Overview

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.

Full Product Details

Author:   Scott F. Stoddart
Publisher:   McFarland & Co Inc
Imprint:   McFarland & Co Inc
Dimensions:   Width: 15.20cm , Height: 1.40cm , Length: 22.90cm
Weight:   0.376kg
ISBN:  

9780786479283

ISBN 10:   0786479280
Pages:   268
Publication Date:   01 March 2016
Recommended Age:   From 18 years
Audience:   General/trade ,  General
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In stock  
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Table of Contents

Table of Contents Acknowledgments Introduction Part I. Familiar Landscapes “Built Ford Tough”: The “Sincerity” of John Ford and the Persistence of the American Western (Arthur Redding) “It was justified”: Visceral Violence in the New Television Western—Deadwood, Hell on Wheels and Justified (Patrick Condliffe) Part II. New Westerns in Dialogue “Fooling around with Papa’s pistol”: Avenging Patriarchy in True Grit (Jenna Hunnef) Coen, Coen on the Range: Rooster Cogburn(s) and Domestic Space (Joseph S. Walker) The Beginning and the End: Gay Representations in Brokeback Mountain and 3:10 to Yuma (Vincent Piturro) Brokeback Mountain Queering the “Legend”: Historical Hegemony and Masculine Memory (Scott F. Stoddart) Part III. New Frontiers The Post-9/11 Mohecan: Avatar and the Transformation of the “Manifest Apology” (Andrew Howe) Security or Freedom: Joss Whedon’s Science Fiction Westerns, Firefly and Serenity (J.P.C. Brown) Sixguns and the Shadowless Kick: Mythmaking and Generic Hybridization in Westerns and Martial Arts Fantasies (Fontaine Lien) Part IV. New Visions Reclaiming Past, Resisting Progression: Existential Tensions in Rockstar’s Red Dead Redemption (Michael Samuel) Alex Cox and the Hybrid Western (Matthew Sorrento) The Vertical Frontier: Amir Naderi’s Vegas and the End of American Dream After 9/11 (Marco Grosoli) Epilogue—New Visions / New Vistas: Christopher Nolan’s Batman Trilogy and the New Western (Scott F. Stoddart) About the Contributors Index

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Author Information

Scott F. Stoddart is the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Saint Peter’s University in Jersey City, New Jersey. He has written about culture, literature and the arts on such topics as F. Scott Fitzgerald, Stephen Sondheim and the Coen brothers. He is a host of the Sundance television series Love/Lust and a contributor to the PBS series American Icons.

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