Alif 31 The Other Americas

This issue of Alif focuses on critical understandings of America beyond its frequent equation with the physical borders of the United States of America and the ideological jurisdiction of its official state. Critically exploring issues of transnationalism, globalization, ethnic pluralism, and cultural cross-fertilization, "The Other Americas" disavows narrow traditions of American exceptionalism and develops a conversation about the less visible "Americas" in the domestic and global senses, considering less well-known-but no less central-cultural productions within the borders of the U.S. and beyond them. In addition to acknowledging the social, political, artistic, and literary vitality of the entire American hemisphere, the issue suggests an even more inclusive idea of the U.S. by highlighting oppositional cultural practices in the fields of literature, film, and performance. The issue presents versions and visions and variations of America that seek to interrogate national identity and broaden established definitions while suggesting new modes of inquiry into the U.S. as a place in conversation with others in the world.

Ira Dworkin, Assistant Professor of English and Comparative Literature at The American University in Cairo, is the editor of Daughter of the Revolution: The Major Nonfiction Works of Pauline E. Hopkins (Rutgers University Press 2007). A 2005-2006 Fulbright Professor in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, he is writing a book on the influence of the Congo on African American literary, visual, political, and religious cultures since the late 19th century.