International Westerns Re-Locating the Frontier [Hardcover]

While most Americans probably think that the western movie genre is unique to the United States, in fact there are many countries that celebrate this genre, including Asia, Central and Eastern Europe, and Latin America. This book presents 20 chapters organized into 5 subject-specific parts that look at the contributions other countries have made to the western film, how those films were received in their native country, and insight into how they challenge or support the image of the American western. Written by an international team of contributors this book looks at westerns that have come from France (The Adventures of Lucky Joe), Brazil (O Cangaceiro), Eastern Europe (Lemonade Joe), and Asia (Sukiyaki Western Django), among others. The chapters include black-and-white photographs and all end with notes and a bibliography. This book will mainly be of interest to film scholars.The book is a revelation to anyone wanting to explore the westerns beyond the frontiers of the American/Hollywood interpretation. Most Hollywood westerns appeared to have been set in the 1870s in a country recovering from civil war but these aforementioned films from further afield broadens the horizons as well as the landscapes while also broadening a political agenda. . . .[This] is a very scholarly approached book with a few illustrations running throughout and a striking cover that at its center tries to get to the heart of the other westerns.This extremely rich collection of essays shows not only how the mythology of the American West has made its mark on cultures around the world, but also how the western genre has been transformed through its encounter with different cultural meanings. I was amazed and fascinated by the diversity of influences and adaptations of western themes analyzed by the various contributors. These essays not only provide important new insights into the history of the western genre, but an exemplary analysis of different patterns of internationalization in the dlS„