This collection of essays by French and German scholars of American Studies addresses issues of real or metaphorical transgressions of boundaries in American literature, culture, and society. It is thus predominantly focussed on texts and topics of racial mixing and cultural hybridization in American and African-American, Puerto Rican, Caribbean, and Canadian literature. Yet some of the essays take the issue further by probing into the ethical implications of boundary crossing in such areas as medicine and advertisement. The book is thus based on the assumption that in a society for which transgression increasingly becomes a matter of cultural identity, the problems of boundary crossing encompass all areas and aspects of its existence.