This collection of thirteen essays by scholars from the US, UK, Netherlands, Germany, Poland, Australia and Hong Kong, explores the trajectories of the post-2000 film Western in American, transnational, inter-generic, and inter-medial contexts. With examples ranging from major American films, through acclaimed international productions, to works such as experimental films and television commercials, the contributors seek to account for the appeal and currency of the film Western today. They are concerned with the issues of historical revisionism and contemporary ideologies, of audience and industry, of the cross-pollination of film genres, and highlight a plethora of problems that contemporary Westerns have addressed. They make a case for the Western’s capacity for renewal - through the reworking of staple themes, incorporation of other film genres, varied political implications, and foreign appropriations.
