Paradoxically, the only definite evaluation that can be made about the state of American Studies in the middle of the 1990s is that «blurred boundaries» prevail in academic discourse and the subjects of research in the field. According to the editors, this new interest in boundaries is a reflection of a) global, social and cultural developments, b) recent trends in general cultural and literary theory, and c) the current reexamination of research methods within the discipline of American Studies itself. In this volume, contributors from Canada, Germany and the United States creatively respond to the phenomenon of «blurred boundaries, » reassessing authors such as Thoreau, Cooper, Melville, Jacobs, Stoddard, Whitney, Eastman, Mackenzie, McCarthy, Redbird, Walker, Carver and Holzer.