Death of the New West?
Fall 2003

A century and a half ago, settlers came to the American West seeking the fortune they could not find elsewhere. The old West they created—a place of lawlessness and opportunity—became a mythic totem of freedom celebrated the world over on canvas, paper, and film.

By the middle of the 20th century, the wild West had been tamed by highways, dams, and suburbs; the Marlboro Man in his pickup truck replaced the cowboy on horseback. But as we shaped this “new” West to our needs, we still clung to our myths of what living in the “old” West represented. Now that the solitude of the Western landscape has been decisively broken, we have to wonder what meaning that landscape has, and if there is still room for the dreams that drew people westward in the first place.

Death of the New West?, the inaugural issue of divide , will look at the complex relationships between man-made changes to the Western landscape and concept of the American West as a mythic place. With what spirit and purpose do we occupy and travel through this landscape? How has man-made change affected our vision of the West's past and future? What symbolism—if any—does the American West still hold?

This issue features contributions from Ai, Joanne Greenberg, Patricia Nelson Limerick, Richard Rodriguez, and more. See our complete contributors list.