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(De)construction of American Masculinity Through Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Bobbie Ann Mason’s In Country

Year 2020, Issue: 53, 137 - 155, 01.05.2020

Abstract

This article examines Bobbie Ann Mason’s In Country (1985)
to show how the memorialization of the Vietnam War deconstructs
the conventional image of the American war hero and his masculinity
through the coming of age story of Samantha Hughes. While
demonstrating how disruptive normative gender roles are in characters’
daily lives, initiated through Samantha’s passage to adulthood and her
search for a father figure in the novel, Mason also shows how Vietnam
destroyed the heroic soldier image in national consciousness and
shook the noble cause of American exceptionalism. Through a trip to
the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in the book, this article argues that in
the search for identity, the protagonist Samantha questions both the
morality of the Vietnam War and the traditional masculine attitudes
of American men. Hence, the trip to the Memorial initiates a healing
process as well as a confrontation of the emasculated American hero
who did not feel appreciated and honored by the Vietnam Veterans
Memorial, which became one of the most controversial historical
memorializations of war in the United States.

References

  • Booth, David. “Sam’s Quest, Emmett’s Wound: Grail Motifs in Bobbie Ann Mason’s Portrait of America after Vietnam.” The Southern Literary Journal, vol. 23, no. 2, 1991, pp. 98–109. JSTOR, www. jstor.org/stable/20078020.
  • Boyle, Brenda M. Masculinity in Vietnam War Narratives: A Critical Study of Fiction, Films and Nonfiction Writings. Kindle ed., McFarland, 2009.
  • Dwyer, June. “New Roles, New History and New Patriotism: Bobbie Ann Mason’s ‘In Country.’” Modern Language Studies, vol. 22, no. 2, 1992, pp. 72–78. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/3195019.
  • Graybill, Mark S. “Reconstructing/Deconstructing Genre and Gender: Postmodern Identity in Bobbie Ann Mason’s In Country and Josephine Humphreys’ Rich in Love.” Critique: Studies in Contemporary Fiction, vol. 43, no. 3, 2002, pp. 239–259., doi:10.1080/00111610209602183.
  • Grewe-Volpp, Christa. “‘Memory Attaches Itself to Sites’: Bobbie Ann Mason’s ‘In Country’ and the Significance of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.” Amerikastudien / American Studies, vol. 49, no. 2, 2004, pp. 173–189. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/ stable/41157929.
  • Halberstam, Judith. Female Masculinity. Duke University Press, 1998. Hinrichsen, Lisa. “‘I Can’t Believe It Was Really Real’: Violence, Vietnam, and Bringing War Home in Bobbie Ann Mason’s ‘In Country.’” The Southern Literary Journal, vol. 40, no. 2, 2008, pp. 232–248. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/20077916.
  • Huebner, Andrew J. The Warrior Image: Soldiers in American Culture from the Second World War to the Vietnam Era. University of North Carolina Press, 2008. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/ stable/10.5149/9780807868218_huebner.
  • Keene, Judith. “Lost to Public Commemoration: American Veterans of the ‘Forgotten’ Korean War.” Journal of Social History, vol. 44, no. 4, 2011, pp. 1095–1113.
  • Kilshaw, Susie. Impotent Warriors: Perspectives on Gulf War Syndrome, Vulnerability and Masculinity. NED - New edition, 1 ed., Berghahn Books, 2009. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/j. ctt9qdd0b.
  • Krasteva, Yonka. “The Significance of the ‘Closed Frontier’ in Bobbie Ann Mason’s In Country.” BELLS: Barcelona English Language and Literature Studies, no. 7, 1996, pp. 83–94. Leed, Eric J. “Violence, Death and Masculinity.” Vietnam Generation, vol. 1, no. 3-4, pp. 169–190.
  • Longley, Kyle. “Between Sorrow and Pride: The Morenci Nine, the Vietnam War, and Memory in Small-Town America.” Pacific Historical Review, vol. 82, no. 1, 2013, pp. 1–32. JSTOR, www. jstor.org/stable/10.1525/phr.2013.82.1.1.
  • Mason, Bobbie Ann. In Country: A Novel. Harper Perennial, 2005. McMahon, Robert. “Contested Memory: The Vietnam War and American Society, 1975-2001.” Diplomatic History, vol. 26, no. 2, 17 Dec. 2002, pp. 159–184., doi: 10.1111/1467-7709.00306.
  • Sturken, Marita. “The Wall, the Screen, and the Image: The Vietnam Veterans Memorial.” Representations, no. 35, 1991, pp. 118– 142. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/2928719.
  • Turner, Frederick J. The Significance of the Frontier in American History. https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/arts/english/currentstudents/ undergraduate/modules/fulllist/special/en304/syllabus2017-18/ the_significance_of_the_frontier_in_american_history.pdf.
Year 2020, Issue: 53, 137 - 155, 01.05.2020

