State fairs. Frozen custard. The jingle for the home-improvement chain Menards. Rolling corn fields, sweatshirts with shorts, steel plant smokestacks and swing-state politics.

But also: Chicago’s skyscrapers, vibrant immigrant communities and the revival and reimagining of manufacturing hubs.

For many, the Midwest can best be defined as a collage of images and feelings. Attempts to characterize the region — through food, pop culture, geography and politics — go back centuries and are a theme in this year’s presidential election. Is it Ohio? Chicago? “Field of Dreams?” Are the Great Plains included?

The question of how to define the region is back in the spotlight in an election year with two Midwestern vice-presidential candidates and a greater focus on its voters.

At the same time, cultural figures, online communities and academics are pushing back on old associations and trying to figure out what makes up the modern Midwest.

The only thing all sides seem to agree on is: The Midwest resists being defined.