The Martial Imagination: Cultural Aspects of American Warfare

Editor's Acknowledgments

Editor’s Acknowledgments T erry made me do it. I first conceived of this anthology during several conversations I enjoyed with my colleague Terry Rioux, here at Lamar University. In trying to convey to her my approach to the study of the past, and more specifically warfare, I claimed that I practice cultural history. When she pressed me on what that meant, I not only realized that my own definition was quite imprecise, but that such imprecision is necessary for what I do—exploring the ambiguities and contradictions of meaning in the past. As I later compiled a reading list for a class on American warfare with an emphasis on cultural analysis, I realized that a small group of scholars used similar approaches, building on the works of Marcus Cunliffe, Richard Slotkin , Robert Johannsen, and others, and that some of them applied the term “cultural history of American warfare” to describe their studies. I decided then to reach out to this diverse group of scholars and asked them contribute to an anthology that I could not only use in the classroom but also use to start a more focused discussion about the nature and significance of this imprecisely defined subfield. I believe I can speak for them in saying that we do not pretend that The Martial Imagination would serve as the definitive and final authority on the subject of the cultural history of American warfare, but we hope that it will serve as a catalyst to many and varied conversations about violence and war, gender and race, belonging and excluding, memory and forgetting. I must express my deepest gratitude to the contributors of this volume. I have been working with many of them since December 2009, and despite the warnings about the travails and nightmares of editing an anthology, I can confidently say that my collaboration with this talented group has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my professional life. I owe a special debt to Terry Rioux for her encouragement, and to other colleagues at Lamar— Rebecca Boone, Jeff Forret, Mark Mengerink, and Yasuko Sato—who read and offered valuable comments on my essay and provided their welcome support . Mary Scheer and John Storey of Lamar and Charles Grear of Prairie View A&M generously lent their experiences as anthology editors, and Patty Renfro keeps our department running. Graduate assistants Casey Diaz and EdITOR’S ACkNOwLEdGMENTS x Cassandre Durso provided invaluable work through various stages of this project. Many of the contributors offer specific thanks in their individual biographies, and I would like to extend my own appreciation to all those who supported their endeavors. Mary Lenn Dixon,Thom Lemmons, and the staff at Texas A&M University Press have persistently exhibited patience with my impatience and sober advice to my rash over-reactions. I am especially grateful to Robert Wooster and the anonymous reader of our manuscript for their sage and incisive comments. Finally, I thank Liza Castillo Bryan, whose support makes my achievements possible and meaningful. Jimmy L. Bryan Jr. Lamar University The Martial Imagination ...