EARLE, Harriet (2018). Conflict then; trauma now : reading Vietnam across the decades in American comics. European Journal of American Culture, 37 (2), 159-172.
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Abstract
This article will consider the shift in representations of the Vietnam War in American comics, concentrating specifically on the shift from gung-ho violence and patriotism to nuanced personal narratives of trauma and the psychological impact of conflict. I will compare and contrast three comics series: The ‘Nam, a Marvel series that ran from 1986 to 1993; The Punisher Invades the ‘Nam, a crossover series that comprises two arcs over five issues in 1990 and 1992; and Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson’s The Punisher: Born ([2003] 2007), an origin story that positions trauma as a survival tool within theatre. Vietnam as a conflict event and a cultural touchstone has affected the way we view violence in the twenty-first century. I discuss how comics has measured and represented the shift in positioning of violence and conflict from earlier wars through Vietnam to the present day. I close by asking to what extent our tools and tropes for representation of violence have changed and ask if there remain some last strands of continuity from pre-Vietnam violence texts.
Item Type: | Article |
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Additional Information: | ** From Crossref via Jisc Publications Router. |
Uncontrolled Keywords: | Cultural Studies, History, Anthropology |
Departments - Does NOT include content added after October 2018: | Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities > Department of Humanities |
Identification Number: | https://doi.org/10.1386/ejac.37.2.159_1 |
Page Range: | 159-172 |
SWORD Depositor: | Margaret Boot |
Depositing User: | Margaret Boot |
Date Deposited: | 04 Jul 2018 11:28 |
Last Modified: | 18 Mar 2021 05:13 |
URI: | https://shura.shu.ac.uk/id/eprint/21655 |
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