The American Historical Imaginary

"For anyone interested in why our national myths have been so intractable, despite constant historical evidence to the contrary, Guthrie’s American Historical Imaginary is a must read. Combining skillful close readings of mass cultural texts that engage traumatic historical events of the past, with a bold and ambitious theoretical argument about the centrality of mass culture as the terrain upon which the meanings of the past are negotiated and renegotiated, Guthrie’s text is nothing short of pathbreaking."

~Alison Landsberg, author of Engaging the Past: Mass Culture and the Production of Historical Knowledge

“This is a must-read for those interested in understanding the prominent roles that media corporations play in shaping the collective historical imagination, as well as the various strategies that film and media makers implement to critically intervene and challenge the historical status quo.” 

~Novotny Lawrence, co-editor of Beyond Blaxploitation