The CIA is increasingly symbolic of major controversies in American foreign policy. It also presents the academic researcher with a fascinating paradox – since it is simultaneously secret and yet high-profile. In part, this is due to the CIA's willingness to allow former operatives to write memoirs. We argue that the memoir literature, authored by CIA personnel both high and low, together with others who worked alongside them, is now so dense that this allows us a degree of triangulation. Yet these memoirs are increasingly collective productions, involving censors, ghostwriters and teams of researchers, introducing conflicting voices into the text, and adding layers of separation between author and reader. We suggest that these ghosted memoirs, therefore, operate on several levels. For good or ill, these books shape the American public's perception of the CIA and should be studied closely, especially by those interested in the subjectivities of image management. This essay seeks to explore these issues by comparing four memoirs by CIA directors and acting directors who have served since 9/11.

中文翻译：

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秘密、幽灵和幽灵：中央情报局的回忆录和有争议的记忆

中央情报局越来越成为美国外交政策重大争议的象征。它还向学术研究人员展示了一个迷人的悖论——因为它既是秘密的，又是引人注目的。部分原因是中央情报局愿意允许前特工撰写回忆录。我们认为，由 CIA 高层和底层人员以及与他们一起工作的其他人撰写的回忆录文学现在如此密集，以至于我们可以进行一定程度的三角测量。然而，这些回忆录越来越多地成为集体创作，涉及审查员、代笔人和研究团队，在文本中引入相互冲突的声音，并在作者和读者之间增加了层层分离。因此，我们建议这些幽灵回忆录在多个层面上运作。无论好坏，这些书塑造了美国公众 s 对中央情报局的看法，应该仔细研究，特别是那些对图像管理的主观性感兴趣的人。本文试图通过比较自 9/11 以来任职的中央情报局局长和代理导演的四本回忆录来探讨这些问题。