Since colonial times, Americans have viewed themselves as distinct from
the inhabitants of other lands. Today, many still do: relishing a sense
of their uniqueness more than ever, upholding the superiority of their
democratic ideals and the vitality of their economic system. In an era
of globalization and postmodernity, meanwhile, scholarly discussion of
American Exceptionalism among historians, sociologists, political
scientists and literary and cultural critics has continued to pursue new
directions. This issue of The Dolphin assesses the state of
Exceptionalist debate at the close of what Henry Luce dubbed Aethe
American CenturyAe. Some of the essays revisit well-established
expressions of Exceptionalism in American cultural history, while others
draw on recent work in newer academic fields, including feminist and
African-American studies, to develop or revise Exceptionalist
discourses. Still others examine the concept in little-studied contexts,
connecting it with such phenomena as judicial activism, regionalism and
the Information Age. Embracing critical and sympathetic viewpoints
alike, Marks of Distinction combines new scholarship from both sides of
the Atlantic for an up-to-date survey of Exceptionalism, one of the most
long-standing concerns of American Studies, from its origins to the
present.
