Public Diplomacy as Corrective Lens?

Abstract

A recent book from Martha Bayles, a lecturer in humanities at Boston College, tackles the question ofhow American entertainment industry products confound official U.S. government efforts to representthe nation to populations abroad. In early 2014 she stated, “I’m not the only one to see our ubiquitouspopular culture as the elephant in the public diplomacy living room." Now, in discussion focused on the pervasive presence of American popular culture overseas, Bayles’ book Through a Screen Darkly: Popular Culture, Public Diplomacy, and America’s Image Abroad, provides new context for discussion surrounding the question “whither American public diplomacy?”