Abstract

This article reviews the reception of the New Western History, whose emergence coincided with the history and culture wars of the late twentieth century. I analyze debates and arguments created by revisionists’ writings, both within the walls of academia and beyond. The discussions which the movement triggered within the historical profession led to exceptional press coverage that attested to the central place the West occupies in the American imagination. Similarly, the uproar generated by the 1991 Smithsonian’s West as America exhibition further demonstrated Americans’ singular attachment to the story of the West as the creation myth of the nation. Just as the culture wars of the period hinged on a definition of an American identity, the reappraisal of the western past was perceived, by some, as questioning what it meant to be a westerner and, ultimately, an American.

中文翻译：

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西方历史试图重塑自我时：修正主义，争议和新西方历史的接受

摘要

本文回顾了新西方历史的接受，它的出现与二十世纪后期的历史和文化战争相吻合。我分析了在学术界内外的修正主义者的著作所引起的辩论和争论。该运动在历史职业中引发的讨论导致了异常的新闻报道，证明了西方在美国想象力中所占据的中心地位。同样，1991年史密森尼的“西部作为美国”展览引起的轩然大波进一步表明，美国人对作为国家创造神话的西方故事有着独特的依恋。正如该时期的文化大战取决于对美国身份的定义一样，一些人认为对西方过去的重新评估正在质疑西方人的含义，并且，