- Although the wild West is far from us, it is integrated into our cultural and sentimental imaginary, especially by its main expression, Western cinema or Western cinema. The classics drawn by John Ford or Howard Hawks are very identifiable because they are full of archetypes, although the Western is a space to deal with themes as diverse as revenge, love or redemption. The films have also built the history of the West, a story ripened by white men, in which dozens of characters have been relegated or completely hidden to spread a specific and interested story.
The reports of the films have mostly focused on white men with pistols, although over the years the western has experienced several variants. In fact, western influence is such that its codes and references are also perceived in other genders. Despite this development, there are few Westers who gather very different characters or stories, such as the newly released Killers of the Flower Moon (Martin Scorsese, 2023). In Quentin Tarantino's filmography there are also some interesting examples.
There are seven critical looks to dream, represent and remember a possible different Western territory.
The other West offers clues to dream of other westerns not yet filmed. Seven essays from the western borders (Other West. Seven tests by the western limits). Published in 2021 by Episkaia, he collects seven short attempts: four U.S. authors, two Spaniards and one Basque, Katixa Agirre, who represents the classic anti-western model that has blessed Quentin Tarantino’s The Hateful Eight (2015). The only cinematographic text is that of Agirre, the rest is located in fields as diverse as cowboy strikes, the presence of native women and colonialism. There are seven critical looks to dream, represent and remember a possible different Western territory.
1. Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz
The first text is a long interview with American historian and activist Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, who analyzes the Wild West as a myth of colonialism to explain the killing of the Indians. It also discusses the question of land stolen from Indians and the role that immigrants played in this devastating extreme colonialism. “Live shows – travelling supervisor of the Wild West led by Buffalo Bill Cody – and Western films, were a celebration for the settler and, above all, for immigrants of over 20 million who at that time came from Eastern, Central and Southern Europe. Settlers became heroes, but also immigrants became settlers to allow identification with the great narrative of militarism and victory.”
The critical work of historian colonialism also reaches the times of the navigator Christopher Columbus: “Colón, a mercenary at the service of the Aragonese and Castilian monarchy, coincided with the ethnic cleansing of Muslims and Jews on the Iberian Peninsula. It was the first case of European colonialism, which became the model of American colonialist genocide. Colon was a secondary actor, but also a promoter of genocide.”
2. Sarah M.S. Pearsall
John Hopkins, Sarah M. S. The researcher and professor Pearsall analyzes the issue of native women to highlight their role in the American Revolution. It addresses the case of the Indian Madam Sancho. He also puts his words on the Heraceas that the Indians lived in this revolt.
He bases his speech on seasonal documentation, especially on soldiers' letters. “Women in these communities (irokes) have long been able to choose leaders, participate in councils and wage war. They were also fundamental for cultivation. This work guaranteed resources, stability and power. In 1763, mohawks told an Indian agent that women are "Real Landowners who work the land." A historian states that 'a female Iroctic people was, to a large extent, a world'.
3. Mark Lause,
Cincinnati University history professor, charges the cowboys strike in Pandhandle, Texas. The teacher makes a reading of the cowboys away from the movies, in which they become mystified heroes and organized workers to denounce and combat the abuses of their boss, especially to obtain wage increases. In this case, Lause uses the seasonal press. The press was financed by the bosses of the ranches, so the story of the journalists was in favor of the leaders, through eleven lies: “It’s the cruellest strike ever organized. (…) The Cowboys will not work and promise to die anyone who takes their place”, Kentucky Semi-weekly Interior Journal.
4th. The fourth
text is the closest part to the classic cowboy image: The writing signed by journalist Aron Burnett III narrates the story of the black cowboy Nat Love, a room of cowboys of African-American origin, although in typical performances only appear black. Starting from Nat Loven's autobiography, the journalist sews the story of a black hero, which looks like an epic that Nat Loven's life can be integrated into the black West. Billy was a friend of the Child and was often riding together: “Nate saw Billy on the night of the day when Pat Garrett killed the Boy at Pete Maxwell’s ranch. Nat Love and other cowboys arrived that day in Lincoln County, New Mexico, and when they heard the news that opened from the town, they visited the body of Niño Billy. Many believe it was the end of the old West.”
5. Alfons Cervera is
a writer who has written about the explosion of popular western literature in Spain in the 1960s. This popular literature in Spain, close to the American pulp genre, experienced a great boom. Consequently, novels and serial authors appeared. One of the topics of almost all these authors was the frequent use of English-speaking pronouns to avoid strict Francoist censorship and attract more readers. The nickname was also an imposition of the editor to highlight the collections, and in the case of the representatives it was a necessity to hide their real identities. Cervera defends this “subliterature”.
6. Katixa Agirre Katixa
enters the universe of filmmaker Quentin Tarantino to analyze The Hateful Eight (2015) as an example of fighting the classic western. He also uses the film to review 21st century American territory: “The tension is obvious: the bounty hunter and his prisoner, the offender and the sheriff, the offender and the executioner, the southern renegade and the Yankee officer have to live together for something. White hates black, black hates Mexican and everyone hates women.”
7. Finally, the writer
Maria Bonete Escoto has conducted an essay on western culture and country music to make a different reading of these two areas that historically relate to traditional values. For this, he has taken advantage of the aesthetic and attitude of the eccentric musician Orville Peck. The South African born, Peck is a musician established in Canada. He leaves disguised to play, under the mask, with the intention of altering the usual discourse of country music and sterotypes. “Peck claims the cowboy, the border, that transit space in which the United States constantly seeks and turns, parodies and embraces without shame. It’s all a lie, but it’s also true, Peck tells us: there’s no shine left in the West, but myths never die.”