MACMILLAN The Printed Book in Contemporary American Culture: Medium, Object, Metaphor (New Directions in Book History)

This essay collection explores the cultural functions the printed book performs in the digital age. It examines how the use of and attitude toward the book form have changed in light of the digital transformation of American media culture. Situated at the crossroads of American studies, literary studies, book studies, and media studies, these essays show that a sustained focus on the medial and material formats of literary communication significantly expands our accustomed ways of doing cultural studies. Addressing the changing roles of authors, publishers, and readers while covering multiple bookish formats such as artists’ books, bestselling novels, experimental fiction, and zines, this interdisciplinary volume introduces readers to current transatlantic conversations on the history and future of the printed book. Review “This relevant and timely book … . I won’t be satisfied until I possess a physical copy of this useful and thought-provoking collection.” (Glyn White, Textual Cultures, Vol. 14 (1), 2021) “The Printed Book in Contemporary American Culture an unequivocally thorough study on the printed book in the early twenty-first century … . Schaefer and Starre have composed a volume brimming withfresh insight, comprehensive research, and interdisciplinary perspectives that brings forth the richness in contemporary engagements with the printed book. Skillfully calibrated to ensure smooth transitions across chapters, The Printed Book in Contemporary American Culture reveals the current media landscape as a transformative terrain for the printed book’s regeneration.” (Thomas Mantzaris, European Journal of American Studies, Vol. 16 (4), 2021) Review “What purpose does the printed book serve in an age of proliferating reading environments? The essays assembled by Heike Schaefer and Alexander Starre brilliantly explore the book’s materiality in an increasingly complex media ecology, illustrating the ways that today’s codex both contributes to and emerges from a shifting cultural and economic landscape. Along the way, the reader is encouraged to consider how a mode of ‘medial close reading’ might open new space and forge new connections among fields including comparative literature and American studies, as well as book history and media studies.” (Kathleen Fitzpatrick, Director of Digital Humanities and Professor of English, Michigan State University, USA) From the Back Cover This essay collection explores the cultural functions the printed book performs in the digital age. It examines how the use of and attitude toward the book form have changed in light of the digital transformation of American media culture. Situated at the crossroads of American studies, literary studies, book studies, and media studies, these essays show that a sustained focus on the medial and material formats of literary communication significantly expands our accustomed ways of doing cultural studies. Addressing the changing roles of authors, publishers, and readers while covering multiple bookish formats such as artists’ books, bestselling novels, experimental fiction, and zines, this interdisciplinary volume introduces readers to current transatlantic conversations on the history and future of the printed book. About the Author Heike Schaefer is Professor of North American Literature and Culture at the University of Education Karlsruhe, Germany. She is the author of American Literature and Immediacy: Literary Innovation and the Emergence of Photography, Film, and Television (2019) and Mary Austin’s Regionalism (2004) and co-editor of Network Theory and American Studies (2015) and Literary Knowledge Production and the Life Sciences (2017). Alexander Starre is Assistant Professor of North American Culture at the John F. Kennedy Institute, Freie Universität Berlin, Germany. He is the author of Metamedia: American Book Fictions and Literary Print Culture after Digitization (2015