Andy Adams and Western Myth: the frontier and his ‘Log of a Cowboy’

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.22364/BJELLC.14.2024.09

Keywords:

western trails, frontier, cowboys, cattle drives, colonial west

Abstract

This article examines the position of Andy Adams’ famous work, The Log of a Cowboy, through the lens of Western myth and the concept of coloniality. The novel has been critiqued in a variety of ways over the years, with reviews often citing the same factors in their evaluations. Foremost of these has been Adams’ lack of finesse in his writing style, with his particular attention to what he deemed to be objective truth. In this study, the Log will be re-examined with the aim of providing a fresh insight into how veterans of the Western trails, such as Adams, viewed the dynamic space in which they lived and worked. Therefore, the concept of the frontier, viewed as a stereotypical assumption in both mythological and colonial terms, is used as a lens of investigation in order to critique Adams’ descriptions and viewpoints. The study concludes that although Adams’ intention was to create a work true to life on the trail, he ultimately permitted himself to become another speaker for Western stereotypes. It is proposed that seemingly innocuous literary works such as the Log can be included amongst discussions of colonial fiction in the wider field of American studies and, by extension, in the latter postcolonial sphere, through their construction of stereotypical discourses and the glorifying of trail life.

Author Biographies

  • Edward Owen Teggin, Diponegoro University

    Edward Owen Teggin (Ph.D. in History, Adjunct Lecturer) is currently affiliated with the Faculty of Humanities at Diponegoro University, Indonesia. His research interests include colonial and migrational anxiety, migration within colonial and imperial settings, and postcolonial theory.

  • Shofi Mahmudah Budi Utami, General Soedirman University, Indonesia / Binghamton University, USA

    Shofi Mahmudah Budi Utami (MA in Literary Studies) is a lecturer in English Literature with the Faculty of Humanities at General Soedirman University, Indonesia. She currently studies Comparative Literature for her Ph.D. at State University of New York, Binghamton. Her main interest are literary and cultural studies, which she has written several publications on.  

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TEXT ANALYSED

Adams, A. (1903) The Log of a Cowboy: a narrative of the old trail days. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin.

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Published

2024-05-28

How to Cite

Teggin, E. O., & Utami, S. M. B. (2024). Andy Adams and Western Myth: the frontier and his ‘Log of a Cowboy’. Baltic Journal of English Language, Literature and Culture, 14, 135-153. https://doi.org/10.22364/BJELLC.14.2024.09