This book asserts the existence of the ‘Eastern’ as an analytically significant genre of film. Positioned in counterpoint to the western, the famed cowboy genre of the American frontier, the Eastern encompasses films that depict the eastern and southern frontiers of Euro-American expansion. Examining six films in particular--  (1939), (1962), (1983),  (1984),  (1992),  and (1996)--the author explores the duality of the ‘Eastern’ as both assertive and seductive, depicting conquest and romance at the same time. In juxtaposing these two elements, the book seeks to reveal the double process by which the ‘Eastern’ both diminishes the ‘East’/Global South and reinforces ignorance about its history and complexity, thereby setting the stage for ever-escalating political aggression.weiterlesen