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.
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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.
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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.
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The Philosophy of the
Western
by Jennifer L. McMahon and B. Steve Csaki
The
University Press of Kentucky, 2010
Order
a copy
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