western (redirected from Westerns)

western

Genre of novels and short stories, motion pictures, and television and radio shows set in the American West, usually during 1850–1900, when the area was opened to white settlement. Though basically an American creation, it has counterparts in the gaucho literature of Argentina and in tales of the settlement of the Australian Outback. Conflicts between white pioneers and Native Americans and between cattle ranchers and fence-building farmers form two basic themes. Cowboys, the town sheriff, and the U.S. marshal are staple figures, and lawlessness and gun violence are standard. Owen Wister's The Virginian (1902) is regarded as the seminal western novel; the popularity of the genre peaked in the early and middle decades of the 20th century and declined somewhat thereafter.

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western

1. (of a wind, etc.) coming or originating from the west

2. Music See country and western

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Western

1. of, relating to, or characteristic of the West as opposed to the Orient

2. (formerly) of, relating to, or characteristic of the Americas and the parts of Europe not under Communist rule

3. of, relating to, or characteristic of the western states of the US

4. a film, book, etc., concerned with life in the western states of the US, esp during the era of exploration and early development