From the Editor ’ s Desk
Little did I dream thirty years ago when we had the first meeting of Far West Popular Culture that I would still be organizing and chairing the conference and editing Volume 29 of this journal . We will be passing out copies of our first journal at the conference and it can also be seen at our website fwpca . org . The field has gone through some marvelous shifts but at its heart the dedication to studying and appreciating our vibrant and diverse cultural artifacts has always been there , shining like a beacon , whether the mainstream literary academy recognized the value in what we were doing or not .
This issue is led by Daniel Sayoye ’ s remarkable essay “ Into the Wild , Paradox and the Merchandising of Christopher McCandless .” In it , he describes how the multiple narratives growing from the experience have turned it upside down , finally presenting the opposite of what Christopher McCandless , or Alexander Supertramp , as he renamed himself , had intended . Savoye ’ s take on the experience as a kind of capitalistic pilgrimage and perhaps even a minor cult presents a sublime irony with wit and flair
Ċarol Poster ’ s “ Sylvanas Windrunner of the World of Warcraft , Hillary Clinton , and the Rhetoric of Female Leadership ” gives a rhetorical analysis of the online community and its parallels with reality . While I have never played the game , the existence of such a living and breathing social space that mirrors our own definitely resonates with the power of culture to forge realities that teach us something about this one . Our escapes never let us forget entirely where we are now .
This is followed by Tony and Trisha Kemerly ’ s analysis of the seventh season of Supernatural as an allegory of the abuse and loss of agency experienced by the person in a fat body , presenting
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