Overview

A Communication Perspective on the Military brings into focus the challenge of sense-making in the war state. How do military family members talk to one another about the stress of deployment on their lives? How do media - old and new - render the costs of war meaningful? How is the narrative of war rhetorically constructed? The dynamics of military family transactions, media-military relations, and war rhetoric reveal, reinforce, and may even disrupt U.S. war culture. Offering close analysis and thoughtful critique, this book reflects upon the ways the meaning of war is communicated in private lives, social relations, and public affairs. The collection highlights three broad areas of concern: communication in the military family; the military in the media; and rhetoric surrounding the military. Katheryn Maguire, Roger Stahl, and Gordon Mitchell introduce each section with overarching and integrative literature reviews that offer directions for the field. Each section includes six chapters reporting the latest research and offering suggestions for practical applications. The book is a must-have reference for military and communication scholars and an ideal text for graduate seminars and upper division undergraduate courses focusing on communication and the military.

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9781454198093

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Reviews

A Communication Perspective on the Military provides one of the first comprehensive studies of the communicative dimensions of military relationships, martial theories, and military practices. This insightful book extends the work of humanists and social scientists who investigate the unique challenges that confront military families and other communities who must cope with the mediated coverage of wars as well as other military rhetorics. I anticipate that in the coming years this book will be considered 'must' reading for those who will soon be preparing syllabi for courses in military communication, critical security studies, and strategic military communication. (Marouf Arif Hasian, University of Utah) Given the powerful pull of militarism in our current culture and the centrality of communication practices and technologies to military operations, not enough attention has been paid to military communication. Fortunately, A Communication Perspective on the Military brings the full force of the communication discipline to bear upon this inherently fraught and difficult-to-manage terrain. The volume succeeds in drawing together a wide array of theoretical and methodological traditions to expand and inform the collective conversation in which we should all participate. Sahlstein Parcell and Webb prove that beginning such a complex international discussion should start with serious intellectual investigation. (Jeremy Packer, University of Toronto) Sahlstein Parcell and Webb have produced the most comprehensive collection of essays and empirical studies on communication and the military that our discipline has seen to date - works that are timely, theoretically grounded, and rich with exemplars. The editors bring together scholars from several areas of the communication discipline (e.g., family communication, media studies, rhetoric) whose research explores the military. Too often these areas of scholarship are read in isolation from each other, but this volume illustrates the potential for creating points of intersections between them. (Steven R. Wilson, Purdue University)

Author Information

Erin Sahlstein Parcell (PhD., The University of Iowa) is Associate Professor of Communication at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee. She is the author of over thirty chapters and articles. Her work has appeared in journals such as Communication Monographs, Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, Journal of Applied Communication Research, Western Journal of Communication, and Journal of Health Communication. Lynne M. Webb (PhD, University of Oregon) is Professor of Communication at Florida International University. She is the author of over seventy essays and two previously published edited volumes. Her work has appeared in the Journal of Applied Communication Research, Communication Education, Health Communication, and the Journal of Family Communication. She is a past president of the Southern States Communication Association.

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