Literature Atlas

How Stories Are Told
Sign In
Text size
100%
Theme
Genre

Western Romance Literature

The Novel and Its Forms

Western romance literature denotes a genre subset of romance literature, sometimes referred to as cowboy romance. Works within this category typically adhere to the characteristics of romance but take place in a western setting, frequently the American frontier. Though often historical, the genre is not restricted to romantic works set in the period of American settlement but extends to contemporary romantic works that centre around cowboys or other tropes of the Western genre.

Facts
Notable Example
Riders of the Purple Sage by Zane Grey 1
Defining Trait
Romance of a cowboy, ranch hand or bull rider and his heroine against a harsh landscape 1
Origin Year
1800 1
Defining Trait
Setting and World 1
Connections

Form Of Genre

Romance Novel, Genres

Subgenre Of

Romance, Genres
Source Western romance literature (Wikipedia)
Sources
1. Western romance literature (Wikipedia)
  • History
    Grey became known for his work in this genre (under the publisher, Harper's) and the hugely successful Western Romantic novel Riders of the Purple Sage (1912).
  • Characteristics
    These stories typically follow the romance of a cowboy, ranch hand or bull rider and his heroine, contrasting the fragility of love with the severity of the harsh landscape.
  • Lead paragraph
    The genre originated in the 1800s
  • Lead paragraph, defining sentence
    Western romance literature denotes a genre subset of romance literature, sometimes referred to as cowboy romance.
  • Subgenre Of: Romance, Lead sentence
    denotes a genre subset of romance literature
View the Source
Comments (0)
No comments yet. Be the first to share a thought.
Reader Challenges (0)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.

View At A Past Year

Choose a year to see this entry's facts and connections as the atlas records them at that moment: what it held then, what it held instead, and what it had not yet adopted. Choose Present for the current record.