Westerns is a a genre that is defined predominantly by its setting—the American West. The vast plains, rugged tablelands and prodigious mountain ranges create the genre's unique iconography. Usually set in the time period from the 1850s to the late 19th century, westerns often depict the lives of the white settlers, and in particular their conflict with the native Indians. In facts, this is a recurring theme in this genre. In the stories of the Wild West, violence is often used to resolve conflicts because this western society had a tenuous grasp on the rule of law while having a capricious social fabric. Western films [are] notorious for romanticizing the concept of the Western hero (usually the cowboy)....
Besides being a genre with distinct iconography, westerns have an indispensable relationship with American History and myth and its depiction in film have provided sources materials for ideological analysis. Continue reading in Medium
What exactly, is a western novel? Westerns loom large in the literary imagination, whether the word conjures up images of cowboys and gunslingers, a dusty saloon, or what I like to call the "shirtless adventure men" category of romance novel covers....For many, the hallmarks of the genre, with its focus on themes of adventure, justice, and the mythologizing of American culture, are the reason why they either love it or avoid it....
Like many popular genres, westerns first took off in the mid-1800s during the era of penny dreadfuls, which serialized a book over monthly publications. For readers fascinated with the expanding west, the novels provided tales of adventure in a new setting, as well as a way to conceptualize a rapidly expanding nation. Many scholars of the genre consider The Virginian by Owen Wister to be the first "official" western novel. Continuing reading in Book Riot
Western Narrative Genre (Britannica)
Dime Westerns (The University of Chicago Chronicle)
Gunsmoke and Mirrors (Washington State University)
Preserving Western Pulp Fiction with Centuries of Western Dime Novels (Cowboys & Indians)
15 Great Westerns That Flipped the Genre on Its Head (Taste of Cinema)
The History of the American West Gets a Much-Needed Rewrite (Smithsonian Magazine)
