Americanitis : Amerika som sjukdom eller läkemedel : Svenska berättelser om USA åren 1900-1939

The aim of this thesis is to study Swedish notions of the USA and of things American and through them the Swedish self-image and the ideas about the Swedish future as seen in public debate in the period c. 1900-1939, when the USA was the subject of a good deal of discussion as an up-and-coming nation of great importance but was not yet recognized as an indisputable super power. It tries to demonstrate how notions of America were given meaning by inclusion in narratives that described, and often prescribed, what the American and the Swedish development would look like. Using these narratives, different debaters tried to find a form for a Swedish modernization and to formulate a Swedish national identity in a time of change. At the same time, the differing narratives all to some extent drew on a basic narrative of the relationship between things American and things Swedish, where that which was considered American was generally associated with a future that was identified with tendencies to an increased degree of equality and individualism and with technological advancement. Three empirical studies have been undertaken: one study of the great Swedish debate on the emigration to the USA in the beginning of the 20th century; one study of Swedish conceptions of the American economic system and of American technology and working methods in the interwar period; and one study of Swedish views of American culture and values and their influence on Sweden, also in the interwar period. Travel books, articles in periodicals, weeklies and newspapers, pamphlets, novels and parliamentary debates have been utilized as source material. Several narratives of a Swedish modernization have been discerned in the material. Common to most of them is an endeavour to find a formula for a renewal of society under orderly conditions, for a controlled modernization. Questions concerning the national self-image and modernization were often linked to conceptions of the relationship between what was thought to be American and what was thought to be Swedish. A great debate on these issues was going on for the entire period that has been studied here

American-European Relations in U. S. World History Textbooks, 1921-2001

This article studies U.S. views of the historical relationship between the U.S. and Europe as conceived during the 20th century. This is examined through U.S. World history text books dating from 1921 to 2001. The textbooks view relations within a general teleological narrative of progress through democracy and technology. Generally, the textbooks stress the significan ce of the English heritage to American society. From the American Revolution onwards, however, the U.S. stands as an example to Europe. Beginning with the two world wars, it also intervenes directly in Europe in order to save democracy. In the Cold War, the U.S. finally acknowledges the lea ding role it has been assigned in the world. Through its democratic ideals, the U.S. historically has a spe cial relationship with Great Britain and, by the 20th century, Western Europe in general. An American identity is established both in conjunction with Western Europe, by emphasizing their common democratic tradition, and in opposition to it, by stressing how the Americans have developed this tradition better than the Europeans, creating a more egalitarian and libertarian society. There is a need for Europe to become more like the U.S., and a Europe that does not follow the American lead is viewed with suspicion

Metaxa : a software tool for automated detection and discrimination among ribosomal small subunit (12S/16S/18S) sequences of archaea, bacteria, eukaryotes, mitochondria, and chloroplasts in metagenomes and environmental sequencing datasets

Peer reviewedPostprin