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West as myth
Author(s) -
Mattson Ver E.
Publication year - 1988
Publication title -
journal of the history of the behavioral sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.216
H-Index - 26
eISSN - 1520-6696
pISSN - 0022-5061
DOI - 10.1002/1520-6696(198801)24:1<9::aid-jhbs2300240105>3.0.co;2-x
Subject(s) - frontier , nationalism , metaphor , mythology , folklore , american west , history , literature , art , sociology , ethnology , philosophy , political science , law , archaeology , theology , politics
The West has been a metaphor for American nationalism, and in its folklore Americans have come to see themselves in a light that is as appealing today as it was during the frontier stage of American development. Frederick Jackson Turner's famous frontier.thesis is reinterpreted, suggesting that Turner became the country's most famous historian because of his emphasis on affirming American nationalism and not because of his accuracy in recording the frontier process.