The contributions to this volume by European and American critics analyze different forms of representation and decoration in twentieth-century American literature and the arts from the critical perspective of a postmodern age. They range from theoretical discussions of non-representational art forms and the defense of literary representation against deconstructive practices to the manifestation of political representation in postcolonial works. The displacement of decorative elements in modern art and the resurgence of decoration in postmodernism is the focus of articles on modern American and contemporary ethnic painters as well as on American postcards. The interaction of representative and decorative techniques provides the basis for new readings of literary texts and for the analysis of technological intelligence.