Once upon a Time in the... West: Le cinéma nord-américain de la Révolution Mexicaine
Files
Published version
Date
2010-01-01
Authors
Pineda Franco, Adela
Version
OA Version
Citation
Adela Pineda Franco. 2010. "Once upon a Time in the... West." Amerika, Issue 1,
Abstract
Cet article a pour objectif d’observer la manière avec laquelle les films américains sur la Révolution
mexicaine ont donné un sens –en perpétuant ou en mettant en doute le mythe national de l’Ouest
Nord-Américain– à quelques convictions politiques des Etats-Unis tout au long du XXe siècle. À la
fin du XIXe siècle, la vie au Far West est soumise à un processus accéléré de modernisation et l’ère
du frontier arrive à son terme. Ironiquement, c’est à ce moment précis que le mythe national de
l’Ouest prend de l’ampleur suite à la prolifération d’un vaste corpus culturel qui inclut l’essai
historique « The Significance of the Frontier in American History » (1893) de Fredrick Jackson
Turner. Dans les premières décennies du XXe siècle, les films de l’Ouest documentent et consolident
le mythe du caractère américain décrit par Turner. Ces films ont éveillé chez le citadin nordaméricain
du XXe siècle de la nostalgie envers son légendaire ascendant de l’Ouest. Cependant, à
partir des années cinquante, cette nostalgie a acquis un sens critique et s’est politisée, curieusement,
dans des films traitant de la Révolution mexicaine. En recréant la Révolution mexicaine comme une
frontière renouvelée pleine de promesses utopiques et de souvenirs nostalgiques du Far West, ces
films américains rappellent les tensions politiques de certaines périodes dans l’histoire américaine,
comme le maccarthysme et la guerre du Viêtnam.
This article investigates the manner in which American motion pictures on the Mexican Revolution provided significance –in either perpetuating or questioning America’s foundational myth of the frontier– to particular ideologies and political beliefs in the United States throughout the twentieth century. At the end of the nineteenth century, the life of the American frontier came to an end due to an accelerated process of modernization. Ironically it was during these years that the myth of the frontier was also made up by means of historical discourses such as “The Significance of the Frontier in American History” (1893) by Fredrick Jackson Turner. During the first decades of the twentieth century, the film genre of the Western documented and consolidated this myth. These movies promoted a nostalgic view of the Wild West. However, this nostalgic view became politicized in those Westerns dealing with the Mexican Revolution. Through recasting the Mexican Revolution as a renewed frontier full of utopian promises and nostalgic recollections of America’s Wild West, these American films recall the political tensions of certain periods in American history, such as McCarthyism, and the Vietnam years.
This article investigates the manner in which American motion pictures on the Mexican Revolution provided significance –in either perpetuating or questioning America’s foundational myth of the frontier– to particular ideologies and political beliefs in the United States throughout the twentieth century. At the end of the nineteenth century, the life of the American frontier came to an end due to an accelerated process of modernization. Ironically it was during these years that the myth of the frontier was also made up by means of historical discourses such as “The Significance of the Frontier in American History” (1893) by Fredrick Jackson Turner. During the first decades of the twentieth century, the film genre of the Western documented and consolidated this myth. These movies promoted a nostalgic view of the Wild West. However, this nostalgic view became politicized in those Westerns dealing with the Mexican Revolution. Through recasting the Mexican Revolution as a renewed frontier full of utopian promises and nostalgic recollections of America’s Wild West, these American films recall the political tensions of certain periods in American history, such as McCarthyism, and the Vietnam years.