Essays analyzing the stunning global success of American popular culture from Buffalo Bill's Wild West Shows to the Internet as the new American frontier.

Popular culture has been a powerful force in the United States, resonating within the society as a whole and at the same time connecting disparate and even hostile constituencies. The novels of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, the theater and minstrel shows of the mid-19th century, movies and the introduction of television and computers in the 20th century are the building blocks that Jim Cullen uses to show how unique and vibrant cultural forms overcame initial resistance and enabled historically marginalized groups to gain access to the fruits of society and recognition from the mainstream.

The breadth and depth of coverage in this unique multivolume work make it the most useful reference of its kind currently available.

In the American world, the presence of African culture is sometimes fully embodied and sometimes leaves only a trace.

For modern urban South African youth, the concept of "race" persists and falters.

Includes this chapter: "Popular music, appropriation, and the circular culture of labor migration in Southern Africa : the case of South Africa and Malawi" / Lupenga Mphande and Ikechukwu Okafor Newsum