Get Free Shipping on orders over $89
Hunt the Devil : A Demonology of Us War Culture - Oscar Giner

Hunt the Devil

A Demonology of Us War Culture

By: Oscar Giner, Robert L. Ivie

Hardcover | 15 July 2015 | Edition Number 2

At a Glance

Hardcover


$128.75

or 4 interest-free payments of $32.19 with

 or 

Ships in 5 to 10 business days

Hunt the Devil explains the origins and processes of the repetitive American reflex to demonize and then wage war against perceived opponents as well as ways to break the cycle.

Hunt the Devil is a timely and illuminating exploration of demonic imagery in US war culture. In it, authors Robert L. Ivie and Oscar Giner examine the origins of the Devil figure in the national psyche and review numerous examples from US history of the demonization of America's perceived opponents. Their analysis demonstrates that American military deployments are often part of a cycle of mythical projection wherein the Devil repeatedly appears anew and must be exorcised through redemptive acts of war, even at the cost of curtail-ing democratic values.

Meticulously researched, documented, and argued, Hunt the Devil opens with contemporary images of the US's global war on terror in the aftermath of 9/11. In five chapters devoted to the demonization of evildoers, witches, Indians, dictators, and Reds by American writers, in presidential rhetoric, and in popular culture, Ivie and Giner show how the use of demonization in the war on terror is only the most recent manifestation of a process that has recurred throughout American history.

In a sixth chapter, the authors introduce the archetype of the Trickster. Though not opposed to the Devil per se, the Trickster's democratic impulses have often provided a corrective antidote to the corrosive and distorting effects of demonization. Invoking the framework of Carl Jung's shadow aspect, Hunt the Devil offers the Trickster as a figure who can break the cycle of demonization and war.

The role of the mythic Devil in the American psyche has profound implications, not just for American diplomacy and the use of American arms in the world, but for the possibility of domestic peace within an increasingly diverse society. Hunt the Devil provides much of interest to readers and scholars in the fields of war, rhetorical studies, American Studies, US political culture, Jungian psychology, and mythography.
Industry Reviews
"Ivie and Giner's Hunt the Devil provides an excellent and original analysis of the role of demonology in American history and politics, and a comprehensive and well-grounded analysis of specific figures and sites of demonology, encompassing Evildoers, Witches, Indians, Dictators, Reds, and Tricksters, all interpreted as impediments to democracy, which the authors champion."
--Douglas Kellner, author of Cinema Wars: Hollywood Film and Politics in the Bush-Cheney Era and Media Spectacle and the Crisis of Democracy: Terrorism, War, and Election Battles

"The Devil theme in American political discourse is a hugely important topic. Far too little has been written about it by responsible scholars, so Hunt the Devil is a welcome addition to an all-too-small literature. The book is current and takes full account of the post-9/11 world. It also focuses on the link between internal and external evil, a very important theme in US history that has received far too scant attention. Finally, it enlivens rigorous, well-documented scholarship with politically engaged prose. Most books in this area do one or the other, while Ivie and Giner blend the two with great skill. I know of no other book that does all these things. An impressive achievement."
--Ira Chernus, author of American Nonviolence: The History of an Idea and Monsters to Destroy: The Neoconservative War on Terror and Sin

More in Theory of Warfare & Military Science

Art Of War : Arcturus Silkbound Classics - Sun Tzu

RRP $36.99

$32.75

11%
OFF
Deterrence from Depth : SSBNs in Indiaâs Nuclear Strategy - Anubhav Shankar Goswami
Paradiplomacy : Global Practices and Lessons Learnt - Devanshi Shah

RRP $326.00

$280.99

14%
OFF
Peace Education : A Framework for Implementation - Lokanath Mishra

RRP $326.00

$280.99

14%
OFF
Peace Education : A Framework for Implementation - Lokanath Mishra
The Art Of War : Deluxe Slipcased Edition - Sun Tzu

RRP $47.99

$40.75

15%
OFF
Security Studies : 4th Edition - An Introduction - Paul D Williams

RRP $88.99

$58.99

34%
OFF
The Art Of War : Collins Classics - Sun Tzu
Australia's Coastal War : When World War Two Reached Our Shores - Doctor Tom Lewis
Nuclear War : A Scenario - Annie Jacobsen

RRP $24.99

$21.75

13%
OFF
Fly Boy : Ace Pilot - A Life Cut Short - Peter Hodge

RRP $36.99

$28.75

22%
OFF
Blood and Ruins : The Great Imperial War, 1931-1945 - Richard Overy
Global Governance Futures - Thomas G Weiss

Not Supplied By Publisher

RRP $77.99

$51.99

33%
OFF
The Art of War : Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition - Sun Tzu

RRP $32.99

$24.99

24%
OFF
Modern Hybrid Warfare : Russia Versus the West - Ryan C. Maness

RRP $160.00

$143.75

10%
OFF
AI-Driven National Cyber Defense and Resilience Strategies - Mounia Zaydi
Corporate Military Intelligence - Shantanu K. Bansal

RRP $326.00

$280.99

14%
OFF