Dirty Words in Deadwood: Literature and the Postwestern (Postwestern Horizons)

358 Pages·2013·3.562 MB·English

by  Melody Graulich, Nicolas S. Witschi

Dirty Words in Deadwood
Postwestern Horizons
General Editor
William R. Handley
University of Southern California
Series Editors
José Aranda
Rice University
Melody Graulich
Utah State University
Thomas King
University of Guelph
Rachel Lee
University of California, Los Angeles
Nathaniel Lewis
Saint Michael’s College
Stephen Tatum
University of Utah
D i r t y W o r d s
i n D e a d w o o d
Literature and the Postwestern
edited by melody graulich
and nicolas s. witschi
University of Nebraska Press § Lincoln and London
© 2013 by the Board
of Regents of the University
of Nebraska. Chapter 2, “Last
Words in Deadwood,” by Brian
McCuskey, originally appeared
as “Last Words in Deadwood:
Literacy and Mortality on the
Frontier” in The Journal of
Popular Culture (2011) Wiley
Online Library. http://online
library.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/
j.1540-5931.2011.00876.x/pdf.
All rights reserved
Manufactured in the United
States of America
Library of Congress Cataloging-
in-Publication Data
Dirty words in Deadwood:
literature and the postwestern /
edited by Melody Graulich and
Nicolas S. Witschi.
pages cm. — (Postwestern
horizons)
Includes bibliographical
references and index.
isbn 978-0-8032-6474-8 (pbk.:
alk. paper) 1. Deadwood
(Television program) I.
Graulich, Melody, 1951– II.
Witschi, Nicolas S., 1966–
pn1992.77.d39d58 2013
791.45'72—dc23
2013000344
Set in ITC New Baskerville by
Laura Wellington.
Designed by A. Shahan.
We dedicate this book to David Milch; to the
cast, writers, and directors of Deadwood; and
to everyone else who helped to make for
hours of viewing and intellectual pleasure.

contents
list of illustrations ix
acknowledgments xi
introduction: Deadwood’s Barbaric Yawp:
Sharing a Literary Heritage xiii
Melody Graulich
deadwood episodes lv
deadwood cast l(cid:73)x
1. David Milch at Yale: An Interview 1
Nathaniel Lewis
2. Last Words in Deadwood 18
Brian McCuskey
3. The Thinking of Al Swearengen’s Body: Kidney Stones,
Pigpens, and Burkean Catharsis in Deadwood 44
Tim Steckline
4. “Land of Oblivion”: Abjection, Broken Bodies,
and the Western Narrative in Deadwood 72
John Dudley
5. The Final Stamp: Deadwood and the
Gothic American Frontier 104
Wendy Witherspoon
6. “Down These Mean Streets”: Film Noir, Deadwood,
Cinematic Space, and the Irruption of Genre Codes 124
Nicolas S. Witschi
7. “Right or Wrong, You Side with Your Feelings” 141
Jennilyn Merten
8. “A Brooding and Dangerous Soul”: Deadwood’s
Imperfect Music 165
David Fenimore
9. Calamity Jane and Female Masculinity in Deadwood 184
Linda Mizejewski
10. Queer Spaces and Emotional Couplings in Deadwood 208
Michael K. Johnson
11. Who Put the Gun into the Whore’s Hand?
Disability in Deadwood 236
Nicole Tonkovich
bibliography 269
contributors 281
index 285
illustrations
1. Al observes the Gem xv
2. Al and Wu discuss “the San Francisco cocksucker” xxvi
3. Al and Adams discuss the “Founding Document” xxxvii
4. Sofi a observes xl
5. The team surveys Main Street xlii
6. Alma teases Bullock xliv
7. Bullock accepts his badge xlvii
8. David Milch 2
9. Al and Silas checking a document 32
10. Successful surgery 58
11. Trixie 74
12. Al and Cy on the watch 99
13. Sofi a 109
14. Charlie at Hickok’s grave 112
15. Bullock with his stepson’s casket 137
16. Al taking care of the preacher 142
17. Jane and the General 162
18. Wild Bill Hickok’s funeral 174
19. Jane and Joanie 201
20. Joanie helps with the bath 229
21. Jewel with Doc 256
22. Al in his offi ce 261
23. Preparing Jen’s body 262