Why is it that some photographs have a power of epic concentration, condensing larger moments in ... more Why is it that some photographs have a power of epic concentration, condensing larger moments in history into one iconic image? This piece about the photography of 9/11 addresses this question. Its focus is on one photograph in particular, Richard Drew's image of the Falling Man. Central to the argument is the awareness of a paradox: to explore something quintessentially photographic – the force of images that give them iconic power – using a medium for reflection and communication that is inherently non-photographic: i.e. language. The author aims at accounting for the fascination of Drew's image, in a struggle to find words to describe its impact. To that end he looks at how others – the photographer himself, and other creative minds, in essay form, fiction or graphic novels – have translated their fascination into language that may help us account for the way this image continues to haunt us.
At the dawn of the twenty-first century, all of us consider ourselves to be citizens of something... more At the dawn of the twenty-first century, all of us consider ourselves to be citizens of something--but of what? Nation-states? Regions? Ethnic groups? Corporations? An accomplished set of meditations by one of Europe's leading Americanists, Them and Us is a rich comparative study of European and American cultural traditions and their influence on conceptions of community. In contrast with the ethnic and nationalist allegiances that historically have splintered Europe, Rob Kroes identifies a complex of cultural practices that have mitigated against ethnically rooted divisions in the United States. He argues that the American approach--articulated by a national rhetoric emphasizing openness rather than closure, diversity rather than uniformity--has much to offer a Europe where the nationalist and ethnic conflicts that spawned two world wars continue to sow terror and destruction. Kroes discusses European and American attitudes toward the welfare state, the human rights tradition in the United States, and the role of regionalism in shaping conceptions of national identity. He also considers new, transnational forms of cultural membership that are emerging to take the place of nation-based citizenship. He contends that the frame of reference Europeans now use to make sense of their collective situation draws on ingredients provided by the worldwide dissemination of American mass culture. He investigates the way this emerging world culture, under American auspices, affects the way people in their local and national settings structure their sense of the past and conceive of their citizenship. Imagining a new set of cultural relationships that could serve as the basis for global citizenship, Them and Us is an insightful consideration of the types of solidarity that might weave humankind together into a meaningful community.
Prof. Rob Kroes Amsterdam and Utrecht, Netherlands aspeers: Good afternoon, Prof. Kroes. Let us b... more Prof. Rob Kroes Amsterdam and Utrecht, Netherlands aspeers: Good afternoon, Prof. Kroes. Let us begin with one question that probably all students of American studies have been confronted with by outsiders: "Why is it even important to do American studies?" What would your immediate reaction to that question be? Kroes: Well, I would first say it's a silly and stupid question. Just look back on your own life, and ask yourself the question: "Where would we, where would Europe have been without America?" America has played such an important role in structuring the lives and culture of Europeans-the strategic issues, safety and collective security, NATO and international relations. In fact, there are so few areas that you could study without paying attention to America. In all other cases, America looms large, and it surely is a snobby European question, as if America had no role to play, as if American culture was only low and vulgar, as if it was a country without history. In the first chapter of an earlier book on European perspectives on American mass culture, If You've Seen One, You've seen the Mall, I go over this repertoire of nosy European questions and hopefully make clear that there is so much more to America, its history and culture as well as the American role in European history than we are inclined to think. aspeers: What is your personal approach to teaching American studies? Kroes: One of my crucial interests in teaching American studies is to do it from a European point of view, and to explore the way that Europeans have integrated their imagined America into their lives and lifestyles. Another interest concerns the way that Americans imagine Europe and feel a relation to it, a sense of heritage, or a cultural connectedness. Both sides are crucial to exploring the idea of Atlanticism, which has Late work or early rise? Kroes: Late work. Newspaper or website? Kroes: Newspaper. Poetry or prose? Kroes: No preference, but I read more prose. Book or journal? Kroes: Both, there is no answer to this for me. Rural or urban? Kroes: Urban.
rections, yet joined in a kind of dialectic. One pressure is transnational, transcending the sove... more rections, yet joined in a kind of dialectic. One pressure is transnational, transcending the sovereignty claimed by individual nation-states. This pressure takes nation-states in the direction of a transfer of national powers toward supra-national bodies. The other pressure, working in the opposite direction, may be called infra-national, centering on a transfer of national powers downwards to local or regional bodies. If the two are dialectically related, the one pressure calls forth the other. The case of post-war Europe offers telling examples. Against the backdrop of two world wars - essentially the most recent cases of the longer European history of individual states trying to establish a hegemony over less powerful neighbors - an initial group of six European states engaged in a concerted effort to break through the dismal cycle of European history. With a keen sense of the interrelation between economics and power politics, and with critical guidance provided by the Americans...
