In this Book
- My Music, My War: The Listening Habits of U.S. Troops in Iraq and Afghanistan
- Book
- 2016
- Published by: Wesleyan University Press
- Series: Music Culture
In the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, recent technological developments in music listening enabled troops to carry with them vast amounts of music and easily acquire new music, for themselves and to share with their fellow troops as well as friends and loved ones far away. This ethnographic study examines U.S. troops' musical-listening habits during and after war, and the accompanying fear, domination, violence, isolation, pain, and loss that troops experienced. My Music, My War is a moving ethnographic account of what war was like for those most intimately involved. It shows how individuals survive in the messy webs of conflicting thoughts and emotions that are intricately part of the moment-to-moment and day-to-day phenomenon of war, and the pervasive memories in its aftermath. It gives fresh insight into musical listening as it relates to social dynamics, gender, community formation, memory, trauma, and politics.
Table of Contents
- Acknowledgments
- pp. xv-xvi
- 1. Introduction
- pp. 1-18
- 2. Setting the Scene
- pp. 19-33
- 3. Musicking at Work and Leisure
- pp. 34-51
- 4. Music as a Sound Track of War
- pp. 52-79
- 7. Coming Home
- pp. 137-167
- 8. Music and Political Transformation
- pp. 168-184
- 9. As Time Goes By
- pp. 185-192
- Appendix: People Interviewed
- pp. 193-198
- References
- pp. 205-216
- About the Author
- pp. 231-232