Full Description
American War Stories asks readers to contemplate what traditionally constitutes a "war story" and how that constitution obscures the normalization of militarism in American culture. The book claims the traditionally narrow scope of "war story," as by a combatant about his wartime experience, compartmentalizes war, casting armed violence as distinct from everyday American life. Broadening "war story" beyond the specific genres of war narratives such as "war films," "war fiction," or "war memoirs," American War Stories exposes how ingrained militarism is in everyday American life, a condition that challenges the very democratic principles the United States is touted as exemplifying.
Contents
Introduction American War Stories Since World War II
1 State of Crisis: Stories of American Exceptionalism, the French, and Masculinities in Vietnam
2 Staging War: Stories of Collectivity at, by, and through the Vietnam Veterans Memorial
3 Lone Wolf Family Man: Stories of Individualism and Collectivism in American Sniper(s) and Lone Survivor(s)
4 Military Judgment in a Neoliberal Age: Stories of Egalitarianism and the All-Volunteer Force
5 The Soldier's Creed: Stories of Warrior Patriotism in Visual Culture
Coda Prices Paid for the War Stories We Tell
Acknowledgements
Bibliography
Index
