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Reconstructing the Myth: Blood Meridian as the New Western
Kesman, Jan ; Ulmanová, Hana (advisor) ; Procházka, Martin (referee)
Thesis Abstract This thesis deals with the deconstruction of the myth of American westward expansion in Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian or The Evening Redness in the West; it also tries to answer the question of how the book fits into the Western genre. The chief focus is on the two key characters: the kid and Judge Holden, and their fight for dominance, the depiction of the frontier landscape, and the portrayal of violence. The thesis is divided into three larger sections, followed by a conclusion. The first part, titled "Blood Meridian: Between History and Myth," is an extended overview, putting Blood Meridian into the context of the author's literary production and introducing the central themes of the novel that are examined in the subsequent sections of the thesis. The second part, titled "Introduction," is divided into four chapters presenting notions essential to understanding how Blood Meridian engages with the myths of American westward expansion and subsequently dismantles them. The first chapter focuses on Frederick Jackson Turner's theory that the American frontier was the birthplace of the American character. The second chapter introduces Roland Barthes' definition of myths and the second and third semiological chains, as well as William H. McNeill's concept of mythistory. The third chapter...
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