This collection of original essays traces the cultural impact of American literature on and in other societies. Written by authors from 15 nations, the essays examine not only what is studied, translated, and taught by scholars in each country but also what is read by the general public. At a time when the traditional American literary canon is undergoing a thorough reevaluation, ""As Others Read Us"" provides an important cross-cultural perspective. By examining the role of tradition, government policy and bureaucracy in determining which texts are read and esteemed, the contributors enrich understanding of the formation and propagation of alternative and influence of American literary texts on the values and aspirations of citizens from other countries, the essayists further illuminate the complex relationship between literature and politics. Though recognizable, the literary landscape that emerges in this book is in many ways different from the one with which most Americans are familiar. While Poe, James Faulkner and Hemingway, for instance, loom large as major figures on a world stage, so too do Jack London and Charles Bukowski. This collection reveals how one culture often finds reflections of itself in the historical niches of another culture's development.

Table of Contents:
Britain: Dean Acheson and the Potato Head Blues or British academic attitudes to America and its literature, Robert Lawson-Peebles; Bulgaria: one more window to the world - American literature in Bulgaria, Natalia Klissourska; China: progress and problems - American literary studies in China during the post-Mao era, Xiao-huang Yin; Denmark: the American within - Danes and American literature, Jan Nordby Gretlund; France: American literature in France - pleasures in perspective, Marc Chenetier; Germany: stepping out of Hitler's shadow to embrace Uncle Sam? - notes toward a history of American literary studies in West Germany, Hans-Peter Wagner; Greece: (mis)understanding America's literary canon - the Greek paradigm, Savas Patsalidis; Israel: the counterlife - Israeli perspectives on American literature, Hana Wirth-Nesher; Italy: a place for all - old and new myths in the Italian appreciation of American literature, Michele Bottalico; Japan: cultural colonization? - American literary studies in Japan, Keiko Beppu; Mexico: no country is an island - some aspects of American literature, Federico Patan; The Netherlands: cutting loose - American literary studies in the Netherlands, Theo D'haen; Poland: catching up - the Polish critical response to American literature, Elzbieta Foeller-Pituch; South Africa: apartheid defines the contours of American literary studies in Southern Africa, Mbulelo Vizikhungo Mzamame; Sweden: the dual canon - a Swedish example, Rolf Lunden.