frontier literature

Writing reflecting the US experience of frontier and pioneer life, long central to US literature. The category includes James Fenimore Cooper's Leatherstocking Tales; the frontier humour writing of Artemus Ward, Bret Harte, and Mark Twain; dime novels; Westerns; the travel records of Francis Parkman; and the pioneer romances of Willa Cather. Much modern American writing has been influenced by the frontier theme.