The Material Soldier: Cultures of Consumerism and the GIs' Search for Identity in Vietnam

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

The Material Soldier: Cultures of Consumerism and the GIs' Search for Identity in Vietnam assesses whether material culture and acts of consumption during the Vietnam War played a pivotal role in GIs' (United States Armed Forces) understanding of their identity, masculinity and military service. By putting material objects such as personal radios, Zippo Lighters and uniforms into conversation with soldier's letters, diaries and oral histories, this project explores soldiers' relationship with consumerism within the microcosm of base camp culture. The Material Soldier will unpick the monolithic image of GIs, exhibiting how race, ethnicity and class influenced perceptions of personal identity, empire and the U.S. role in the world; as well as how these objects were negotiated. It contributes to Cold War historiography by detailing the intersections between military service, camp life and consumerism, providing new insights into soldier's renegotiation of their masculinity through material objects.Christian Appy (1993) and Meredith Lair's (2011) research provides the basis of this project. Appy's Working-Class War displayed the economic and racial demographics of the draft, while Lair detailed vast consumption during the war, depicting soldiers as "armed with abundance", yet failed to interrogate personal experience. This project uses soldiers' objects and the concept of the "male child consumer"before and during the war, to uncover personal experiences and GIs' identification of self. Scholarship by Lizabeth Cohen (2003) and Margaret Peacock (2014) provide context on 1950's American consumption and how this transposed into Vietnam, while Aaron Belkin (2021) and Andrew Huebner (2008) provide theoretical framework on concepts of military masculinity and gender.Accessing participants' experience through material culture is a new concept within Vietnam War historiography. Adopting a socio-cultural approach, this research displays GIs' connection to objects before and during service. The project will trace GIs' exposure from the childhood connections they felt to toy weaponry in the "Consumers' Republic" of the 1950s to the customisation of military-issued items in Vietnamese base camps. This research is the first project to elucidate the identity and beliefs of GIs through the objects they engaged with, offering new perspectives on military service, how America hoped to reshape life in Vietnam, American citizenship and transnational consumerism, and GI's political and social views.The thesis consists of six chapters divided into three sections - Origins, Objects and Consumption. Origins explores America's consumption history, exploring how the commercialisation of violence through toys influenced boys' perceptions of war. Objects analyses GIs' experience through items they engaged with during service, putting renegotiated uniforms, guns and radios into dialogue with oral histories and other primary sources. Consumption explores recreational consumption within base camps highlighting the transposition of America's "Consumers' Republic" overseas, focusing on living quarters, bars, music and entertainment. The first year will consist of gathering literature, researching and visiting archives. Within the second year I will select my key sources, literature, and draft chapters. Three of the six chapters willbe drafted by the end of second year. During the final year, I will further develop and finalise the chapters ready for submission.