Warrior Ways: Explorations in Modern Military Folklore

by Tad Tuleja (editor)

Warrior Ways is one of the first book-length explorations of military folklife, and focuses on the lore produced by modern American warriors, illuminating the ways in which members of the armed services creatively express the complex experience of military life. In short, lively essays, contributors to the volume, all of whom have close personal or professional relationships to the military, examine battlefield talismans, personal narrative (storytelling), "Jody calls" (marching and running cadences), slang, homophobia and transgressive humor, music, and photography, among other cultural expressions.Military folklore does not remain in an isolated subculture; it reveals our common humanity by delighting, disturbing, infuriating, and inspiring both those deeply invested in and those peripherally touched by military life. Highlighting the contemporary and historical importance of the military in American life, Warrior Ways will be of interest to scholars and students of folklore, anthropology, and popular culture; those involved in veteran services and education; and general readers interested in military culture.

256 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 1, 2012

About the author

Tad Tuleja (b. 1944) is a graduate of Yale, Cornell, and the University of Sussex. He has been a journalist, editor, and researcher, and has authored numerous short-entry reference books. He teaches at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.