Towards a critical geography of American Studies

Abstract

Our argument in this article is based on the premise that 'geography' refers not simply to location within a spatial frame but also to geographical knowledge as it is variously produced, taken for granted, contested, and negotiated. As taken-for-granted geographical knowledge is central to the discipline of American Studies not only in the framing of its subject matter but also in the spatialization of its disciplinary practices, we propose the development of a critical geography of American Studies. We argue that geographies of subject and practice are actively produced by Americanists not only in academic argument but also in the discourse of practical disciplinary texts. Performing close critical readings of two such routine texts in order to bring to attention some of the ways in which they produce at times contradictory geographies, we end with a call for wider recognition of the contingent nature of the contested geographies of international American Studies.