The Virginian's Cultural Clashes: A Study of Cultural Representation in Owen Wister's novel The Virginian

Abstract

This thesis is a cultural study of Owen Wister's novel The Virginian. Its main focus is on the ways in which cultural differences between East and West are staged and acted out in the novel's depiction of a culturally diverse frontier environment in nineteenth century Wyoming, USA. Central in this study are the story's three main characters as they represent different cultural backgrounds, and, by their personal experiences with the Western environment as well as with each other, bring out the theme of cultural clash and transculturation.