The Image of Cowboy in American Illustrations

The Image of Cowboy in American Illustrations

Currently, consumer studies researchers are becoming increasingly preoccupied with analyzing popular culture in order to understand how and why people embrace certain artistic products. Popular culture, usually described as hedonistic or nihilistic, is often blamed for the decline of American (and not only – with regards to the process of dispersal) national character. While there is probably a lot to dislike about the popular culture, it also creates figures and heroes whose significance should be widely appreciated. Although high culture is quite a different story, in American mainstream heroism is still alive and “well-maintained”. It thrives particularly in "action/adventure" films. Thousands of heroic movies (as well as television programs) that refer to or are based on the myth of cowboy are viewed by millions of Americans every month, while intellectuals typically show contemptuous attitude towards them. That means there are two opposite groups of commentators of consumer culture within the figure of cowboy nowadays. Traditionally conservatives are more focused on high culture than on myths, which appeal to the masses. It seems to me that somehow most of Americans believe that calling the United States a "cowboy culture" pays it a compliment. It is, of course important part of their culture, but it should be rather kept as a healthy balance between the myth and the reality.
Maybe it is a truism that Americans have an unique vision of themselves and their role in the world. Perhaps unlike any other nation they tend to see themselves as people of destiny, who were put here to do something phenomenal. This self-concept, sometimes perceived by the rest of globe as a sheer arrogance, is deeply grounded in a set of archetypes that Americans use to form their vision of themselves in the world context. Thus, it could be evidently taken for a granted that no other archetype is as powerful in the American conventional awareness as the cowboy one....

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