The volume is based on an international colloquium held in Vienna under the auspices of the Austrian Academy of Sciences and the British Academy. It contains contributions by prominent experts on the culture, literature, popular music and history of the American South, and its role as an arena for cultural interaction. The more than 30 essays provide analyses of the long-standing cultural exchange between this region and the Old World from the 18th century to the present with the resulting cross-fertilization in literature and in the cinema. It also includes essays on the European experiences of prominent Southern authors and their reception in Europe and illustrates the fact that this region of the United States has been open to influences from elsewhere, prone to hybridization, but especially to the impact of the transatlantic exchange, a field of research particularly appropriate in an era of an increasing internationalization of interdisciplinary Southern studies.It has been highly praised by experts in the field:"an exemplary endeavor, organized and edited by two of the foremost international scholars in the field of U.S. southern studies",."perhaps never have I seen a collection on southern literature and culture so loaded with excellent essays on such a wide range of topics by so many distinguished contributors".Fred Hobson, Lineberger Professor in the Humanities, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, editor of the Southern Literary Studies series of LSU Press and co-editor of the Southern Literary Journal...Der Sammelband basiert auf einem internationalen Kolloquium, das gemeinsam von der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften und der British Academy organisiert wurde. Er enthält Aufsätze von prominenten Kennern der Kultur, Literatur, Populärmusik und Geschichte des amerikanischen Südens und seiner Rolle und Eigenart in der seit dem 18. Jh. befruchtenden Auseinandersetzung mit der Kultur der Alten Welt.Der Band enthält auch Untersuchungen zu Europareisen und zur Rezeption von AutorInnen und von Filmen aus dieser Region Amerikas und Analysen zu den vielfältigen Beziehungen des Südens als einem gegenüber Lateinamerika, vor allem aber für transatlantische Einflüsse offenen Raumes, was den Forschungsinteressen der zunehmend internationalisierten interdisziplinären Studien zur Kultur und Geschichte des amerikanischen Südens entspricht.