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Great American Myths: Nation-Building and Identity Politics in the United States of America
Pyshkin, Dmitry ; Veselá, Pavla (advisor) ; Robbins, David Lee (referee)
This thesis attempts to analyze the American Thesis, also the American Creed or the American Ideology (the terms as used by Anatol Lieven in America Right or Wrong: An Anatomy of American Nationalism) as the United States` national identity. In interaction with a set of national myths, the American Thesis constitutes the narrative of US America`s identity, the nation`s 'common sense' and morality. The thesis begins with the definition of the phenomenon of the nation as a political and cultural community, then proceeds to discuss the specific contexts from which the narrative image of the US nation emerged. Next, the thesis studies the American Creed as the cultural instrument of fostering social cohesion and assimilating uncanonical dissent. Finally, the myths of US nationalism are analyzed in the context of their narrative structure and affective dynamics which account for the ontological and emotive power of the American Thesis. Key words: the USA, US nationalism, the American Creed, myth, nation-building, national identity
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