Secrecy, Suspicion, Exposure: Negotiating Authority Structures in a Settler Colonial Society as Depicted in Walter Van Tilburg Clark’s The Ox-Bow Incident
The article discusses the ways in which Walter Van Tilburg Clark’s 1940 novel The Ox-Bow Incident problematizes the issues of secrecy, suspicion, gossip and exposure as a basis for the depiction of a variety of regulatory practices in a hierarchized settler society whose structures of authority ente...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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European Association for American Studies
2021-01-01
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| Series: | European Journal of American Studies |
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| Online Access: | https://journals.openedition.org/ejas/16518 |
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| author | Marek Paryż |
| author_facet | Marek Paryż |
| author_sort | Marek Paryż |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The article discusses the ways in which Walter Van Tilburg Clark’s 1940 novel The Ox-Bow Incident problematizes the issues of secrecy, suspicion, gossip and exposure as a basis for the depiction of a variety of regulatory practices in a hierarchized settler society whose structures of authority enter a phase of renegotiation. The novel can be read as a portrayal of the Far West’s transition toward a more egalitarian and modern social organization. Clark depicts a stratified society in which striving for a form of advancement is a shared necessity that powerfully influences individual mindsets, and this tendency can redefine even the entrenched hierarchies. Secrecy and suspicion exemplify the tactics through which individual interests fuel a larger process of the renegotiation of power relations within the settler collective. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-8eba5286ca9f478b9643c0536c6d76a6 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1991-9336 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2021-01-01 |
| publisher | European Association for American Studies |
| record_format | Article |
| series | European Journal of American Studies |
| spelling | doaj-art-8eba5286ca9f478b9643c0536c6d76a62025-01-06T09:08:33ZengEuropean Association for American StudiesEuropean Journal of American Studies1991-93362021-01-0115410.4000/ejas.16518Secrecy, Suspicion, Exposure: Negotiating Authority Structures in a Settler Colonial Society as Depicted in Walter Van Tilburg Clark’s The Ox-Bow IncidentMarek ParyżThe article discusses the ways in which Walter Van Tilburg Clark’s 1940 novel The Ox-Bow Incident problematizes the issues of secrecy, suspicion, gossip and exposure as a basis for the depiction of a variety of regulatory practices in a hierarchized settler society whose structures of authority enter a phase of renegotiation. The novel can be read as a portrayal of the Far West’s transition toward a more egalitarian and modern social organization. Clark depicts a stratified society in which striving for a form of advancement is a shared necessity that powerfully influences individual mindsets, and this tendency can redefine even the entrenched hierarchies. Secrecy and suspicion exemplify the tactics through which individual interests fuel a larger process of the renegotiation of power relations within the settler collective.https://journals.openedition.org/ejas/16518secrecysuspicionsettler colonial orderpanopticismThe Ox-Bow IncidentWalter van Tilburg Clark |
| spellingShingle | Marek Paryż Secrecy, Suspicion, Exposure: Negotiating Authority Structures in a Settler Colonial Society as Depicted in Walter Van Tilburg Clark’s The Ox-Bow Incident European Journal of American Studies secrecy suspicion settler colonial order panopticism The Ox-Bow Incident Walter van Tilburg Clark |
| title | Secrecy, Suspicion, Exposure: Negotiating Authority Structures in a Settler Colonial Society as Depicted in Walter Van Tilburg Clark’s The Ox-Bow Incident |
| title_full | Secrecy, Suspicion, Exposure: Negotiating Authority Structures in a Settler Colonial Society as Depicted in Walter Van Tilburg Clark’s The Ox-Bow Incident |
| title_fullStr | Secrecy, Suspicion, Exposure: Negotiating Authority Structures in a Settler Colonial Society as Depicted in Walter Van Tilburg Clark’s The Ox-Bow Incident |
| title_full_unstemmed | Secrecy, Suspicion, Exposure: Negotiating Authority Structures in a Settler Colonial Society as Depicted in Walter Van Tilburg Clark’s The Ox-Bow Incident |
| title_short | Secrecy, Suspicion, Exposure: Negotiating Authority Structures in a Settler Colonial Society as Depicted in Walter Van Tilburg Clark’s The Ox-Bow Incident |
| title_sort | secrecy suspicion exposure negotiating authority structures in a settler colonial society as depicted in walter van tilburg clark s the ox bow incident |
| topic | secrecy suspicion settler colonial order panopticism The Ox-Bow Incident Walter van Tilburg Clark |
| url | https://journals.openedition.org/ejas/16518 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT marekparyz secrecysuspicionexposurenegotiatingauthoritystructuresinasettlercolonialsocietyasdepictedinwaltervantilburgclarkstheoxbowincident |