Slovenska Literatura (Dec 2013)
Sing, Cowboy. The Dreams, Ideas (and Reality) of the Wild West
Abstract
In this article I try to capture how the western, which originally existed as the American form of historical and, actually, realistic novel, took root in the countries where the tradition of winning the Wild West and patriotic tendencies were more or less absent or they were depicted by using different genres and techniques. I contemplate whether the western in its essence exists until now or it is just in the position of a romanticizing and fossilized genre. Alongside the conscious exotism of the western, the genre – from the historical point of view, especially in the territory of Czechoslovakia - is able to function in its transformed meaning as a trigger for the tramp movement (and thus can also be seen as one of many roots of the Leftist Avantgarde), as well as a moral and social solution. Idealizing the „American“ element, which dates back to the 1930s, was also a moving force for liberal and free thinking, which in its black-and-white distinction often helped to overcome oppression and totalitarianism. The stereotypical battle between good and evil complemented by freedom simply works in any totalitarian society better – although with hindsight I admit it was partly just a precursor of the Ideology of Consumerism. Since the second half of the 20th century the western imagery has moved from the literary form mainly to film adaptations and recently it has reached a stage when the western has de facto lost its opponent as well as its essence and the motivation for existence. Its current form undergoing a worldwide transformation from Romanticism preferably to Realistic-Naturalistic depictions then naturally has to seek its own purpose as well as the users, who often incline to other sources of pleasure in Pop Culture.
