The Rhizomatic West by Neil Campbell

The Rhizomatic West by Neil Campbell

Is the American West in Sergio Leone’s “spaghetti westerns” the same American West we find in Douglas Coupland’s Generation X? In Jim Jarmusch’s movies? In Calexico’s music? Or is the American West, as this book tells us, a constantly moving, mutating idea within a complex global culture? And what, precisely (or better yet, imprecisely) does it mean? Using Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari’s concept of the rhizome, Neil Campbell shows how the West (or west-ness) continually breaks away from a mainstream notion of American “rootedness” and renews and transforms itself in various cultural forms. A region long traversed by various transient peoples (from tribes and conquerors to immigrants, traders, and trappers), the West reflects a mythic quest for settlement, permanence, and synthesis—even notions of a national or global identity—at odds with its rootless history, culture, and nature. Crossing the concept of “roots” with “routes,” this book shows how notions of the West—in representations ranging from literature and film to photography, music, and architectural theory—give expression to ideas about identity, nationhood, and belonging in a world increasingly defined by movement across time and borders. The Rhizomatic West offers a new vision of the American West as a hybrid, performative space, a staging place for myriad intersecting and constantly changing identities.

"With its intellectual breadth, theoretical rigor, and inventive interpretations, Neil Campbell's The Rhizomatic West will soon become a foundational text in the emerging field of postwestern studies"-Western American Literature -- Robert Bennett Western American Literature "As an exponent of American studies, Campbell brings a breath of fresh and rhizomatically earthy air to the study of this region."-Amanda Rees, American Studies -- Amanda Rees American Studies

Neil Campbell is a professor of American studies at the University of Derby. He is the coeditor of Issues in Americanisation and Culture and author of The Cultures of the American New West.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780803243934
ISBN 10	0803243936
Title	The Rhizomatic West
Author	Neil Campbell
Series	Postwestern Horizons
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	University of Nebraska Press
Year published	2011-12-01
Number of pages	392
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.