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American War Stories breaks down the American perception of wars and focuses on how and why we conceptualize the “war” story. It is one of the first studies to ask readers to contemplate what constitutes a “war story” and how that constitution obscures the normalizing of militarism in American culture.
List of 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
About the author
BRENDA M. BOYLE is a professor of English and director of the Writing Center at Denison University, Granville, Ohio. She authored Masculinity in Vietnam War Narratives, co-authored Masculinity and Monstrosity in Contemporary Hollywood Films, edited The Vietnam War, and co-edited Looking Back on the Vietnam War.
