Ruth Griffin

The Eternal Outsider: the Western Hero As Existential Archetype Ruth Griffin

This book analyses American Western films of the 1945-65 period in light of French existentialist ideas about the outsider figure. It begins by examining processes of cultural exchange between the United States and France before going on to compare outsider-ness as configured by both western and existentialist outsider figures. While individualism emerges as their main commonality, the book goes further, by applying key existentialist concepts to the western hero: autonomy, alienation, absurdity. This enables the creative interpretation of western representations and narratives. Meanwhile, the western hero becomes a complex figure whose outsider status raises important questions about what it means to be an insider. The book will be of particular interest to those studying within the field of film, philosophy and media and cultural studies, as well as anyone with an interdisciplinary interest in the arts and humanities.