore) with stops all along the way. Curious about Crayola crayons? Batty about Barbie? Nuts for NASCAR? Each of these topics, along with literally hundreds more, has its own entry that includes suggestions for further reading. Taken as a whole, the set provides a wealth of themes, suggestions of possible patterns among them, and how cultural icons are influenced by, and in turn influence, different generations.

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Entries

Index

About the Contributors