Degeneration of Settler Colonialism in Contemporary Cinematic Depictions of the U.S. West: Introduction
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Abstract
The settler’s situation is underpinned by the fear of having been caught in a process of endless transition, hence the determination to define the parameters of collective sovereignty and to establish a satisfactory existential basis. The sense of uncertainty that underlies the settler’s situation accounts for the necessity of developing power structures that sustain the settler collective’s striving to complete its design, and this triggers a range of conflicts. Repeatedly addressing the eponymous region’s legacy of settler colonialism, film depictions of the American West re-inscribe oppression of racial minorities, sexual abuse, and class exploitation in order to validate the foundational settler-nation myth that consolidates hegemonic forms of racial, economic, cultural, and political power.
Works Cited
Slotkin, Richard (1996). Regeneration through Violence: The Mythology of the American Frontier, 1600–1860. New York, NY: Harper Collins Publishers.Search in Google Scholar
Slotkin, Richard (1998). Gunfighter Nation: The Myth of the Frontier in Twentieth-Century America. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press.Search in Google Scholar
Veracini, Lorenzo (2010). Settler Colonialism: A Theoretical Overview. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.10.1057/9780230299191Search in Google Scholar
Wolfe, Patrick (1999). Settler Colonialism and the Transformation of Anthropology. London: Cassell.Search in Google Scholar
Young, Alex Trimble and Lorenzo Veracini (2017). “‘If I am native to anything’: Settler Colonial Studies and Western American Literature.” Western American Literature 52.1, 1–23.10.1353/wal.2017.0016Search in Google Scholar
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Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Editorial
- Editorial
- Articles
- Degeneration of Settler Colonialism in Contemporary Cinematic Depictions of the U.S. West: Introduction
- Uncertain Wests: Kelly Reichardt, Settler Sensibilities, and the Challenges of Feminist Filmmaking
- The Perpetuation of Myth: Ideology in Bone Tomahawk
- Portrayals of Degenerate Religious Leaders in Contemporary Film Westerns
- True Grit: Dirt, Subjectivity and the Female Body in Contemporary Westerns
- Settler Colonial Disease and Dis-Ease in August: Osage County
- Appropriating the Comanche: Hell or High Water and the New Southwest
- Book Reviews
- “A Feast that Lasts a Year or Two”: Writing, Reading, and Editing Serials in the ‘Quality Monthlies.’
- Shakespearean Celebrity in the Digital Age: Fan Cultures and Remediation
- Books Received
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Editorial
- Editorial
- Articles
- Degeneration of Settler Colonialism in Contemporary Cinematic Depictions of the U.S. West: Introduction
- Uncertain Wests: Kelly Reichardt, Settler Sensibilities, and the Challenges of Feminist Filmmaking
- The Perpetuation of Myth: Ideology in Bone Tomahawk
- Portrayals of Degenerate Religious Leaders in Contemporary Film Westerns
- True Grit: Dirt, Subjectivity and the Female Body in Contemporary Westerns
- Settler Colonial Disease and Dis-Ease in August: Osage County
- Appropriating the Comanche: Hell or High Water and the New Southwest
- Book Reviews
- “A Feast that Lasts a Year or Two”: Writing, Reading, and Editing Serials in the ‘Quality Monthlies.’
- Shakespearean Celebrity in the Digital Age: Fan Cultures and Remediation
- Books Received
