Moving Stories: Migration and the American West.1850-2000

Ever since the famous theory of Frederick Jackson Turner, migration has been a central theme in the popular imagination and scholarly study of the American West. Moving Stories showcases today's varied scholarly approaches. Contributors from the fields of literature, history, and popular culture examine a range of topics: migration into, within, and out of the West; the diverse meanings of migration for women and men of different ethnic and economic backgrounds; literary portrayals of migration from western novels to the Harlem Renaissance to postmodernism; and the influence of specific historic events, such as the Great Depression and World War II, on migration. The essays draw upon diaries and letters, oral histories, fiction and memoirs, photographs, government reports and promotional literature, and more.