Browsing by Subject "war"

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    Puppets of Terror: The Limits and Opportunities of Creating Ambiguity about Terrorists and Terrorism through Humor
    (Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research, 2013-04-05) Davey, Lydia
    At times of war, the rhetorical strategy of framing an opponent as a dispensible “other” and dehumanizing the enemy enables people to view other human beings as worthy of death. Since 9/11, the labels of “terror” and “terrorist” have served these rhetorical ends. This analysis explores the ways that puppetry and rhetorical strategies of humor have been used since the 9/11 attacks to create ambiguity around the concepts of terrorists and terrorism. Comedians, with the help of a small army of complex, ambivalent characters, have problematized the politics of fear and dehumanization. This research examined puppets from three sources: the satirical news program The Daily Show with Jon Stewart; the marionette movie Team America; and ventriloquist Jeff Dunham. The research draws on scholarship about the purpose and social functions of humor. Through the lens of rhetorical criticism and cultural studies, I analyzed the persona constructed by the puppets and the implications of their messages about terrorism, terrorists, and domestic policy. I suggest that the humorous use of puppets constructs a neutered terrorist threat, breaks down rigid perception barriers, and challenges visceral reactions to the words “terrorist” and “terror.” These performances also call into question the rigid and binary distinctions between good and evil that the politics of fear construct. However, even as they create ambiguity, these comic figures provide subtle strategies to deride the enemy, vent anger, and reinforce stereotypes about the threat of the “Other.” For better or worse, the use of not-quite human representatives of terror allowed America to laugh again after 9/11. Understanding the role of humor as it relates to fear, particularly regarding the sensitive and often racially charged discussion of radical Islamic fundamentalists, contributes to a refined perspective of the role of humor as a political tool.
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    The true war story: ontological reconfiguration in the war fiction of Kurt Vonnegut and Tim O'Brien
    (2017) Aukerman, Jason Michael; Marvin, Tom; Eller, Jonathan; Rebein, Robert
    This thesis applies the ontological turn to the war fiction of veteran authors, Kurt Vonnegut and Tim O’Brien. It argues that some veteran authors desire to communicate truth through fiction. Choosing to communicate truth through fiction hints at a new perspective on reality and existence that may not be readily accepted or understood by those who lack combat experience. The non-veteran understanding of war can be more informed by entertaining the idea that a multiplicity of realities exists. Affirming the combat veteran reality—the post-war ontology—and acknowledging the non-veteran reality—rooted in what I label “pre-war” or “civilian” ontology—helps enhance the reader’s understanding of what veteran authors attempt to communicate through fiction. This approach reframes the dialogic interaction between the reader and the perspectives presented in veteran author’s fiction through an emphasis on “radical alterity” to the point that telling and reading such stories represent distinct ontological journeys. Both Kurt Vonnegut and Tim O’Brien provide intriguing perspectives on reality through their fiction, particularly in the way their characters perceive and express morality, guilt, time, mortality, and even existence. Vonnegut and O’Brien’s war experiences inform these perspectives. This does not imply that the authors hold an identical perspective on the world or that combat experience yields an ontological understanding of the world common to every veteran. It simply asserts that applying the ontological turn to these writings, and the writings of other combat veterans, reveals that those who experience combat first-hand often walk away from those experiences with a changed ontological perspective.