The Cultural Context of American Literature: A Barrier or a Bridge to Understanding?

I have been teaching American literature at a number of colleges and universities in the Arab world. My students, seniors and graduate students, have so far been Muslim Arabs, mostly from Jordan, and, more recently, from the United Arab Emirates. Most have been majoring in English including American literature , the rest in linguistics. Some take American literature nineteenth and twentiethcentury classes to fulfill a general departmental requirement; others take them out of curiosity or desire, or both. Most have no previous academic exposure to American culture or literature, and many are not aware of ever having read any American literature. Still, they bring with them a host of images and accompanying emotions, ranging from suspicion to mistrust, along with curiosity; as well as the belief that American literature counts because of the world supremacy of the United States, and that since it is the literature of one of the most powerful nations in the modern world, it is certainly worth exploring