Guest speaker: Helena Bacon School of Literature, Drama and Creative Writing UEA.
The American Western has almost always depicted its iconic heroes as tough-talking, rough-riding, six-shooting, grizzled, solitary and, overwhelmingly, white. From John Ford’s frequent collaborations with John Wayne, Henry Fonda and James Steward and Sergio Leone’s Spaghetti Westerns, most notably the ‘Dollars’ trilogy starring Clint Eastwood, to the revisionist Westerns of the seventies, contemporary remakes of old classics, or the neo-Westerns of today that frequently place typical western characters into modern civilised surroundings, cowboys of colour remain notably absent in the genre’s representation of the history and meaning surrounding the American frontier and its occupants.
This representation however, as Sarfraz Manzoor points out in his BBC documentary The Forgotten Black Cowboys (2013), does not match the reality of the western experience. This paper will explore the reality of the black western experience, referencing Manzoor’s documentary and accompanying articles, Ferguson’s images, Tricia Martineau Wagner’s Black Cowboys of the Old West (2010) and The Black Cowboys of Texas (2000), edited by Sara R. Massey.
Using this critical framework as a starting point, Helena will explore examples of the Western genre that break with genre convention and feature cowboys of colour, such as Mel Brooks’ Blazing Saddles (1974), Clint Eastwood’s Unforgiven (1992), David Milch’s Deadwood (2004-2006) and Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained (2012), to examine whether these characters present a more realistic portrayal of a wild, but not wholly white, west.
Admission: Free Time 6 PM
More Norfolk Listings MORE
Totally Tina
The Lifetime Achievement awards was presented to Totally TINA as the tribute act who has made an outstanding…
Failure Project
Following her critically acclaimed run at the Edinburgh Festival, BAFTA nominee Yolanda Mercy returns with her bold new…
Tones – A Hip Hop Opera
A piece of gig theatre like no other, Tones – A Hip Hop Opera combines the gritty underground…
Stephen K Amos: Now We’re Talking
Join the inimitable Stephen K Amos for an evening of sharp wit, infectious charm and hilarious observations as…
Mama Afrika
Zimbabwean-born singer, musician and storyteller Anna Mudeka brings to life the extraordinary journey of Miriam Makeba – the…
David Olusoga: A Gun Through Time
Have you ever considered how a single weapon could change the course of history? What stories lie behind…
Emmanuel Sonubi – Life After Near Death
Edinburgh Comedy Award Best Newcomer nominee and Best Show nominee, Emmanuel Sonubi is back on tour after sold-out performances…
The Chaos That Has Been and Will No Doubt Return
“If this town gave out a collective breath of exhaustion, buildings would shake across the whole of England.”…