文化研究興起促成庫柏（James Fenimore Cooper）評論近年的昌盛。然而多數學者的注意力依舊置於他生涯早期最受矚目的數本作品上；若干評論家認為《大草原》不過是「皮襪故事系列」前兩本故事的複製。事實上，《大草原》與前兩本小說落差極大。如果庫柏在《拓荒者》中譜出田園謳歌，在《最後的莫希根人》中打造國族史詩，他在《大草原》裡營建的卻是輓歌般的悲愴。為了探求此般意旨上的崩解，本論文將從西部擴展在美國建國初期所扮演的政治角色切入，檢視庫柏在《大草原》中對遠西（the Far West）地景的呈現如何反映了美國早期國族主義運動內部意識形態的競爭。

With the rise of cultural studies, James Fenimore Cooper shines out from his shaded corner once more. However, most critics take interest in his early productions only. The Prairie never receives its due attention. This book is commonly seen as a replica of the first two Leatherstocking tales. Few people have noticed the great gap in between. In fact, if Cooper has composed a pastoral idyll in The Pioneers and a sublime heroic epic in The Last of the Mohicans, what he creates in The Prairie is an elegy full of pathos. Approaching from the politics of Western expansion in the Revolutionary period, this paper will examine how Cooper‟s presentation of the Far West landscape in The Prairie reflects the ideological competition in early American nationalism.