The Humanities in the Age of Expressive Individualism and Cultural Radicalism

In one sense, the future of American Studies seems to be more promising than ever. Because there are so many contested issues and intellectual challenges in the field, American Studies have gained greatly in theoretical interest. On the institutional level, the number of professional positions created after World War II in colleges and universities all over the world is remarkable. At the same time, this successful intellectual and institutional expansion has intensified a problem from which the humanities suffer in general, namely that of a growing proliferation and fragmentation of knowledge.' Ironically enough, this development threatens to undermine the very promise which underlies the success story of the humanities: the promise of meaning. If an interpretation is to provide more than the projection of a strong image of identification, then it should aim at the integration of a number of other perspectives on the text. However, if there are roughly 20 different theoretical approaches to the interpretation of The Adventures of Huckle-