In/visible War

In/visible War

The Culture of War in Twenty-first-Century America

In: War Culture

With contributions by: Nina Berman, David Campbell, Christopher J. Gilbert, Jeremy G. Gordon, Rebecca A. Adelman, Wendy Kozol, Jon Simons, Jody Madeira, Roger Stahl, De Witt Douglas Kilgore, Claudia Breger, Purnima Bose, Diane Rubenstein, James Der Derian and John Louis Lucaites
Edited by: Jon Simons and John Louis Lucaites
Photographs by: Nina Berman

Rutgers University Press | 2017

DOI: https://doi.org/10.36019/9780813585406

Overview
Contents

About this book

In/Visible War addresses a paradox of twenty-first century American warfare. The contemporary visual American experience of war is ubiquitous, and yet war is simultaneously invisible or absent; we lack a lived sense that “America” is at war. This paradox of in/visibility concerns the gap between the experiences of war zones and the visual, mediated experience of war in public, popular culture, which absents and renders invisible the former. Large portions of the domestic public experience war only at a distance. For these citizens, war seems abstract, or may even seem to have disappeared altogether due to a relative absence of visual images of casualties. Perhaps even more significantly, wars can be fought without sacrifice by the vast majority of Americans.

Yet, the normalization of twenty-first century war also renders it highly visible. War is made visible through popular, commercial, mediated culture. The spectacle of war occupies the contemporary public sphere in the forms of celebrations at athletic events and in films, video games, and other media, coming together as MIME, the Military-Industrial-Media-Entertainment Network.

Author information

JON SIMONS is Reader in Media at Leeds Trinity University, United Kingdom. He is the author or editor of numerous books including Images: A Reader.

JOHN LOUIS LUCAITES is the associate dean for arts and humanities in the College of Arts and Sciences and provost professor of rhetoric in the department of English at Indiana University. His most recent work includes No Caption Needed: Photojournalism, Public Culture, and Liberal Democracy.

Reviews

"In/Visible Waris a timely and stimulating collection that offers a fresh and provocative insight into the impact of the 'global war on terror' on American culture and politics."

— John Bodnar, author of The Good War in American Memory

"Can a war be hidden in plain sight? Every day. This thoughtful volume explores how contemporary media are normalizing war, and why the paradoxes of war’s invisibility challenge civic spectatorship."

— Robert Hariman, co-author of No Caption Needed: Iconic Photographs, Public Culture, and Liberal Democracy

"Provocative."

— H-Net

"In/Visible War: the Culture of War in Twenty-First-Century America is an amazing read about images of war and also how we really do not have a clue as to what these men and women in uniform go through on a day-to-day basis. A picture can make us see, but we can never know the 'truth.'"

— Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly

Frontmatter Free access PDF PDF	i
Contents Free access PDF PDF	v
Introduction: The Paradox of War’s In/visibility John Louis Lucaites and Jon Simons Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	1
Part I: Seeing War
1. How Photojournalism Has Framed the War in Afghanistan David Campbell Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	27
2. Returning Soldiers and the In/visibility of Combat Trauma Christopher J. Gilbert and John Louis Lucaites Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	48
3. (Re)fashioning PTSD’s Warrior Project Jeremy G. Gordon Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	69
4. Unremarkable Suffering: Banality, Spectatorship, and War’s In/visibilities Rebecca A. Adelman and Wendy Kozol Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	89
Transition
“War Is Fun,” a Photo-Essay Nina Berman Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	111
5. Laying bin Laden to Rest: A Case Study of Terrorism and the Politics of Visibility Jody Lyneé Madeira Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	125
Part II: Not Seeing War
6. Digital War and the Public Mind: Call of Duty Reloaded, Decoded Roger Stahl Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	143
7. A Cinema of Consolation: Post-9/ 11 Super-Invasion Fantasy De Witt Douglas Kilgore Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	159
8. Differential Configurations: In/visibility Through the Lens of Kathryn Bigelow’s The Hurt Locker (2008) Claudia Breger Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	172
9. The Canine-Rescue Narrative, Civilian Casualties, and the Long Gulf War Purnima Bose Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	193
Part III: Theorizing the In/visibility of War
10. The In/visibility of Liberal Peace: Perpetual Peace and Enduring Freedom Jon Simons Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	213
11. Why War? Derrida, Baudrillard, and the Absolute Televisual Image Diane Rubenstein Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	229
12. War in the Twenty-First Century: Visible, Invisible, or Superpositional? James Der Derian Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	249
Acknowledgments Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	265
Notes on Contributors Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	267
Photo Credits Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	271
Index Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	273

In/visible War

The Culture of War in Twenty-first-Century America

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