Is there a visual culture or are there only visual cultures? On the one hand, it is obvious that images do not stand for themselves and they cannot be understood by themselves. Instead, they are always included in practices and embedded in institutions. This is the common ground, suggesting an understanding of visual culture in the singular. On the other hand, it is clear that visual culture is in no way a singular phenomenon. There is a plurality of pictorial representations - from the sitcom to illustrations in children’s books, from cartoons to satellite photos, from high art to everyday-life. Furthermore, the field of the visual is one of conflict between self and other, mainstream and counter culture.

This book collects articles in the English language, which explore both theoretical reflections and case studies pointing to the dialectics of visual culture(s). At the center are examples of the U.S. American context - beginning with the photographic focusing of Native Americans as the "vanishing race" in the nineteenth century to the TV coverage of the space shuttle Columbia in February, 2003. This book is therefore highly recommended for both students and scholars in the field of American Studies and those interested in the interdisciplinary debate on visual culture(s).