Why is American Culture so Popular?

I went to a Vorlesung (lecture) at the University today. It was, unfortunately, given in English...but it was very interesting. Here's the course description:

Why is American Culture so Popular?
This course will explore the structures of American culture and follow their historical evolution. First we will position the "popular" in American political culture of the young republic, then chart the emergence of a popular culture audience and of a preindustrial entertainment industry in the context of 19th century immigration, nativism, populism and reform movements. Finally we will pay attention to the rise of a multiethnic consumption society with a strong culture industry, that is in place early in the 20th century, and to the creation of a global mass culture after 1960. By looking at selected cultural controversies we will see how the construction of a “national” culture ended up in social conflict and ethnic contradictions, and how these again gave rise to new culture formation processes. American culture is seen as a constant process of negotiation, an unending public conversation, as Kenneth Burke had it. In conclusion we will pursue the question whether the emerging American national culture follows a trajectories of social differentiation or of homogenization. Was the national cultural market a homogenizing force and common ground for the assimilation of other cultures, or did it open up "multiple markets" of ethnic diversity, regional fragmentation and class differentiation? In the second part we will address the question: Why is American culture so popular everywhere in the world? Why are its protagonists so mythogenic, why its icons and genres so adaptive, why its rhetorics and vernaculars so catching and why its ritual transgressions so captivating for audiences all over the world?

My main criticism was that the professor oversimplified the immigration issues in America. But coming from San Diego, I guess I have a different perspective on that issue than many other Americans as well. Overall, it was extremely interesting to hear the differences in his description of historical events. No matter how difficult it is to accept, there is more than one version of history. There's also more than one version of the truth...that's deep.

Tiffany came with me and people overheard us speaking English and asked us where we were from (this happens so often). This girl was so overwhelmingly excited to find that we were Americans! She studied for a year of high school in Apple Valley, California (which she said was very boring) but she loved the people that she met. And, I guess, talking to us reminded her of her experiences in California. She had the best accent ever! I seriously thought that she could have been from California. Recently, I have been seriously impressed by people with such perfect accents. I met a Korean girl the other day that spoke with a better accent than I do. I just cannot imagine that my German would ever sound that perfect.