Breaking the Fall: Eden and the Apocalypse in the American Postwest

Abstract

The Judeo-Christian stories of the Garden of Eden and the apocalypse have permeated western culture for centuries. However, is there a place for them in the contemporary American West? The current trend in western studies has been to subvert or disregard mythic metanarratives, but these narratives are still present in popular media and literature. This project is an interdisciplinary attempt to define the evolution of these myths within the western landscape, and the effects of that evolution on individual regional western identity formation. This topic is explored by braiding literary analysis, creative writing, and visual art.