CILALANMIŞ KAHRAMANLAR: AMERİKAN KURGUSUNDA SAVAŞ YÜZLERİ

Abstract

Phil Klay is one of many American war veterans to mould their experiences in war into works of literature. In his first story collection, Redeployment (first published in 2014), Klay employs first person narrators with diverse backgrounds and occupations to provide multi-faceted perspectives and insights into war. This study examines service members in these stories within the context of the 2001 War in Afghanistan and 2003 War in Iraq and their behaviour in terms of heroism/post-heroism. Post-heroism declares the decline of heroic mindset in present wars since soldiers are less concerned with the grandeur of achievements and more obsessed with their own survival. This paper investigates two aspects of the collection’s representation of war, specifically, soldiers’ emotive and psychological interaction with lethal experiences in and after war in addition to impetuses behind soldiers’ involvement in the military. Even though Klay’s stories are abundant with combat scenes, characters are preoccupied with the appalling reality of war rather than grandeur of valour. War is framed within conflicting sensitivities and motivations through twelve narrators which reflect a rather gloomy perspective.