Hollywood’s transnational appeal: Hegemony and democratic potential?

The popular appeal of Hollywood\u27s products across the world invokes a complex history of globalization, nationalism, representation, and popular imagination. Although the question of Hollywood\u27s global appeal is commonplace among scholars of transnational economy and culture, most accounts fail to address the complex political dynamics at the juncture of the nationalism of local film industries and the transnationalization of Hollywood. We take up the common assertions of Hollywood\u27s economic and cultural dominance to argue that Hollywood\u27s transnationalism can be viewed more adequately as a hegemonic struggle constructing a commercially mediated “democratic subject position.” We propose an alternative account of Hollywood\u27s transnational popularity articulated to both democratic and antidemocratic politics. © 1999 Taylor and Francis Group, LLC