Voices and Visions of the American West by Barney Nelson

Abstract

Reviews 169 Under the Sun: Myth and Realism in Western American Literature. Intro­ duced and edited by Barbara Howard Meldrum (Troy, New York: Whitston, 1985. 230 pages, $22.50.) The “ultimate unity of myths and realism” as reflected in their interrela­ tions (“Introduction,” p. 7) is the overall topic of this research collection. It assembles 13 essays (original publications except for 2) that range from theoretical considerations to practical criticism on nineteenth and twentieth century subjects. The volume is divided into four parts, with Parts II and III overlapping. In Part I—“Reality, Myth, and the West”—Max Westbrook addresses problems of defining “myth” and “reality” as applied to the frontier. Taking his cue from William Everson’s Archetype West (1976), Harold P. Simonson focuses on the role of primitivism and pantheism in shaping the image of the West as American archetype. Part II discusses “writing about the West: History, Realism, and Myth.” To Stephen Tatum, the “creative imagination” (p. 46) marks the difference between historical “authenticity” and human “reality” in western fiction. June O. Underwood juxtaposes fictional versus factual presentations of mad­ ness among men and women pioneering on the plains. L. L. Lee examines the novelist’sdilemma in depicting Mormon society; and Madelon Heatherington pointedly argues that the typical male hero of western romance lacks selffulfillment and fails the community by being denied a true relationship with a female counterpart. In Part III, devoted to “Mythologizing in the West,” close readings pre­ dominate: Anne Moseley on O Pioneers!, James R. Saucerman on Thomas Hornsby Ferril, both Chester L. Wolford and Michael J. Collins on Stephen Crane. Particularly interesting is Shelley Armitage’s study on Mary Hallock Foote. Central to Foote’s development as illustrator and writer was an indig­ enous perception grounded in her experience of the West, the visual technique of “reportage” profitably carrying over into her reminiscences and fiction. Fnally, Jack Brenner’s interpretation of Winter in the Blood— constitut­ ing Part IV—convincingly places Welch’s novel “Beyond Myth.” The scholarly standard of the contributions is uniformly high. Professor Meldrum has put forth a stimulating book on a central theme in western literary studies. LUDWIG DERINGER Catholic University of Eichstatt (West Germany) Voices and Visions of the American West. By Barney Nelson. (Austin: Texas Monthly Press, 1986. 204 pages, $35.00.) For those interested in the cowboy comes a fresh and perceptive look at the contemporary men and women who make their living working cattle from the back of a horse. Barney Nelson, a free-lance photographer and writer with 170 Western American Literature numerous credits in both media, has created a remarkably attractive and informative collection of color photographs and an informed text that makes a definitive statement on the life of today’scowboys across the American West. Nelson, the wife of a cowboy, has one other book to her credit, The Last Campfire (Texas A&M University Press, 1984) and will likely produce more work on the subject because she has both the perception and the contacts to continue her work as a cowhand and a writer/photographer. Voices and Visions is organized in chapters dealing with various facets of cowboy life. The first addresses the romance of range life; the second deals with the heritage of the West. One of the most revealing is the third, “The Cowboy,” subtitled “How They Look to the World and How They Look at It.” Here Nelson points out that the cowboy’s “outfit,” his appearance, is an integral part of his image and that he sees the world at large with his own particular kind of existence as a referent. The fourth chapter, on the work the men do, helps define the folk group by making it clear that the cowboy is what he is because of the work he does. Chapter Five deals with the folk artists who make the gear these men and women use in the work, and the utilitarian nature of the objects. A particu­ larly perceptive and timely pair of chapters comments on women who work alongside or lead in the work, and on the future cowboys and cowgirls, young­ sters who have set out to follow the life of a cowboy...