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Going Scapegoat

Post-9/11 War Literature, Language and Culture

David A Buchanan author

Format:Paperback

Publisher:McFarland & Co Inc

Published:27th Sep '16

Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back

Going Scapegoat cover

Since 9/11, war literature has become a key element in American popular culture, spurring critical debate about depictions of combat--Who can write war literature? When can they do it? This book presents a new way to closely read war narratives, questioning the idea of "combat gnosticism"--the belief that the experience of war is impossible to communicate to those who have not seen it--that has dominated the discussion.

Adapting Kenneth Burke's scapegoat mechanism to the criticism of literature and film, the author examines three novels from 2012--Ben Fountain's Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk, David Abrams's FOBBIT and Kevin Powers' The Yellow Birds--that represent the U.S. military responses to 9/11.

“a fresh perspective to interpret war narratives”—Communications Booknotes Quarterly.

ISBN: 9781476666587

Dimensions: 229mm x 152mm x 12mm

Weight: 318g

232 pages