The Contemporary Western

An American Genre Post-9/11

Add to my list

by John White

Type

Studies

Subject

Genre > Western

Keywords

western, 21st century, american cinema

Publishing date

2019

Publisher

Edinburgh University Press

Language

English

Relative size

Physical desc.

Hardcover • 208 pages
6 x 9 ¼ inches (15.5 x 23.5 cm)

ISBN

978-1-4744-2792-0

User Ratings

(0 vote)

X

Average rating:

0	rating	= We can do without
0	rating	= Good book
0	rating	= Excellent book
0	rating	= Unique / a reference

Your rating: -

Book Presentation:
A distinctive examination of post-9/11 films in relation to the Hollywood western

The September 11th attacks in 2001 and the subsequent ‘War on Terror’ have had a profound effect on American cinema, and the contemporary Western is no exception. In this book, John White explores how films such as Open Range, True Grit and Jane Got a Gun reinforce a conservative myth of America exceptionalism; endorsing the use of extreme force in dealing with enemies and highlighting the importance of defending the homeland. Placing their characters within a dark world of confusion and horror, these films reflect the United States’ post-9/11 uncertainties, and the conflict between civilised values and the brutality employed to defend them.

Case studies include:
• Open Range (Kevin Costner, 2003)
• True Grit (Joel and Ethan Coen, 2010)
• Jane Got a Gun (Gavin O’Connor, 2016)
• The Lone Ranger (Gore Verbinski, 2013)
• The Revenant (Alejandro Iñárritu, 2016)
• Django Unchained (Quentin Tarantino, 2013)
• The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada (Tommy Lee Jones, 2005)
• The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward, Robert Ford (Andrew Dominik, 2007)

About the Author:
John White teaches film studies at Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge. He is co-editor of Fifty Key British Films (Routledge, 2008), Fifty Key American Films (Routledge, 2009) and The Routledge Encyclopedia of Films (Routledge, 2014). He recently contributed chapters to books on Budd Boetticher and Delmer Daves in the Edinburgh University Press ReFocus series, and is the author of Westerns (Routledge, 2011) and European Art Cinema (Routledge, 2017).

Press Reviews:
White's discussion, his notes and bibliography, guide readers through the distinctive scholarship on the historical film since 9/11.– Mike Kugler, Northwestern College, Great Plains Quarterly

The Contemporary Western offers a judicious interjection into a scholarly field currently dominated by transnational explorations. In refocusing the critical lens on the Western as a specifically American form, it illuminates the complex interplay between post-9/11 politics and established mythologies, demonstrating the genre’s continuing ability to shape the ideological perceptions of America’s popular-cultural imaginary.– Matthew Carter, Senior Lecturer in Film, Manchester Metropolitan University

See the publisher website: Edinburgh University Press