The New Western
The New Western

Author: Scott F. Stoddart

Publisher: McFarland

Published: 2016-02-19

Total Pages: 267

ISBN-13: 1476624208

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American moviegoers have long turned to the Hollywood Western for reassurance in times of crisis. During the genre's heyday, the films of John Ford, Howard Hawks and Henry Hathaway reflected a grand patriotism that resonated with audiences at the end of World War II. The tried-and-true Western was questioned by Ford and George Stevens during the Cold War, and in the 1960s directors like Sam Peckinpah and George Roy Hill retooled the genre as a commentary on American ethics during the Vietnam War. Between the mid-1970s and early 1990s, the Western faded from view--until the Gulf War, when Kevin Costner's Dances with Wolves (1990) and Clint Eastwood's Unforgiven (1992) brought it back, with moral complexities. Since 9/11, the Western has seen a resurgence, blending its patriotic narrative with criticism of America's place in the global community. Exploring such films as True Grit (2010) and Brokeback Mountain (2005), along with television series like Deadwood and Firefly, this collection of new essays explores how the Western today captures the dichotomy of our times and remains important to the American psyche.

The Story of the Western Railroads
The Story of the Western Railroads

Author: Robert Edgar Riegel

Publisher: U of Nebraska Press

Published: 1926-01-01

Total Pages: 372

ISBN-13: 9780803251595

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On December 23, 1852, the first train on the first railroad west of the Mississippi River steamed proudly from St. Louis to Cheltenham?the immense distance of five miles. In that moment of exaltation, writes Robert Edgar Riegel, "flags waved, bands played, and orators prophesied the flowering of the West under the beneficent influence of the steam locomotive. For once the orators were right. An epoch was marked. Twenty-five years earlier the musical whistle of the locomotive was as yet unheard in the United States. Twenty-five years later steel tracks spanned the continent from New York to San Francisco." In this account of the railroad conquest of the United States, the author is primarily concerned with the western phase of the story. He follows the Iron Horse west through Indian trouble, labor difficulties, civil war, and farmer disillusionment to the completion of the western railroad net. All aspects of the subject?financial, industrial, engineering, as well as the development of railroad regulation?are covered in this classic work.

Myth of the Western
Myth of the Western

Author: Matthew Carter

Publisher: Edinburgh University Press

Published: 2014-03-11

Total Pages: 257

ISBN-13: 0748685596

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Myth of the Western re-invigorates the debate surrounding the relationship between the Western and frontier mythology, arguing for the importance of the genreOCOs socio-cultural, historical and political dimensions."e;

The Psychology of the Western
The Psychology of the Western

Author: William Indick

Publisher: McFarland

Published: 2008-09-10

Total Pages: 225

ISBN-13: 0786434600

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Western films are often considered sprawling reflections of the American spirit. This book analyzes the archetypes, themes, and figures within the mythology of the western frontier. Western themes are interpreted as expressions of cultural needs that perform specific psychological functions for the audience. Chapters are devoted to the frontier hero character, the roles of women and Native Americans, and the work of the genre's most prolific directors, Anthony Mann and John Ford. The book includes a filmography and movie stills. Instructors considering this book for use in a course may request an examination copy here.

The Philosophy of the Western
The Philosophy of the Western

Author: Jennifer L. McMahon

Publisher: University Press of Kentucky

Published: 2010-07-02

Total Pages: 378

ISBN-13: 081317385X

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The western is arguably the most iconic and influential genre in American cinema. The solitude of the lone rider, the loyalty of his horse, and the unspoken code of the West render the genre popular yet lead it to offer a view of America's history that is sometimes inaccurate. For many, the western embodies America and its values. In recent years, scholars had declared the western genre dead, but a steady resurgence of western themes in literature, film, and television has reestablished the genre as one of the most important. In The Philosophy of the Western, editors Jennifer L. McMahon and B. Steve Csaki examine philosophical themes in the western genre. Investigating subjects of nature, ethics, identity, gender, environmentalism, and animal rights, the essays draw from a wide range of westerns including the recent popular and critical successes Unforgiven (1992), All the Pretty Horses (2000), 3:10 to Yuma (2007), and No Country for Old Men (2007), as well as literature and television serials such as Deadwood. The Philosophy of the Western reveals the influence of the western on the American psyche, filling a void in the current scholarship of the genre.

The Western Experiment
The Western Experiment

Author: Elizabeth R. McKinsey

Publisher: Harvard University Press

Published: 1973

Total Pages: 84

ISBN-13: 9780674950405

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Describes transcendalism as it moves West and settles in the Ohio River Valley where it did not capture the sensibilities of frontier people. Its intellectualism and its ties to nature were at some distance from these hardworking pioneers and it failed to transform them in the nineteenth century.

The Western Genre
The Western Genre

Author: John Saunders

Publisher: Columbia University Press

Published: 2019-09-10

Total Pages: 123

ISBN-13: 0231502869

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The Western Genre: From Lordsburg to Big Whiskey offers close readings of the definitive American film movement as represented by such leading exponents as John Ford, Howard Hawks, and Sam Peckinpah. In his consideration of such iconic motifs as the Outlaw Hero and the Lone Rider, John Saunders traces the development of perennial aspects of the genre, its continuity and, importantly, its change. Representations of morality and masculinity are also foregrounded in consideration of the genre's major stars John Wayne and Clint Eastwood, and such films as Shane, Rio Bravo, The Wild Bunch, and Unforgiven.

Critical Perspectives on the Western
Critical Perspectives on the Western

Author: Lee Broughton

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2016-09-19

Total Pages: 250

ISBN-13: 1442272430

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For decades, the Western film has been considered a dying breed of cinema, yet filmmakers from Quentin Tarantino to Ethan and Joel Coen find new ways to reinvigorate the genre. As Westerns continue to be produced for contemporary audiences, scholars have taken a renewed interest in the relevance of this enduring genre. In Critical Perspectives on the Western: From A Fistful of Dollars to Django Unchained, Lee Broughton has compiled a wide-ranging collection of essays that look at various forms of the genre, on both the large and small screen. Contributors to this volume consider themes and subgenres, celebrities and authors, recent idiosyncratic engagements with the genre, and the international Western. These essays also explore issues of race and gender in the various films discussed as well as within the film genre as a whole. Among the films and television programs discussed in this volume are The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward, Robert Ford; Django Kill; Justified; Meek’s Cutoff; Tears of the Black Tiger; Appaloosa; The Frozen Limits; and Red Harvest.Featuring a diverse selection of chapters that represent current thinking on the Western. Critical Perspectives on the Western will appeal to fans of the genre, film students, and scholars alike.

The Western in the Global Literary Imagination
The Western in the Global Literary Imagination

Author:

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2022-11-21

Total Pages: 371

ISBN-13: 9004525300

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This groundbreaking collection of essays shows how the American Western has been reimagined in different national contexts, producing fictions that interrogate, reframe, and remix the genre in unexpectedly critical ways.