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License Agreement on scientific materials use.
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The evolution of the frontier myth in 19th-20th century American drama
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Vera Borisovna Shamina
Kazan Federal University
Olga Olegovna Nesmelova
Kazan Federal University
Robert Maratovich Zaripov
Kazan Federal University
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Submitted:
April 21, 2026
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Abstract.
This study is dedicated to the evolution of the frontier myth in American drama of the 19th and 20th centuries. The research aims to trace the transformation of the myth from its melodramatic origins (in the plays of J. A. Stone, F. Murdoch, and D. Belasco) to its radical deconstruction in the second half of the 20th century (A. Kopit, S. Shepard, and D. Nigro), and to identify the ideological and aesthetic outcomes of this process. The scientific novelty of the work lies in the fact that, for the first time in Russian literary studies, the evolution of the frontier concept is systematically conceptualized based on American drama from its inception in the 19th century to the present day. Furthermore, the application of a combined methodology – integrating mythopoetic, postcolonial, and gender approaches – allowed for an analysis of the transformation of key archetypes, specifically the Noble Savage, the Frontiersman, and the Woman of the West. The study analyzes the plays of nine American playwrights to demonstrate how this national myth was constructed and subsequently dismantled. The results show that the theater was at the foundational roots of the frontier myth, actively participating in its popularization, and that 20th-century drama became the site of its complete debunking and deconstruction.
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Key words and phrases:
миф фронтира
американская драма
демифологизация фронтира
архетип фронтирсмена
национальный миф
frontier myth
American drama
demythologization of the frontier
Frontiersman archetype
national myth
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