The New American West in Literature and the Arts : A Journey Across Boundaries

The story of the American West is that of a journey. It is the story of a movement, of a geographical and human transition, of the delineation of a route that would soon become a rooted myth. The story of the American West has similarly journeyed across boundaries, in a two-way movement, sometimes feeding the idea of that myth, sometimes challenging it. This collection of essays relates to the notion of the traveling essence of the myth of the American West from different geographical and disciplinary standpoints. The volume originates in Europe, in Spain, where the myth traveled, was received, assimilated, and re-presented. It intends to travel back to the West, in a two-way cross-cultural journey, which will hopefully contribute to the delineation of the New--always self-renewing--American West. It includes the work of authors of both sides of the Atlantic ocean who propose a cross-cultural, transdisciplinary dialogue upon the idea, the geography and the representation of the American West The story of the American West is that of a journey. It is the story of a movement, of a geographical and human transition, of the delineation of a route that would soon become a rooted myth. The story of the American West has similarly journeyed across boundaries in a two-way movement, sometimes feeding the idea of that myth, sometimes challenging it. This collection of chapters relates to the notion of the traveling essence of the myth of the American West from different geographical and disciplinary standpoints. The volume originates in Europe, particularly in Spain, where the myth traveled and was received, assimilated, and re-presented. It intends to travel back to the West in a two-way cross-cultural journey, which will hopefully contribute to the delineation of the New—always self-renewing—American West. It includes the work of authors on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean who propose a cross-cultural, transdisciplinary dialogue upon the idea, the geography, and the representation of the American West. Cover 1 Half Title 2 Series Page 3 Title Page 4 Copyright Page 5 Dedication Page 6 Contents 8 List of Contributors 11 Acknowledgments 16 Best Ice Cream West of the Mississippi 18 Introduction: (A) Traveling West 21 Trends in Western American Studies, or the Road as Seen from the Borrow Pit 27 PART 1 The West Travels Across Myths 38 1.1 Other Western Spaces 39 1 Forging the Future, Forgetting the Human, or What the Los Angeles Freeways Erased: Oblivion in Helena María 40 2 Diasporic Native Americans in Sherman Alexie’s Short Stories: Roots and Routes in Urban Contexts 53 3 Nature, Environment, and Direct Action in the American West: Edward Abbey’s The Monkey Wrench Gang 70 1.2 Other Western Voices 86 4 Mary Hallock Foote’s Reimagining of the Woman’s West 87 5 Crossing Time, Crossing Space: Traumatic Memory in Octavia E. Butler’s Kindred 101 PART 2 The West Travels Across Boundaries 118 2.1 Continental Journeys 119 6 “New Blood Time Now”: The American West in Marlon James’s A Brief History of Seven Killings 120 7 Behind the Mask of Zorro: The Americanization of the Legend and Isabel Allende’s Anticolonial Revision 137 2.2 Intercontinental Journeys 150 8 Pynchon Stretches West to East in Against the Day 151 9 No Country for Young Men: Geographies of Anxiety in My Own Private Idaho 164 10 Exit West to a Borderless Frontier 178 2.3 Transcontinental Journeys 194 11 The Western Before the Western: Sir Walter Scott’s Waverley (1814) as a Paradigm of Pre-Western Fiction 195 12 Beyond the Atlantic: The American West in Twenty- First-Century Southwestern European Literature 208 13 Uncovering the Western: Pastoralism, Conflict, and Revenge in Agnieszka Holland’s Film Spoor 223 PART 3 The West Travels Across Disciplines 238 Visual and Aural Journeys 239 14 Looking Beyond the West from the Dairy Queen: Local Apertures, Planetary Visions 240 15 “Comanches in Spain!”: (Re)visiting a Spanish Exhibition on the “Far West” 258 16 Genre Revision and Hybridity: Westerns and the West in Twenty-First-Century American Television 269 17 The Basque Far West: Expressions Through Art and Music 284 Index 296 Continental,Journeys;,Other,Western,Voices;,Transcontinental,Journeys;,The,West,Travels,Across,Myths Continental Journeys,Other Western Voices,Transcontinental Journeys,The West Travels Across Myths Best ice cream west of the Mississippi / Angel Chaparro Sainz, -- Introduction. (A)Traveling West / Amaia Ibarraran-Bigalondo -- Trends in Western American studies, or the road as seen from the borrow pit / Nancy S. Cook -- Forging the future, forgetting the human, or what the Los Angeles Freeways erased : oblivion in Helena María Viramontes's Their dogs came with them / Cristina Garrigós -- Diasporic Native Americans in Sherman Alexie's short stories : roots and routes in urban contexts / Aitor Ibarrola-Armendariz -- Nature, environment and direct action in the American West : Edward Abbey's The monkey wrench gang / Gorka Braceras-Martínez -- Mary Hallock Foote's reimagining of the woman's West / Megan Riley McGilchrist -- Crossing time, crossing space : traumatic memory in Octavia Butler's Kindred / Paula Barba-Guerrero -- "New blood time now:" the American West if Marlon James' A brief history of seven killings / Neil Campbell -- Behind the mask of Zorro : the Americanization of the legend and Isabel Allende's anticolonial revision / Georgia Simakou -- Pynchon stretches West to East in against the day / Matthew Cissell -- No country for young men : geographies of anxiety in My own private Idaho / Fiorenzo Iuliano -- Exit West to a borderless frontier / Esra Coker Korpez -- The Western before the Western : Sir Walter Scott's Waverley (1814) As a paradigm of pre-Western fiction / Alfredo Moro-Martin -- Beyond the Atlantic : the American West in twenty-first century Southwestern European literature / David Río-Raigadas -- Uncovering the Western : pastoralism, conflict and revenge in Agnieszka Holland's Film spoor / Marek Paryz -- Looking beyond the West from the dairy queen : local apertures, planetary visions / Audrey Goodman -- Comanches in Spain : (re)visiting a Spanish exhibition on the "Far West" / Nacho Guijarro-González -- Genre revisions and hibridity : westerns and the West in 21st century American TV / Jesús Ángel González -- The Basque Far West : expressions through art and music / Monika Madinabeitia "This collection of essays relates to the notion of the traveling essence of the myth of the American West from different geographical and disciplinary standpoints. The volume originates in Europe, in Spain, where the myth traveled, was received, assimilated, and re-presented. It intends to travel back to the West, in a two-way cross-cultural journey, which will hopefully contribute to the delineation of the New-always self-renewing-American West"-- Proporcionado por el editor "This collection of essays relates to the notion of the traveling essence of the myth of the American West from different geographical and disciplinary standpoints. The volume originates in Europe, in Spain, where the myth traveled, was received, assimilated, and re-presented. It intends to travel back to the West, in a two-way cross-cultural journey, which will hopefully contribute to the delineation of the New-always self-renewing-American West"-- Provided by publisher