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Six Degrees Of Alteration: The Obstacles Soldier Memoirs Face In Their Quest To Convey An Experience Of War, Mark Christopher Sewell

Major Papers

ABSTRACT

Soldier memoirs have been used as an historical source for centuries. Their factual accuracy is less than that of official reports and histories that incorporate a wide range of sources, but they have become valued as a means to gain insight into the mindset of soldiers and have some of their experience transmitted to the reader. The experience transmitted to the reader is altered vastly from what the soldier experienced directly, due to the nature of human perception, memory, and the process of writing down his or her thoughts. This paper proposes a conceptual framework to assist in tracking …