Myth of the Western - by Matthew Carter (Paperback)

About the Book

Myth of the Western re-invigorates the debate surrounding the relationship between the Western and frontier mythology, arguing for the importance of the genre's socio-cultural, historical and political dimensions.

Book Synopsis

What is the nature of the relationship between the Hollywood Western and American frontier mythology? How have Western films helped develop cultural and historical perceptions, attitudes and beliefs towards the frontier?
Is there still a place for the genre in light of revisionist histories of the American West?
Myth of the Western re-invigorates the debate surrounding the relationship between the Western and frontier mythology, arguing for the importance of the genre's socio-cultural, historical and political dimensions. Taking a number of critical-theoretical and philosophical approaches, Matthew Carter applies them to prominent forms of frontier historiography. He also considers the historiographic element of the Western by exploring the different ways in which the genre has responded to the issues raised by the frontier.
Carter skilfully argues that the genre has - and continues to reveal - the complexities and contradictions at the heart of US society.
With its clear analyses of and intellectual challenges to the film scholarship that has developed around the Western over a 65-year period, this book adds new depth to our understanding of specific film texts and of the genre as a whole - a welcome resource for students and scholars in both Film Studies and American Studies.

From the Back Cover

'Matthew Carter's Myth of the Western provides rich, detailed readings of exemplary Westerns from critical periods of the genre's history. More important, he analyzes the scholarship on the Western, including the perspectives of New Western History, and deconstructs the division of the genre into classical, revisionist, and post Westerns.' Patrick McGee, William A. Read Professor of English, Louisiana State University Offers significant re-readings of key classic and contemporary Westerns What is the nature of the relationship between the Hollywood Western and American frontier mythology? How have Western films helped develop cultural and historical perceptions, attitudes and beliefs towards the frontier? Is there still a place for the genre in light of revisionist histories of the American West? Myth of the Western re-invigorates the debate surrounding the relationship between the Western and frontier mythology, arguing for the importance of the genre's socio-cultural, historical and political dimensions. Taking a number of critical-theoretical and philosophical approaches, Matthew Carter applies them to prominent forms of frontier historiography. He also considers the historiographic element of the Western by exploring the different ways in which the genre has responded to the issues raised by the frontier. Carter skilfully argues that the genre has - and continues to reveal - the complexities and contradictions at the heart of US society. With its clear analyses of and intellectual challenges to the film scholarship that has developed around the Western over a 65-year period, this book adds new depth to our understanding of specific film texts and of the genre as a whole - a welcome resource for students and scholars in both Film Studies and American Studies. Matthew Carter is Senior Lecturer in Film, Television, and Cultural Studies at Manchester Metropolitan University Cover image: John Wayne in The Searchers, 1956 (c) Warner Bros/The Kobal Collection. Cover design: [EUP logo] www.euppublishing.com

Review Quotes

Carter's style is lucid and largely free from jargon...a well-argued and challenging analysis.'--Philip Kemp "Times Higher Education"

Matthew Carter's Myth of the Western provides rich, detailed readings of exemplary Westerns from critical periods of the genre's history. More important, he analyzes the scholarship on the Western, including the perspectives of New Western History, and deconstructs the division of the genre into classical, revisionist, and post Westerns.--William A. Read Professor of English, Louisiana State University "Patrick McGee"

There is critical value in the complexities that Myth of the Western identifies and acknowledges within individual Westerns and the genre as a whole.'--Pete Falconer "Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television"

About the Author

Matthew Carter teaches film studies, US literature, and critical theory at the University of Essex.