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An Exploration of the Cultural Revival of the American West: A Critical Media Studies Approach

Adrienne E. Foos, Benjamin G. Scharff, and Dharti Trivedi

The BRC Academy Journal of Business

Volume 15

Number 1

Print ISSN: 2152-8721 Online ISSN: 2152-8721

Date: April 15, 2026

First Page 1

Last Page 22

DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.15239/j.brcacadjb.2026.15.01.ja01

Abstract

A cultural revival of the American West has emerged across contemporary media and consumer culture. This revival is expressed through film and television (Yellowstone), fashion (Dior Cruise 2018), music (“Cowboy Carter” by Beyoncé), art (see works by Mark Maggiori) and literature. Using critical media studies methodology and interdisciplinary perspectives including historical contextualization and thematic interpretation, media from the above-mentioned areas were examined for their influence in reflecting shifting cultural values and ideologies, perceptions of representation and power, and consumption. Understood through the Frontier Thesis (Turner, 1893), the current cultural production of the American West in various media reflects the West’s role in shaping the cultural values of rugged individualism, American exceptionalism, and self-reliance. Nostalgic for a mythic past, Western narratives and aesthetics, accompanying consumer trends, and increased representation of minorities reveal both a return to traditional American values as well as a reshaping of Western tropes.

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