The meaning of Americanisation illustrated by the example of the global player 'Abercrombie and Fitch'

Facharbeit (Schule) aus dem Jahr 2011 im Fachbereich Englisch - Landeskunde, Note: 1, Geschwister-Scholl-Gymnasium Lüdenscheid, Sprache: Deutsch, Abstract: Table of Contents 1 Introduction 2 Americanisation 2.1 Definition 2.2 Historical development 2.3 Current situation 3 Abercrombie and Fitch 3.1 Abercrombie a global player 3.2 Abercrombie's secret of success 4 Abercrombie a part of Americanisation 5 Conclusion....................................................................... 13 6 References.......................................................................14 7 Appendix..........................................................................15 8 Declaration...................................................................... 1 Introduction 'The illusion of America as a wonderland will continue as long as... ...it's profitable to continue the illusion. At the point where the illusion becomes too expensive to maintain, they will just take down the scenery, they will move the tables and chairs out of the way, then they will pull back the curtains and you will see the brick wall at the back of the theatre.' (Frank Zappa) 1 Frank Zappa used this phrase to show the capitalistic policy in America and its successful way in spreading out its mass culture all over the world. What is it, that fascinates so much that one wants to live the 'American way/dream'? Wear the same things like Americans? BE like Americans? That is the question that I am nterested in and which I want to solve in my skilled work. I have been to the USA a few times and I have seen myself going through the process of being manipulated in a kind of way that convinced me of an America as a place seemingly with no boundaries where everything seems to be possible. Therefore I want to look behind the scenes of the idealisation of this country and show how it has changed during the last few decades. I will point out the development of Americanisation together with the connected changes of culture and society that follow. I will use the example of the global player and fashion brand Abercrombie and Fitch to illustrate this development and I will clarify how this company makes use of the position of America as a global role-model to successfully apply their marketing strategies.

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