To a large extent, Burroughs's own previous work is the precedent for The Western Lands. There are some clear forerunners, though, including the entire Romantic movement in its emphasis on the artist as the redeemer of humanity, and Ezra Pound's fusion of divergent sources and forms in his Cantos (1970) stands behind some of Burroughs's methods. The Joycean flow of consciousness is also an important precursor for Burroughs.