One West, Two Myths. Vol. 2 of Essays on Comparison (review)

One West, Two Myths is the second volume of essays emerging from a unique conference experience that saw presentations, linked by the common theme indicated in the title, made in 2002–3 in three venues–Cody, Wyoming; Calgary, Alberta; and Berlin, Germany. Committed to an examination of the Wests of Canada and the United States from a comparative standpoint, and determined to confront the individual myths of the region from beyond their limited national frameworks, the different geographical settings of the conferences bolstered the innovative thrust of the scholarly program.

The collection was originally published as a special issue of the American Review of Canadian Studies, but the editors hope its publication by the University of Calgary Press will bring it to a wider reading audience, including students and non-specialists. It is useful to keep this goal in mind. In one way or another, all of the essays examine the impact or manifestations or challenges of mythic representations of the Canadian and U.S. Wests, but do so with a comparative eye. They seek thereby a further understanding of the region as a whole from a perspective where the international border is not necessarily a firm or meaningful construction.

Essays by R. Douglas Francis, William Katerberg, and Lee Clark Mitchell confront directly the foundation myths first elaborated by Frederick Jackson Turner in the United States and Harold Innis and J.M.S. Careless in Canada. Francis concentrates on the ‘two myths’ element, emphasizing differences, and suggesting that a multiple myths/Wests framework might serve as a better antidote to the classics than a ‘one West’ approach. Katerberg usefully juxtaposes the Canadian Northern frontier with the U.S. Western one, again drawing out the differences not only in national experience but also in imaginative construction. Mitchell’s essay focuses more specifically on the myth of the U.S. West as a development not mirrored in Canada or Mexico, despite shared borders and experiences, in an echo of Turner’s assertion of U.S. exceptionalism. These essays, together with David L. Williams’s paper on the implications of terminology in ‘Prairies and Plains: The Levelling of Differences in Wallace Stegner’s Wolf Willow,’ form a strong intellectual core for the nascent field of comparative, borderlands, and transnational history of the West. They ought to be of interest to scholar and student alike as they introduce and challenge the classics from different perspectives.

Sarah Carter’s ‘Transnational Perspectives on the History of Great Plains Women’ examines the experience of several individual women, Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal, on both sides of the border, to illuminate differences in policy, attitude, and approach toward women in that region. Carter’s article will appeal to those interested in the history of women in either West, and is written in a style amenable to the general reader or the specialist. The following essay by Roger Nichols discusses the challenges and issues facing the scholar who embarks on a comparative study, singling out the field of Aboriginal history. Both essays provide practical insights for those interested in actually doing comparative history.

Papers by Robert Thacker and Brian Dippie deal with artists who made the West a focal point for their work, among them Remington, Kane, Catlin, and Russell. Although these authors confront the mythic aspects of the West(s) as forthrightly as do the other essayists in this collection, here are two papers more likely to capture that elusive broader audience the editors seek. This appeal is due largely to the subject matter, the artists they discuss having in themselves significant popular appeal. Dippie’s essay in particular, which is beautifully illustrated, has the capacity to draw in the casual reader and thereby to introduce to this audience the scholarly themes addressed throughout the volume.

One West, Two Myths is enhanced by the inclusion of the foundation texts for the myths addressed – Turner’s ‘Significance of the Frontier in American History...