This volume is the proceedings of the 10th Annual Conference of the Croatian Association for American Studies: Breaking Stereotypes in American Popular Culture, which was hosted by the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Osijek, on September 9–10, 2022. The conference, which brought together twenty-two early-career and senior scholars from across Europe, was co-organized by the Croatian Association for American Studies and two research centers affiliated with the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Osijek—Centre for Popular Culture and Center for North American Studies. The keynote lecture, Challenging “Karen” Stereotypes, was delivered by Kamilla Elliott, Professor of Literature and Media at Lancaster University. A rich variety of the contributions, in addition to the interdisciplinary scope and the relevance and appeal of the conference theme, provided an excellent forum for a productive exchange of ideas on the construction and persistence of stereotypes and stereotypical representations in the context of both global popular culture and the American cultural space.

The eight chapters contained in this volume aim to continue this conversation by exploring how the dynamics of making and breaking of stereotypes has been addressed in American cultural industries while illuminating a range of stereotypical tropes and processes of their production and dissemination as well as their wider (cross)cultural resonances, both historical and contemporary. Focusing on diverse cultural and semiotic practices and mediascapes—from fiction, drama, film, and music to social-media blog, podcast, and memoir—and approaching the subject matter from various theoretical and disciplinary angles, this volume explores not only the patterns inherent to the mobilization, cultural apprehension, and reinforcement of stereotypes but also mechanisms through which stereotypical attitudes, expectations, and representations can be circumvented, contested, and upended.