American Wartime Ideology
Learn about:
- Wartime American ideology and indoctrination
- Notions of the ideal American soldier
- Racial tropes in American and Japanese propaganda
Read:
John Dower, “Race, Language and War in Two Cultures: World War II in Asia,” in Lewis A. Erenberg and Susan E. Hirsch, eds. The War in American Culture: Society and Consciousness During World War II. pp. 169-201.
Watch:
Guadalcanal Diary (1943; 93 min.)
Assignment:
Write a 500-word essay on the following:
World War II in Asia was many things: a war of technology, a war of ideals, a war of total mobilization, a war for power and colonial interest, and a war of immense death and destruction. As John Dower notes in his essay, however, it was also a race war.
- How exactly was the Asia-Pacific War a race war? Focus on one or two aspects of race propaganda on each side and explain how they might have influenced the nature of the war. How did some of these tropes appear in The Story of Tank Commander Nishizumi and Guadalcanal Diary?
