Reading Vietnam Amid the War on Terror

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-x

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2. Introduction: American Myth, Vietnam, and the Prospect of Repetition

   • Ty Hawkins

   Pages 1-26

3. Philip Caputo’s Deconstruction of the Warrior-Hero Ideal

   • Ty Hawkins

   Pages 27-61

4. Michael Herr’s Dispatches and the Allure of Combat

   • Ty Hawkins

   Pages 63-85

5. The Perversion of Labor in Larry Heinemann’s Vietnam

   • Ty Hawkins

   Pages 87-118

6. Tim O’Brien’s Search for an Ideal Femininity

   • Ty Hawkins

   Pages 119-151

7. Community in Bobbie Ann Mason’s War Fiction

   • Ty Hawkins

   Pages 153-187

8. Back Matter

   Pages 189-214

   PDF

Argues that the examination of contemporary American war narratives can lead to newfound understandings of American literature, American history, and American national purpose. To prove such a contention, the book blends literary, rhetorical, and cultural methods of analysis.

• America
• American history
• Amerikanische Literatur
• fiction
• Philip Caputo

'The inclusion in this 'Vietnam' book of America's post 9/11 conflicts sharply contemporizes Hawkins' vital insights, not only making Vietnam still relevant, but teaching us the commonality of all war. Hawkins has powerfully documented the loss of innocence that must accompany any sentient soldier's combat encounters and aftermath. A haunting read.' - Donald Anderson, editor of War, Literature & the Arts and When War Becomes Personal

TY HAWKINS Assistant professor of English at Walsh University of Ohio, USA.

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