Subversion of the Western Myth, the Western in Modern Literature A Case Study of Patrick deWitt’s The Sisters Brothers and Cormac McCarthy’s Blood Meridian Word count: 27.798 Sebastiaan Mattheeuws Student number: 01405193 Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Marco Caracciolo A dissertation submitted to Ghent University in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Linguistics and Literature: Dutch-English. Academic year: 2017 – 2018 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Throughout the year I found myself lucky that there were many people who were there to support and help me in the long creation process that was this dissertation. A special word of thanks is the least I can give. First of all I would like to thank my supervisor, Prof. Dr. Marco Caracciolo, for being the supervisor every student dreams of having, for giving me advice whenever I felt I needed it, for stimulating me to come up with my own ideas and for being enthusiastic yet critical when I presented them. Secondly, Prof. Dr. Hilde Staels who has introduced met to The Sisters Brothers in her lecture on contemporary Canadian literature and provided me with a list of initial sources on the Western. Saar for motivating me during the many hours we spend working side by side each on our own dissertations. My parents and my brothers for putting up with my absence and for giving me the support I needed. (Sorry that I somewhat ruined our vacation in The Netherlands by locking myself in my room for approximately half of the time). My other friends, you all know who you are, for supporting me in this process and giving me the opportunity to relax and do something else once in a while. And finally Lisa for being the wonderful and kind and patient person she is and for helping me anyway she could. 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgments ........................................................................................................................................... 1 Table of Contents ............................................................................................................................................ 2 List of Illustrations ............................................................................................................................................ 4 0. Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 5 1. Methodology ........................................................................................................................................... 7 2. Theoretical Framework ........................................................................................................................ 10 2.1. The Historical American West ....................................................................................................... 10 2.2. Once upon a time in the Western .................................................................................................. 12 2.3. Why Did the Western Come into Being? ....................................................................................... 13 2.4. Where Does it Come from? ........................................................................................................... 17 2.4.1. James Fenimore Cooper’s Leatherstocking Tales ................................................................ 17 2.4.2. Buffalo Bill ............................................................................................................................. 18 2.4.3. Daniel Boone ......................................................................................................................... 19 2.4.4. OK Corral Shooting ............................................................................................................... 19 2.4.5. Albert Bierstadt and Bret Harte ............................................................................................. 20 2.4.6. Dime Novels .......................................................................................................................... 22 2.5. The Western as a Genre ............................................................................................................... 23 2.5.1. Masculinity and the Cowboy .................................................................................................. 23 2.5.2. The Landscape ...................................................................................................................... 25 2.5.3. Violence ................................................................................................................................. 26 2.6. The Western Myth, a Definition: .................................................................................................... 26 3. Case Study 1: The Sisters Brothers ................................................................................................... 27 3.1. Myth and Masculinity ..................................................................................................................... 28 3.2. Female Power ................................................................................................................................ 28 3.2.1. The Mother .............................................................................................................................. 29 3.2.2. The Sisters .............................................................................................................................. 34 3.2.3. Women Overpowering Men .................................................................................................... 37 3.3. The Outer Cowboy ........................................................................................................................ 38 3.3.1 Brushing Teeth ........................................................................................................................ 39 3.3.2. Going on a diet........................................................................................................................ 39 2 3.3.3. Dandy Shootout ..................................................................................................................... 40 3.3.4. Eastern Frivolities .................................................................................................................. 42 3.3.5. Failure .................................................................................................................................... 43 3.4. The Inner Cowboy ......................................................................................................................... 44 3.4.1. Words Words Words ............................................................................................................. 45 3.4.2. Emotional Insights and Sentimentality .................................................................................. 47 3.4.3. Confirming Stereotypes ......................................................................................................... 51 3.4.4. The Curious Case of Charlie Sisters ..................................................................................... 52 3.5. Final Notes .................................................................................................................................... 54 4. Case Study 2: Blood Meridian ............................................................................................................ 56 4.1. A Realistic West ............................................................................................................................. 57 4.2. The Power of Language: Lies and Truth ....................................................................................... 59 4.3. The Excommunication of (Christian) Morality ................................................................................ 61 4.4. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly Side of the Judge ...................................................................... 67 4.5. The Grotesque ............................................................................................................................... 68 4.6. Violence ......................................................................................................................................... 71 4.7. Final notes ..................................................................................................................................... 77 5. The Western and Modern Society ...................................................................................................... 78 6. Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................ 81 Works cited 3 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Illustration 1. Albert Bierstadt, The Rocky Mountains, Lander’s Peak (1863), oil on canvas, 73 ¼ x 120 ¾ inches. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Roger Fund, 1907. 4 0. INTRODUCTION Quite a bit of young people, especially in Belgium, got to know the Western genre through the Lucky Luke comics created by the Belgian cartoonist Morris. As a young boy you look in amazement at the enigmatic and confident cowboy, Lucky Luke, the man who shoots faster than his shadow. Clad in his blue jeans, white hat and yellow shirt he travels over the plains on his faithful horse, Jolly Jumper. Most often he rides through the Wild West chasing four outlaw brothers, the Daltons. The four brothers are identical