ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book focuses on the intersection between the assimilation of the Irish into American life and the emergence of an American popular culture, which took place at the same historical moment in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century’s. It investigates the primary segments of early American popular culture—circuses, stage shows, professional sports, pulp fiction, celebrity culture, and comic strips—and uncovers the entanglements these segments had with the development of Irish-American identity. The book seeks to show the profound impact that popular culture had on the shaping of Irish-American identity. Often, scholarship in the fields of Irish studies and ethnic studies undervalues or even ignores entirely popular culture texts and focuses instead on texts considered more serious or literary. The book also seeks to highlight how Irish Americans shaped popular culture as it emerged in the United States.
