Abstract
The civil-military divide refers to the gap in understanding and experiences between a nation’s civilian population and its military. In recent years, this gap has grown significantly in the United States. The impacts of this divide are vast, from misperceptions at the interpersonal level to decreased military effectiveness at the national level. Within this context, and somewhat paradoxically, there has been consistent interest in published military narratives, both from veterans of military service and current service members. While mainstream titles play a prominent role in social discourse, even more niche pieces offer their own merits as well. And all of these works serve a dual purpose. They help military authors to reckon with their service and its implications. This service is at times traumatic and often complex. Additionally, these works help civilian readers better understand the shared humanity between those who serve and themselves. The objective of this paper is to understand the current use of such narratives through two major lenses with relation to publishing implications. First, it investigates their role for traumatic healing, at the act-of-writing level. Then it considers the broader application of such publication in American society. This paper reviews current research on military storytelling with suggestions to how it may be supportive of a broader objective: bridging the civil-military divide.
Presenters
Marissa LemarMaster Instructor, Humanities and Social Sciences/English, United States Naval Academy, Maryland, United States
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
Military, Narratives, Trauma, Healing, Civil-Military Divide, Civil-Military Relations
