'The idea of a distinctive and even exceptional character of American society and culture has long enjoyed persuasive power. It has lastingly affected not only the self-images of the United States, but also perceptions from without. Canada as well as further North American cultures and regions, too, sometimes embrace a topos resembling that of the exceptional. This volume employs diverse methodical approaches from the humanities together with the social and geographical sciences to explore the North American contents of the topos of Americanism, which have become decisive for the project of the modern. Transdisciplinary exchange opens an opportunity to re-assess the effects and dynamic metamorphoses of Americanism. The protean shapes of identification with or counter-identification against the United States, and at times Canada, are vital for the acceleration rate of cultural innovation.' (author's abstract)