Abstract:

At virtually the same moment that contemporary critics have recently turned to examining the ever-more visible genres of literary nonfiction, a number of journalistic texts have begun to portray American veterans returning from the counterinsurgency campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan—and with that, to depicting the socalled "hidden wounds" war veterans often bring home. This essay examines perhaps the most prominent of these texts, David Finkel's Thank You for Your Service (2013). Finkel's book follows a group of veterans of the Iraq war as they return to their home lives in and around Fort Riley, Kansas. Finkel's techniques—exemplifying a hybridized, journalistic adaptation of Anglo-American modernism—are examined in light of ongoing controversies over Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), and the questions raised across the disciplines about whether the diagnosis has eclipsed fuller discussions of what are called "moral injuries," inner conflicts resulting from the ethical and political dimensions of war. Following these recently raised questions, it is argued here that hidden wounds often carry the contradictions of "domestic" ideology already present in US counterinsurgency doctrine—contradictions that resurface in Finkel's depictions of the return to the homeland. In closing, the gendered, national framing of Finkel's book is interrogated, as well as the limitations in the concept of moral injury itself.

摘要：

几乎在当代评论家最近转向研究文学非小说类小说的同时，许多新闻文本开始描绘出从伊拉克和阿富汗的平叛运动返回的美国退伍军人，并以此来描绘所谓的“隐形伤口”退伍军人经常带回家。本文探讨了这些文本中最突出的部分，大卫·芬克尔（David Finkel）的“谢谢您的服务”（2013）。Finkel的书讲述了一群伊拉克战争的退伍军人，他们回到了堪萨斯州赖利堡及其周围的家中。鉴于对创伤后应激障碍（PTSD）的持续争议，以及有关诊断是否超越了有关诊断的更全面讨论的跨学科问题，研究了Finkel的技术-举例来说，对英美现代主义进行了混合，新闻性的改编。所谓的“道德伤害”，是战争的道德和政治层面造成的内部冲突。继这些最近提出的问题之后，这里有人争辩说，隐藏的伤口通常带有美国反叛乱学说中已经存在的“家庭”意识形态的矛盾，这种矛盾在芬克尔（Finkel）关于返回家园的描述中再次浮出水面。最后，