Why is it that some photographs have a power of epic concentration, condensing larger moments in ... more Why is it that some photographs have a power of epic concentration, condensing larger moments in history into one iconic image? This piece about the photography of 9/11 addresses this question. Its focus is on one photograph in particular, Richard Drew's image of the Falling Man. Central to the argument is the awareness of a paradox: to explore something quintessentially photographic – the force of images that give them iconic power – using a medium for reflection and communication that is inherently non-photographic: i.e. language. The author aims at accounting for the fascination of Drew's image, in a struggle to find words to describe its impact. To that end he looks at how others – the photographer himself, and other creative minds, in essay form, fiction or graphic novels – have translated their fascination into language that may help us account for the way this image continues to haunt us.
At the dawn of the twenty-first century, all of us consider ourselves to be citizens of something... more At the dawn of the twenty-first century, all of us consider ourselves to be citizens of something--but of what? Nation-states? Regions? Ethnic groups? Corporations? An accomplished set of meditations by one of Europe's leading Americanists, Them and Us is a rich comparative study of European and American cultural traditions and their influence on conceptions of community. In contrast with the ethnic and nationalist allegiances that historically have splintered Europe, Rob Kroes identifies a complex of cultural practices that have mitigated against ethnically rooted divisions in the United States. He argues that the American approach--articulated by a national rhetoric emphasizing openness rather than closure, diversity rather than uniformity--has much to offer a Europe where the nationalist and ethnic conflicts that spawned two world wars continue to sow terror and destruction. Kroes discusses European and American attitudes toward the welfare state, the human rights tradition in the United States, and the role of regionalism in shaping conceptions of national identity. He also considers new, transnational forms of cultural membership that are emerging to take the place of nation-based citizenship. He contends that the frame of reference Europeans now use to make sense of their collective situation draws on ingredients provided by the worldwide dissemination of American mass culture. He investigates the way this emerging world culture, under American auspices, affects the way people in their local and national settings structure their sense of the past and conceive of their citizenship. Imagining a new set of cultural relationships that could serve as the basis for global citizenship, Them and Us is an insightful consideration of the types of solidarity that might weave humankind together into a meaningful community.
Prof. Rob Kroes Amsterdam and Utrecht, Netherlands aspeers: Good afternoon, Prof. Kroes. Let us b... more Prof. Rob Kroes Amsterdam and Utrecht, Netherlands aspeers: Good afternoon, Prof. Kroes. Let us begin with one question that probably all students of American studies have been confronted with by outsiders: "Why is it even important to do American studies?" What would your immediate reaction to that question be? Kroes: Well, I would first say it's a silly and stupid question. Just look back on your own life, and ask yourself the question: "Where would we, where would Europe have been without America?" America has played such an important role in structuring the lives and culture of Europeans-the strategic issues, safety and collective security, NATO and international relations. In fact, there are so few areas that you could study without paying attention to America. In all other cases, America looms large, and it surely is a snobby European question, as if America had no role to play, as if American culture was only low and vulgar, as if it was a country without history. In the first chapter of an earlier book on European perspectives on American mass culture, If You've Seen One, You've seen the Mall, I go over this repertoire of nosy European questions and hopefully make clear that there is so much more to America, its history and culture as well as the American role in European history than we are inclined to think. aspeers: What is your personal approach to teaching American studies? Kroes: One of my crucial interests in teaching American studies is to do it from a European point of view, and to explore the way that Europeans have integrated their imagined America into their lives and lifestyles. Another interest concerns the way that Americans imagine Europe and feel a relation to it, a sense of heritage, or a cultural connectedness. Both sides are crucial to exploring the idea of Atlanticism, which has Late work or early rise? Kroes: Late work. Newspaper or website? Kroes: Newspaper. Poetry or prose? Kroes: No preference, but I read more prose. Book or journal? Kroes: Both, there is no answer to this for me. Rural or urban? Kroes: Urban.
rections, yet joined in a kind of dialectic. One pressure is transnational, transcending the sove... more rections, yet joined in a kind of dialectic. One pressure is transnational, transcending the sovereignty claimed by individual nation-states. This pressure takes nation-states in the direction of a transfer of national powers toward supra-national bodies. The other pressure, working in the opposite direction, may be called infra-national, centering on a transfer of national powers downwards to local or regional bodies. If the two are dialectically related, the one pressure calls forth the other. The case of post-war Europe offers telling examples. Against the backdrop of two world wars - essentially the most recent cases of the longer European history of individual states trying to establish a hegemony over less powerful neighbors - an initial group of six European states engaged in a concerted effort to break through the dismal cycle of European history. With a keen sense of the interrelation between economics and power politics, and with critical guidance provided by the Americans...
Uploads
Papers by rob kroes