One West, Two Myths II: Essays on Comparison

A companion to One West, Two Myths, this collection presents scholarly views on the comparison of the Canadian and American Wests from scholars of literature, popular culture, politics, and beyond.

What comes to mind when we think of the Old West? Often, our conceptions are accompanied by as much mythology and mystique as fact or truth. What are the differences in how the Canadian and American Wests are perceived? Did they develop differently or are they just perceived differently? How do our conceptions influence our perceptions?

A companion volume to One West, Two Myths: A Comparative Reader, this collection presents scholarly views on the comparison of the Canadian and American Wests and the various methodologies involved. Contributors include literature specialists, scholars of popular culture, art historians, and political, social, and intellectual historians, demonstrating the interdisciplinary nature of this area of study.

With Contributions By:  C.L. Higham, Robert Thacker, R. Douglas Francis, Brian W. Dippie, William H. Katerberg, Sarah Carter, Roger L. Nichols, David L. Williams, Lee Clark Mitchell, Aritha van Herk, Frederick Jackson Turner, and J.M.S. Careless 

Carol Higham is a visiting assistant professor of history at the University of North Carolina, Charlotte.

Robert Thacker is professor of Canadian Studies at St. Lawrence University and former editor of the American Review of Canadian Studies.

Acknowledgements

Preface: Sharing the West(s)
C.L. Higham and Robert Thacker

Introduction: No Caitlin without Kane, or, Really Understanding the "American" West
Robert Thacker

Turner versus Innis: Two Mythic Wests
R. Douglas Francis

One West, One Myth: Transborder Continuity in Western Art
Brian W. Dippie

A Northern Vision: Frontiers and the West in the Canadian and American Imagination
William H. Katergerg

Transitional Perspectives on the History of the Great Plains Women: Gender, Race, Nations, and the Forty-ninth Parallel
Sarah Carter

Myths and Realities in American-Canadian Studies: Challenges to Comparing Native Peoples’ Experiences
Roger L. Nichols

Prairies and Plains: The Levelling of Difference in Stegner’s Wolf Willow
David L. Williams

Whose West Is It Anyway?, or, What’s Myth Got to Do with It?: The Role of "America" in the Creation of the Myth of the West
Lee Clark Mitcehll

Leading the Parade
Aritha van Herk

Appendices
The Significance of the Frontier of American History
Frederick Jackson Turner
Frontierism, Metropolitanism, and Canadian History
J.M.S. Careless
Bibliographic Essay
C.L. Higham
Index

This collection makes clear the seeds of this northern comparative West field, the international historiograph8ies and methods by which it has grown, and a research agenda with which the field should blossom.

—Molly P. Rozum, Great Plains Quarterly