Hot Topics: March 2005 Archives

Marnie Carroll's "American Television in Europe: Problematizing the Notion of Pop Cultural Hegemony" (Bad Subjects 57, Oct 2001) highlights the difficulty of transnational acceptance of icons and particularly those of American Television. Carroll questions the "cultural critics' assumption that exported American culture is unquestioningly assimilated by non-American cultures around the world." Carroll takes on the commonly held idea of how influential American television is to other parts of the world.

Composition 50 classes have recently been focusing on analytical studies on various aspects of American culture, particularly mass media, and Carroll's article presents one part of this changing social landscape: American television and its international influences. Her article provides an excellent example for students of the kind of analytical thinking and argument they should show in their papers.