tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6323968.post110108838711177595..comments2024-02-29T21:58:08.162-05:00Comments on Dialogic: Chris Hedges and the Mythology of WarMichaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14256564770318269688noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6323968.post-1101144232215333742004-11-22T12:23:00.000-05:002004-11-22T12:23:00.000-05:00O'Brian, Fanon, Agamben-yes. Fromm, Hedges, the o...O'Brian, Fanon, Agamben-yes. Fromm, Hedges, the others-no, not yet.<br />But I am still a young man, with many years of glorious reading ahead.Matt Christiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03336678358977647388noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6323968.post-1101100026830169392004-11-22T00:07:00.000-05:002004-11-22T00:07:00.000-05:00As for the differences between male and female in ...As for the differences between male and female in their perceptions or impressions in regards to war it would seem to be that there could be some differences due to socialization in patriarchal societies and prior involvement/participation in acts of collective violence... I'm not sure and haven't seen the case made...<br /><br />Two other sources off the top of my head would be <A HREF="http://www.blogger.com/r?http%3A%2F%2Fwww.english.emory.edu%2FBahri%2FFanon.html">Frantz Fanon</A> who ran a sanitorium in Algeria during the Algerian resistance to French imperialism. In this he had close observations of the effects of French soldiers who broke down under the pressure of a continuous need for brutality in order to retain control (similar to what American soldiers would face in Iraq) and the fracturing of colonized minds under a colonial system. I remember this being discussed in the documentary <A HREF="http://www.blogger.com/r?http%3A%2F%2Fwww.newsreel.org%2Ffilms%2Ffrantzfa.htm">Frantz Fanon: Black Skin, White Mask</A> and his book of the same name...<br /><br />Also of interest might be Lidia Yuknavitch's "Allegories of Violence: Tracing the Writing of War in Late Twentieth-Century Fiction" ... in fact fiction would be a great source for understanding the impact of war upon the individual soldier's psyche. Are you familiar with the works of <A HREF="http://www.blogger.com/r?http%3A%2F%2Fwww.lopezbooks.com%2Farticles%2Fobrien.html">Tim O'Brien</A> of Michael Herr's <A HREF="http://www.blogger.com/r?http%3A%2F%2Fwww.culturevulture.net%2FBooks2%2FDispatches.htm">Dispatches</A>?<br /><br />Sorry, this is interesting and you have me thinking... thanks!Michaelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14256564770318269688noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6323968.post-1101098684866818202004-11-21T23:44:00.000-05:002004-11-21T23:44:00.000-05:00I've read Arendt's "The Origins of Totalitarianism...I've read Arendt's "The Origins of Totalitarianism" (hefty book, with lots of information, but so worth the effort) and it works very good with Girogio Agamben's <A HREF="http://www.blogger.com/r?http%3A%2F%2Fdialogic.blogspot.com%2F2004%2F10%2Fgiorgio-agamben-means-without-ends.html">Means Without Ends</A> and Richard Rubenstein's <A HREF="http://www.blogger.com/r?http%3A%2F%2Fdialogic.blogspot.com%2F2004%2F09%2Ffor-student-researching-holocaust.html">Cunning of History</A> to examine the process (horrifying for my mind) whereby the state (or some other power) designates beings as non-existent as legal entities and thus no longer deserving of humane treatment (interestingly I watched the movie Ned Kelly last night and they did a good job of demonstrating this through the official designation of "outlaw" a person who one is legally no longer human and which British citizens where legally bound to kill on-sight)... but this is more the powers of state where you where originally asking about the psyche of the soldier under stress.<br /><br />Erich Fromm I believe would supply some interestiung insights for our contemporary situation in which war is depersonalized and often eroticized through technology (in particular his The Anatomy of Human Aggressiveness)<br /><br />Marvin's and Ingle's Blood Sacrifice and the Nation is more an examination of the symbolic relationship between war, nationalism and the sacrifice of young men in nationalistic endeavors...<br /><br />The novelist and world traveling reporter William Vollmann in his mammoth seven volume treatise on violence <A HREF="http://www.blogger.com/r?http%3A%2F%2Fdialogic.blogspot.com%2F2004%2F07%2Fwilliam-t-vollmann-on-necessity-of.html">Rising Up and Rising Down</A> could also supply some insights into this... <br /><br />Chris Hedges in his book talks about the addictive nature of high-intensity conflict (for some) ... and the difficulties of re-adjusting to everyday life back home (and these are war journalists)...Michaelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14256564770318269688noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6323968.post-1101090814966240862004-11-21T21:33:00.000-05:002004-11-21T21:33:00.000-05:00Thanks Thivai, I look forward to reading these. (...Thanks Thivai, I look forward to reading these. (Doris Lessing also comes to mind, as does Susan Sontag and Arendt of course...although sometimes I find these thinkers frustrating in ways (but of course!)<br /> <br />Is there a difference, I wonder, when male voices speak out regarding the complex psychology of wartime and its accompanying myths...given what might be described as their somewhat unique historical investments? Anyway. Will certainly take a look.Matt Christiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03336678358977647388noreply@blogger.com