{"title":"失去西方,寻找西方世界","authors":"Audrey Goodman","doi":"10.1093/alh/ajae075","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"“Losing the West, Finding Western Worlds” explores how recent critical work in Western American studies breaks apart the region’s foundational myths and invites readers and reviewers to revise understandings of this popular, enduring, and protean genre. Reflecting on four studies that interrogate Western American fiction, film, and comic books (two monographs by British scholars Mark Asquith and Neil Campbell; a study of the Black Western by film historian Mia Mask; and a collection of essays edited by Christopher Conway and Antoinette Sol on varieties of comic book westerns produced around the world), the essay considers how this diverse cohort of scholars pursues a common imperative to unlearn “the West” and sets new directions for literary and cultural studies of the region. Through rereadings of the work of writers and actors who fracture and reassemble the heroic settler narrative from the perspective of outsiders, these critics contend, the West can emerge as a place whose stories offer more complete understandings of the past, whose heroes illuminate the political challenges of the present, and whose writers provide the right words for imagining a better future.","PeriodicalId":45821,"journal":{"name":"AMERICAN LITERARY HISTORY","volume":"9 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.6000,"publicationDate":"2024-08-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":"{\"title\":\"Losing the West, Finding Western Worlds\",\"authors\":\"Audrey Goodman\",\"doi\":\"10.1093/alh/ajae075\",\"DOIUrl\":null,\"url\":null,\"abstract\":\"“Losing the West, Finding Western Worlds” explores how recent critical work in Western American studies breaks apart the region’s foundational myths and invites readers and reviewers to revise understandings of this popular, enduring, and protean genre. Reflecting on four studies that interrogate Western American fiction, film, and comic books (two monographs by British scholars Mark Asquith and Neil Campbell; a study of the Black Western by film historian Mia Mask; and a collection of essays edited by Christopher Conway and Antoinette Sol on varieties of comic book westerns produced around the world), the essay considers how this diverse cohort of scholars pursues a common imperative to unlearn “the West” and sets new directions for literary and cultural studies of the region. Through rereadings of the work of writers and actors who fracture and reassemble the heroic settler narrative from the perspective of outsiders, these critics contend, the West can emerge as a place whose stories offer more complete understandings of the past, whose heroes illuminate the political challenges of the present, and whose writers provide the right words for imagining a better future.\",\"PeriodicalId\":45821,\"journal\":{\"name\":\"AMERICAN LITERARY HISTORY\",\"volume\":\"9 1\",\"pages\":\"\"},\"PeriodicalIF\":0.6000,\"publicationDate\":\"2024-08-13\",\"publicationTypes\":\"Journal Article\",\"fieldsOfStudy\":null,\"isOpenAccess\":false,\"openAccessPdf\":\"\",\"citationCount\":\"0\",\"resultStr\":null,\"platform\":\"Semanticscholar\",\"paperid\":null,\"PeriodicalName\":\"AMERICAN LITERARY HISTORY\",\"FirstCategoryId\":\"1085\",\"ListUrlMain\":\"https://doi.org/10.1093/alh/ajae075\",\"RegionNum\":2,\"RegionCategory\":\"文学\",\"ArticlePicture\":[],\"TitleCN\":null,\"AbstractTextCN\":null,\"PMCID\":null,\"EPubDate\":\"\",\"PubModel\":\"\",\"JCR\":\"0\",\"JCRName\":\"LITERATURE, AMERICAN\",\"Score\":null,\"Total\":0}","platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"AMERICAN LITERARY HISTORY","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1093/alh/ajae075","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"0","JCRName":"LITERATURE, AMERICAN","Score":null,"Total":0}
“Losing the West, Finding Western Worlds” explores how recent critical work in Western American studies breaks apart the region’s foundational myths and invites readers and reviewers to revise understandings of this popular, enduring, and protean genre. Reflecting on four studies that interrogate Western American fiction, film, and comic books (two monographs by British scholars Mark Asquith and Neil Campbell; a study of the Black Western by film historian Mia Mask; and a collection of essays edited by Christopher Conway and Antoinette Sol on varieties of comic book westerns produced around the world), the essay considers how this diverse cohort of scholars pursues a common imperative to unlearn “the West” and sets new directions for literary and cultural studies of the region. Through rereadings of the work of writers and actors who fracture and reassemble the heroic settler narrative from the perspective of outsiders, these critics contend, the West can emerge as a place whose stories offer more complete understandings of the past, whose heroes illuminate the political challenges of the present, and whose writers provide the right words for imagining a better future.
期刊介绍:
Recent Americanist scholarship has generated some of the most forceful responses to questions about literary history and theory. Yet too many of the most provocative essays have been scattered among a wide variety of narrowly focused publications. Covering the study of US literature from its origins through the present, American Literary History provides a much-needed forum for the various, often competing voices of contemporary literary inquiry. Along with an annual special issue, the journal features essay-reviews, commentaries, and critical exchanges. It welcomes articles on historical and theoretical problems as well as writers and works. Inter-disciplinary studies from related fields are also invited.