Spaces of the New American West

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Recommended: THE MYTH OF THE FRONTIER

The Western portion of the United States includes thirteen states that are home to around 80,000,000 Americans, yet it remains one of the most sparsely settled regions in the country (U.S. Census Bureau 2010). In a sense, the American West is the closest thing left to a “frontier” in the modernized United States. One can travel to Montana and become immersed in a world not dissimilar to that of their forefathers, just as easily as one could travel to California, widely considered to be the epicenter of growth and modernization in the States. With Silicon Valley and Yellowstone all in one region, there is a unique sense of space presented within the West that is unattainable from the American North, East, or South. For instance, a trip to New York City may be fairly comparable to a trip to Pittsburgh, but a trip to San Francisco as opposed to Rapid City provides an entirely different cultural experience. If the West was just a replica of the American East, Kerouac’s On the Road would have never come to be. The wide disparity among spaces in the New West is a main reason behind the effectiveness of Coupland’s Generation X. Without the spaces of the American West the comedic genius of Portlandia would be nonexistent! In an attempt to overcome writers’ block, Jack Kerouac, alongside Neal Cassady, explored the American West in a series of adventures that spanned from 1947 to 1950. On the Road is the “lovechild” of Kerouac and Cassady’s escapades, fueled by jazz, poetry, and drug use. Its political and aesthetic dimensions are thoroughly complex, yet intertwined. On the Road portrays the story of a personal quest in search of meaning and belonging in a time when conformity was praised and outsiders were scorned. It was during this ... ... middle of paper ... ...nic, really; by trying to stand out and present themselves as unique, the people of Portland seem to fall under a few general categories. The spaces of the American West are far from uniform, in fact, they could be considered the complete opposite. This variety is what makes the West stand apart from the rest of the United States. The lack of a more common landscape and culture, such as in the American East, provides the backdrop for a plethora of Literary prowess from authors like Jack Kerouac and Douglas Coupland, who saw the American West as the perfect setting for two of the most influential novels of our time. The wide open road was just as much of an inspiration to Kerouac as the concrete megalopolises of malls, fast food, and tracts homes were to Coupland. Western culture would be fraction of what it is today if not for its exceptional diversity among space.

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