Welcome to Researching the West, a site designed to aid in your research of the Hollywood Western.
The Western is the most iconically American genre of storytelling and filmmaking. As defined by Tim Dirks, the Western is "a nostalgic eulogy to the early days of the expansive, untamed American frontier." Frederick Jackson Turner argued the "Western frontier" closed at the turn of the twentieth century, which suggests the cinematic Western is largely a twentieth century representation of a nineteenth century phenomenon. Representing an expansive body of cinematic work dating from the first days of motion pictures through the first decades of the twenty-first century, there is no shortage of literature on the genre.
This guide is designed as a resource for individuals looking for materials on the Western film and its literary/performance precursors. The guide is designed as an introduction to the sources available to researchers in this area and, therefore, does not include every piece written on the topic. We recommend the following two videos for some basic historical context to situate your research of the Hollywood West.
Feel free to leave a comment if you have any questions or suggestions for us.
The Western is the most iconically American genre of storytelling and filmmaking. As defined by Tim Dirks, the Western is "a nostalgic eulogy to the early days of the expansive, untamed American frontier." Frederick Jackson Turner argued the "Western frontier" closed at the turn of the twentieth century, which suggests the cinematic Western is largely a twentieth century representation of a nineteenth century phenomenon. Representing an expansive body of cinematic work dating from the first days of motion pictures through the first decades of the twenty-first century, there is no shortage of literature on the genre.
This guide is designed as a resource for individuals looking for materials on the Western film and its literary/performance precursors. The guide is designed as an introduction to the sources available to researchers in this area and, therefore, does not include every piece written on the topic. We recommend the following two videos for some basic historical context to situate your research of the Hollywood West.
Feel free to leave a comment if you have any questions or suggestions for us.
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"Adam Ruins the Wild West," Adam Ruins Everything, directed by Matthew Pollock (originally aired December 6, 2006, West Hollywood: Big Breakfast), Television Broadcast.
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The Great Courses Plus, "Western Violence, Law, & Order | The American West: History, Myth, and Legacy | The Great Courses," YouTube, November 8, 2017, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7quDwVOG8k.
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