Abstract

References

  • Booth, David. “Sam’s Quest, Emmett’s Wound: Grail Motifs in Bobbie Ann Mason’s Portrait of America after Vietnam.” The Southern Literary Journal, vol. 23, no. 2, 1991, pp. 98–109. JSTOR, www. jstor.org/stable/20078020.
  • Boyle, Brenda M. Masculinity in Vietnam War Narratives: A Critical Study of Fiction, Films and Nonfiction Writings. Kindle ed., McFarland, 2009.
  • Dwyer, June. “New Roles, New History and New Patriotism: Bobbie Ann Mason’s ‘In Country.’” Modern Language Studies, vol. 22, no. 2, 1992, pp. 72–78. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/3195019.
  • Graybill, Mark S. “Reconstructing/Deconstructing Genre and Gender: Postmodern Identity in Bobbie Ann Mason’s In Country and Josephine Humphreys’ Rich in Love.” Critique: Studies in Contemporary Fiction, vol. 43, no. 3, 2002, pp. 239–259., doi:10.1080/00111610209602183.
  • Grewe-Volpp, Christa. “‘Memory Attaches Itself to Sites’: Bobbie Ann Mason’s ‘In Country’ and the Significance of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.” Amerikastudien / American Studies, vol. 49, no. 2, 2004, pp. 173–189. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/ stable/41157929.
  • Halberstam, Judith. Female Masculinity. Duke University Press, 1998. Hinrichsen, Lisa. “‘I Can’t Believe It Was Really Real’: Violence, Vietnam, and Bringing War Home in Bobbie Ann Mason’s ‘In Country.’” The Southern Literary Journal, vol. 40, no. 2, 2008, pp. 232–248. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/20077916.
  • Huebner, Andrew J. The Warrior Image: Soldiers in American Culture from the Second World War to the Vietnam Era. University of North Carolina Press, 2008. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/ stable/10.5149/9780807868218_huebner.
  • Keene, Judith. “Lost to Public Commemoration: American Veterans of the ‘Forgotten’ Korean War.” Journal of Social History, vol. 44, no. 4, 2011, pp. 1095–1113.
  • Kilshaw, Susie. Impotent Warriors: Perspectives on Gulf War Syndrome, Vulnerability and Masculinity. NED - New edition, 1 ed., Berghahn Books, 2009. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/j. ctt9qdd0b.
  • Krasteva, Yonka. “The Significance of the ‘Closed Frontier’ in Bobbie Ann Mason’s In Country.” BELLS: Barcelona English Language and Literature Studies, no. 7, 1996, pp. 83–94. Leed, Eric J. “Violence, Death and Masculinity.” Vietnam Generation, vol. 1, no. 3-4, pp. 169–190.
  • Longley, Kyle. “Between Sorrow and Pride: The Morenci Nine, the Vietnam War, and Memory in Small-Town America.” Pacific Historical Review, vol. 82, no. 1, 2013, pp. 1–32. JSTOR, www. jstor.org/stable/10.1525/phr.2013.82.1.1.
  • Mason, Bobbie Ann. In Country: A Novel. Harper Perennial, 2005. McMahon, Robert. “Contested Memory: The Vietnam War and American Society, 1975-2001.” Diplomatic History, vol. 26, no. 2, 17 Dec. 2002, pp. 159–184., doi: 10.1111/1467-7709.00306.
  • Sturken, Marita. “The Wall, the Screen, and the Image: The Vietnam Veterans Memorial.” Representations, no. 35, 1991, pp. 118– 142. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/2928719.
  • Turner, Frederick J. The Significance of the Frontier in American History. https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/arts/english/currentstudents/ undergraduate/modules/fulllist/special/en304/syllabus2017-18/ the_significance_of_the_frontier_in_american_history.pdf.
There are 14 citations in total.

Details

Primary Language English
Subjects North American Language, Literature and Culture, Literary Studies
Journal Section Research Articles
Authors

İdil Didem Keskiner This is me 0000-0002-4155-3475

Publication Date May 1, 2020
Published in Issue Year 2020 Issue: 53

Cite

MLA Keskiner, İdil Didem. “(De)construction of American Masculinity Through Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Bobbie Ann Mason’s In Country”. Journal of American Studies of Turkey, no. 53, 2020, pp. 137-55.

JAST - Journal of American Studies of Turkey