Western fiction  Tags: westerns  

Westerns often portray how primitive and obsolete ways of life confronted modern technological or social changes. This may be depicted by showing conflict between natives and settlers or U.S. Cavalry or between sheep and cattle farmers, or by showing ranchers being threatened by the onset of the Industrial Revolution. American Westerns of the 1940s and 1950s emphasize the values of honor and sacrifice. Westerns from the 1960s and 1970s often have more pessimistic view, glorifying a rebellious anti-hero and highlighting the cynicism, brutality and inequality of the American West. Despite being tightly associated with a specific time and place in American history, these themes have allowed Westerns to be produced and enjoyed across the world.

Retrieved Oct 30, 2009 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_(genre)

Western fiction is a genre of literature set in the American Old West frontier (usually anywhere west of the Mississippi River) and typically set during the late nineteenth century. Well-known writers of Western fiction include Zane Grey from the early 1900s and Louis L'Amour from the mid 20th century. The genre peaked around the early 1960s, largely due to the popularity of televised Westerns such as Bonanza. Readership began to drop off in the mid- to late 1970s and has reached a new low in the 2000s. Most bookstores, outside of a few western states, only carry a small number of Western fiction books.

1850-1900 - dime novels

1900 - pulp fiction

1900-1930 western in American literature emerges with James Cooper "Leatherstocking"

1940-1950 Ox-bow Incident

The genre peaked around the early 1960s, largely due to the tremendous number of westerns on television. The burnout of the American public on television westerns in the late 1960s seemed to have an effect on the literature as well, and interest in western literature began to wane.

1970-1980 the work of Louis L'Amour began to catch hold of most western readers and he has tended to dominate reading lists.

Literary forms that share similar themes include the gaucho literature of Argentina and tales of the European settlement of the Australian Outback.

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The best latter-day fictional treatment of cowboys includes works by Edward ABBEY, Ben Capps, Matt Braun, Elmer Kelton, Cormac MCCARTHY, and Larry MCMURTRY.  The legitimate Western may be divided into three main types: formulaic or commercial, historical, and literary. Two recent offshoots are the parody Western and the adult Western.

"Western, the." Continuum Encyclopedia of American Literature. London: Continuum, 2005. Credo Reference. 29 April 2009 http://www.credoreference.com/

Rebecca Sewell Homan employeed 23 years by GSC.

Archivist, Bibliographer, and Associate Professor.

MLIS 1980, MEd 2007