The Western Landscape in Cormac McCarthy and Wallace Stegner

Myths of the Frontier

Fiction & Literature, Literary Theory & Criticism, American
Cover of the book The Western Landscape in Cormac McCarthy and Wallace Stegner by Megan Riley McGilchrist, Taylor and Francis
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Megan Riley McGilchrist ISBN: 9781136604010
Publisher: Taylor and Francis Publication: June 25, 2012
Imprint: Routledge Language: English
Author: Megan Riley McGilchrist
ISBN: 9781136604010
Publisher: Taylor and Francis
Publication: June 25, 2012
Imprint: Routledge
Language: English

The western American landscape has always had great significance in American thinking, requiring an unlikely union between frontier mythology and the reality of a fragile western environment. Additionally it has borne the burden of being a gendered space, seen by some as the traditional "virgin land" of the explorers and pioneers, subject to masculine desires, and by others as a masculine space in which the feminine is neither desired nor appreciated. Both Wallace Stegner and Cormac McCarthy focus on this landscape and environment; its spiritual, narrative, symbolic, imaginative, and ideological force is central to their work. In this study, McGilchrist shows how their various treatments of these issues relate to the social climates (pre- and post-Vietnam era) in which they were written, and how despite historical discontinuities, both Stegner and McCarthy reveal a similar unease about the effects of the myth of the frontier on American thought and life. The gendering of the landscape is revealed as indicative of the attempts to deny the failure of the myth, and to force the often numinous western landscape into parameters which will never contain it. Stegner's pre-Vietnam sensibility allows the natural world to emerge tentatively triumphant from the ruins of frontier mythology, whereas McCarthy's conclusions suggest a darker future for the West in particular and America in general. However, McGilchrist suggests that the conclusion of McCarthy's Border Trilogy, upon which her arguments regarding McCarthy are largely based, offers a gleam of hope in its final conclusion of acceptance of the feminine.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

The western American landscape has always had great significance in American thinking, requiring an unlikely union between frontier mythology and the reality of a fragile western environment. Additionally it has borne the burden of being a gendered space, seen by some as the traditional "virgin land" of the explorers and pioneers, subject to masculine desires, and by others as a masculine space in which the feminine is neither desired nor appreciated. Both Wallace Stegner and Cormac McCarthy focus on this landscape and environment; its spiritual, narrative, symbolic, imaginative, and ideological force is central to their work. In this study, McGilchrist shows how their various treatments of these issues relate to the social climates (pre- and post-Vietnam era) in which they were written, and how despite historical discontinuities, both Stegner and McCarthy reveal a similar unease about the effects of the myth of the frontier on American thought and life. The gendering of the landscape is revealed as indicative of the attempts to deny the failure of the myth, and to force the often numinous western landscape into parameters which will never contain it. Stegner's pre-Vietnam sensibility allows the natural world to emerge tentatively triumphant from the ruins of frontier mythology, whereas McCarthy's conclusions suggest a darker future for the West in particular and America in general. However, McGilchrist suggests that the conclusion of McCarthy's Border Trilogy, upon which her arguments regarding McCarthy are largely based, offers a gleam of hope in its final conclusion of acceptance of the feminine.

More books from Taylor and Francis

Cover of the book The Fall of the Iron Curtain and the Culture of Europe by Megan Riley McGilchrist
Cover of the book The History of Creation by Megan Riley McGilchrist
Cover of the book Cultural Histories of Sociabilities, Spaces and Mobilities by Megan Riley McGilchrist
Cover of the book Sociology and Teaching by Megan Riley McGilchrist
Cover of the book Institutional Design and Voting Power in the European Union by Megan Riley McGilchrist
Cover of the book Called to Account by Megan Riley McGilchrist
Cover of the book The Dynamics of Gender in Early Modern France by Megan Riley McGilchrist
Cover of the book The Camera-Eye Metaphor in Cinema by Megan Riley McGilchrist
Cover of the book Managing Britain's Marine and Coastal Environment by Megan Riley McGilchrist
Cover of the book Getting the Best Out of Performance Management in Your School by Megan Riley McGilchrist
Cover of the book In Pursuit of Prestige by Megan Riley McGilchrist
Cover of the book Sartre and the Moral Limits of War and Terrorism by Megan Riley McGilchrist
Cover of the book Globalizing Sport by Megan Riley McGilchrist
Cover of the book Integrated Water Resources Management in Practice by Megan Riley McGilchrist
Cover of the book Lord Byron - Wilson Knight V1 by Megan Riley McGilchrist
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy