Overview

Though a part of American soldiers' lives since the Revolutionary War, by World War II music could be broadcast to the front. Today it accompanies soldiers from the recruiting office to the battlefield. For this book, Jonathan Pieslak interviewed returning veterans to learn about the place of music in the Iraq War and in contemporary American military culture in general. Pieslak describes how American soldiers hear, share, use, and produce music both on and off duty. He studies the role of music from recruitment campaigns and basic training to its use ""in country"" before and during missions. Pieslak explores themes of power, chaos, violence, and survival in the metal and hip-hop music so popular among the troops, and offers insight into the daily lives of American soldiers in the Middle East.

Full Product Details

9780253220875

Table of Contents

Reviews

"""Sound Targets reveals just how pervasively popular music has shaped contemporary U.S. military culture... This thoughtful and provocative study will certainly attract a wide audience concerned with music's roles in the time of war."" W. Anthony Sheppard, author of Revealing Masks: Exotic Influences and Ritualized Performance in Modernist Music Theater ""Although it is easy to trivialise the use of music in torture, and more broadly in warfare, it is an important and neglected issue... Sound Targets offers a serious and insightful examination of how music was used by American soldiers in the Iraq war. Sound Targets provides a valuable reminder that, as the author argues, music can both power and disempower; it can both torture and ensure psychic survival."" - Keith Kahn-Harris is an honorary research fellow at the Centre for Religion and Contemporary Society, University of London, and the author of Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge."""

Sound Targets reveals just how pervasively popular music has shaped contemporary U.S. military culture... This thoughtful and provocative study will certainly attract a wide audience concerned with music's roles in the time of war. W. Anthony Sheppard, author of Revealing Masks: Exotic Influences and Ritualized Performance in Modernist Music Theater Although it is easy to trivialise the use of music in torture, and more broadly in warfare, it is an important and neglected issue... Sound Targets offers a serious and insightful examination of how music was used by American soldiers in the Iraq war. Sound Targets provides a valuable reminder that, as the author argues, music can both power and disempower; it can both torture and ensure psychic survival. - Keith Kahn-Harris is an honorary research fellow at the Centre for Religion and Contemporary Society, University of London, and the author of Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge.

[This] book documents and explains various ways in which music is intertwined throughout the lives of many American soldiers... serving in Iraq. The author's purpose for this work is to offer a glimpse into these military lives and add to the literature on music and war. -Music Reference Services Quarterly I highly recommend this book for all those interested in relationships between artistic expression and politics, war, militarism, and psychology. Its writing style is both accessible and sophisticated, making it appropriate for use in either undergraduate or graduate courses. -Journal of Folklore Research Pieslak's Sound Targets offers a serious and insightful examination of how music was used by American soldiers in the Iraq War. -Times Higher Education All in all, the author has amassed a profusion of valuable information and data about music and the Iraq War... Research into music's role in armed conflict is in its infancy... and we are in need of the kinds of histories and contexts he establishes and the accounts he records, especially in such an eminently readable and accessible text... [W]e must recognize Jonathan Pieslak for having bravely opened the door for further exploration through his pioneering study. -American Music Pieslak's careful consideration of soldier accounts about music and his detailed analyses of specific musical texts, videos, and repertoires make Sound Targets an important and timely contribution to the growing discourse around music and war. -MUSICultures Sound Targets reveals just how pervasively popular music has shaped contemporary U.S. military culture... This thoughtful and provocative study will certainly attract a wide audience concerned with music's roles in the time of war. -W. Anthony Sheppard, author of Revealing Masks: Exotic Influences and Ritualized Performance in Modernist Music Theater

Author Information

Jonathan Pieslak is Associate Professor of Music at the City College and Graduate Center, CUNY. He lives in New York City.

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available