Representations of the Iraqi “Other” in the Iraq War (2003-2011): Memoirs Written by Americans

Abstract

Life narratives are the perfect literary vehicle to observe conceptions of national identity. American politicians who served during the Iraq War (2003-2015) had the tendency to define the American ideationally, urging citizens to adopt the ideal attitudes they offered. Some of them employ definitions of the Iraqi “other” in their memoirs in order to justify and promote the foreign policy decisions of the time. Veteran memoirs, on the other hand, reflect how identities are formed, reformed, internalized, reinforced and/or refuted on the warfront. Focusing on the memoirs of Americans who served in Iraq, this article reveals that most of these memoirs harbor in them prejudiced, essentializing, and dehumanizing attitudes towards the Iraqi “other.” Such opinions and treatments address the civilian as well as the enemy; the individual insurgent as well as the al-Qaeda militant; the Middle Eastern as well as Muslims in general. My close reading of Chasing Ghosts: Failure and Facades in Iraq, A Soldier’s Perspective (2006) by Paul Rieckhoff, will show how defining the “other” is crucial in the formation of individual and national identities on the warfront. This analysis suggests that Americans can eliminate their negative opinions of the Iraqi “other” only when they question the mythical American identity and engage in an individual process of identity formation.

Keywords

• Iraq War
• Memoir
• America
• National Identity
• Paul Rieckhoff
• Chasing Ghosts