Main Street and Empire - (American Literatures Initiative) by Ryan Poll (Paperback)

About the Book

In Main Street and Empire, Ryan Poll argues that the small town, as evoked by the image of "Main Street," is not a relic of the past but rather a metaphorical screen upon which the nation's "everyday" stories and subjects are projected on both a national and global level. It brings together a wide range of literary, cultural, and political texts to examine how the small town is used to imagine and reproduce the nation throughout the twentieth- and into the twenty-first century.

Book Synopsis

The small town has become a national icon that circulates widely in literature, culture, and politics as an authentic American space and community. Yet there are surprisingly few critical studies that analyze the small town's centrality to the United States' identity and imagination.

In Main Street and Empire, Ryan Poll addresses this need, arguing that the small town, as evoked by the image of "Main Street," is not a relic of the past but rather a metaphorical screen upon which America's "everyday" stories and subjects are projected on both a national and global scale.

Bringing together a broad selection of texts--from Thornton Wilder's Our Town, Grace Metalious's Peyton Place, and Peter Weir's The Truman Show to the speeches of William McKinley, Ronald Reagan, Sarah Palin, and Barack Obama--Poll examines how the small town is used to imagine and reproduce the nation throughout the twentieth- and into the twenty-first century. He contends that the dominant small town, despite its innocent, nostalgic appearance, is central to the development of the U.S. empire and global capitalism.

Review Quotes

"The most incisive analysis available about representational discourses of small towns U.S.A. From classic texts to corporate advertising, Poll reveals a small town imaginary shaping an age of globalization."

--Evan Watkins "author of Class Degrees" (1/10/2012 12:00:00 AM)

"Elegantly written, Main Street and Empire is of the utmost importance to the reconceptualization of American exceptionalism within a transnational geography. This book is certain to exert a major influence on accounts of global American modernity for many years to come."--Donald E. Pease "founding director of the Futures of American Studies Institute at Dartmouth" (7/28/2011 12:00:00 AM)

"Using broad cultural analysis, Poll investigates the centrality of the small town, as represented in literature, to the cultural imagination of the US. An impressive, multifaceted exploration of the small town as a symbol. Readers with some background in literary theory will find this book most compelling. Recommended."
-- "Choice" (11/1/2012 12:00:00 AM)

About the Author

RYAN POLL teaches in the English department at Northeastern Illinois University.