| Environmentalism emerged into popular consciousness in the late 1960s and by the early 1980s a whole critical aesthetic of the ecological had evolved under the name of eco criticism. Eco-criticism is a critical approach of literary or filmic texts, focusing on the relationship between human beings and the natural world, and how that relationship is addressed. Within the history of American cinema, no other filmic text has dealt so frequently and explicitly with our historical understanding of and relationship to the land as does the film western. Yet, there remains little scholarly analysis of the genre from an eco-critical perspective.;This project interrogates the role of nature in the post-World War II westerns from 1945 up to 1970's earth day. Questions driving this research include: How did the undercurrent of nascent environmental thought and reason get absorbed into the popular film westerns of the era? Why did the Hollywood Western, a genre that seem so fundamental to American Cinema suddenly fade from prominence? Ultimately, I suggest that a key aspect of the genre's decline is due to its inability to sustain the white man's manifest destiny narrative any longer.;My criteria, for choosing films was based upon their historical and cultural significance over time and the overall popularity of the film. Films had to be produced through a major studio and must have grossed at least ;As a film historian, working from an eco-critical perspective, I employed multiple, layered, and qualitative approaches, using textual analysis, visual analysis and historical review and a specific Saldana's coding techniques which involves multiple viewing and intercoder reliability. My textural analysis included considerations of aural aspects of the films. I formed categories based on characteristics such as voice-over, natural sound, and music. I noted whether film segments had broad sweeping orchestrations or simple folk tunes. Dialogue of course was carefully analyzed. In my visual analysis I examined technical elements such as lighting, cinematography, editing, mise-en- scene which includes set design, clothing and make-up. I noted different types of landscapes such as forests, desert spaces, sweeping mountains, and open prairies.;Finally, given that Hollywood films are commercial entities, there is an assumption, then, that we can see Hollywood producers as keenly aware of post -war audiences' thoughts and attitudes. As such, these films must address some aspects of their social cultural world, or come across as irrelevant. The post-war mindset of Americans within an atomic age was certainly engaged in moral debates over the longevity of our planet, a significant environmental issue. I believe that these films mediate and reflect these tensions. Therefore, when we explore how the Hollywood western represents attitudes about the treatment of the environment, nature or land, we can ascertain how post-war audiences were engaged in environmental thought.;By foregrounding the role of nature within the film western one can make visible the complex ways in which non-human space has been conceived, mediated and promoted within filmic discourse. The film western frequently reflects on the relationship between human beings and the land, and as such plays a role in the cultural construction and myth making of American environmental thought. |
