Mavericks on the Border : The Early Southwest in Historical Fiction and Film

Twentieth-century authors and filmmakers have created a pantheon of mavericks―some macho, others angst-ridden―who often cross a metaphorical boundary among the literal ones of Anglo, Native American, and Hispanic cultures. Douglas Canfield examines the concept of borders, defining them as the space between states and cultures and ideologies, and focuses on these border crossings as a key feature of novels and films about the region.Canfield begins in the Old Southwest of Faulkner's Mississippi, addressing the problem of slavery; travels west to North Texas and the infamous Gainesville Hanging of Unionists during the Civil War; and then follows scalpers into the Southwest Borderlands. He then turns to the area of the Gadsden Purchase, known for its outlaws and Indian wars, before heading south of the border for the Yaqui persecution and the Mexican Revolution. Alongside such well-known works as __Go Down Moses, The Wild Bunch, Broken Arrow, Gringo Viejo,__ and __Blood Meridian__, Canfield discusses novels and films that tell equally compelling stories of the region. Protagonists face various identity crises as they attempt border crossings into other cultures or mindsets―some complete successful crossings, some go native, and some fail. He analyzes figures such as Geronimo, Doc Holliday, and Billy the Kid alongside less familiar mavericks as they struggle for identity, purpose, and justice.

Twentieth-century authors and filmmakers have created a pantheon of mavericks -- some macho, others angst-ridden -- who often cross a metaphorical boundary among the literal ones of Anglo, Native American, and Hispanic cultures. Douglas Canfield examines the concept of borders, defining them as the space between states and cultures and ideologies, and focuses on these border crossings as a key feature of novels and films about the region. Canfield begins in the Old Southwest of Faulkner's Mississippi, addressing the problem of slavery; travels west to North Texas and the infamous Gainesville Hanging of Unionists during the Civil War; and then follows scalpers into the Southwest Borderlands. He then turns to the area of the Gadsden Purchase, known for its outlaws and Indian wars, before heading south of the border for the Yaqui persecution and the Mexican Revolution. Alongside such well-known works as Go Down Moses, The Wild Bunch, Broken Arrow, Gringo Viejo, and Blood Meridian, Canfield discusses novels and films that tell equally compelling stories of the region. Protagonists face various identity crises as they attempt border crossings into other cultures or mindsets -- some complete successful crossings, some go native, and some fail. He analyzes figures such as Geronimo, Doc Holliday, and Billy the Kid alongside less familiar mavericks as they struggle for identity, purpose, and justice.

The American southwest, especially as it existed from the time of the Mexican-American War to World War I, has long fascinated audiences. Twentieth-century authors and filmmakers have created a pantheon of mavericks -- some macho, others angstridden -- who often cross a metaphorical boundary among the literal ones of Anglo, Native American, and Hispanic cultures.Douglas Canfield focuses on these border crossings as a key feature of novels and films about the region. Alongside such works as The Wild Bunch, Broken Arrow, Gringo viejo, Blood Meridian, and Go Down, Moses, Canfield discusses lesser-known novels and films that tell equally compelling stories of the region. He analyzes unfamiliar mavericks as well as familiar ones, including Geronimo, Doc Holliday, and Billy the Kid, as they struggle for identity, purpose, and justice. "In Mavericks on the Border, Douglas Canfield examines the concept of borders, defining them as the space between states and cultures and ideologies, and focuses on these border crossings as a key feature of novels and films about the region.". "Canfield begins in the Old Southwest of Faulkner's Mississippi, addressing the problem of slavery; travels west to North Texas and the infamous Gainesville Hanging of Unionists during the Civil War; and then follows scalpers into the Southwest Borderlands. He next turns to the area of the Gadsden Purchase, known for its outlaws and Indian wars, before heading south of the border for the Yaqui persecution and the Mexican Revolution."--BOOK JACKET. The author analyzes metaphorical border crossings between ideologies and between cultures in films and novels set in the early US Southwest. In addition to seminal works such as Blood Meridian, Go Down Moses, and The Wild Bunch, he considers lesser-known American works, Chicano, Mexican, and Native American literature, and writings by women and ex-slaves In Go Down, Moses (1942) William Faulkner creates Ike McCaslin as a maverick on the border between two heritages, one white, the other mixed.