The roads of the American West are cultural objects, they reveal a strong and original feature of national identity. The inhabitants have a unique relationship to the road that symbolizes the American dream and the thirst for conquests. Through the march to the West, Western movies, the invention of the automobile, it is a whole people who are on the road to create a nation. Later, the road will be at the center of the protest of the American model. The hell's angels or the beatniks offer another vision of society. Hippies use the road for a subversive purpose, they see it as a way of life and expression in their own right. The road becomes an artistic object, symbol of the initiatory journey, of departure, it is loaded with positive images. Where to find America if not on these western roads…
