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Full-Text Articles in Defense and Security Studies

Truth And (Self) Censorship In Military Memoirs, Esmeralda Kleinreesink, Joseph Soeters Apr 2016

Truth And (Self) Censorship In Military Memoirs, Esmeralda Kleinreesink, Joseph Soeters

Esmeralda Kleinreesink

It can be difficult for researchers from outside the military to gain access to the field. However, there is a rich source on the military that is readily available for every researcher: military memoirs. This source does provide some methodological challenges with regard to truth and (self) censorship, nevertheless. This study questions how truth and (self) censorship issues influence the content of these military autobiographies. It shows that these issues are not only a concern for researchers, but also for military writers themselves. The study provides concrete quantitative data based on military Afghanistan memoirs published between 2001 and 2010 from …


Pdd In Military Memoirs, Esmeralda Kleinreesink Oct 2014

Pdd In Military Memoirs, Esmeralda Kleinreesink

Esmeralda Kleinreesink

Using a mixed-method approach, this study examined the prevalence of post-deployment disorientation (PDD) in military memoirs. Post-deployment disorientation (Weibull 2012) is operationalized in this study as the writer describing either a feeling of prolonged alienation or one or more of the three post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms (re-experiencing, avoidance and numbing and/or increased arousal) after returning from his or her deployment. Content analysis to detect the occurrence of PDD was performed on all 54 military Afghanistan memoirs that were published between 2001 and 2010 in English, German or Dutch in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Canada and the Netherlands, …


Schrijvende Militairen, Esmeralda Kleinreesink Oct 2014

Schrijvende Militairen, Esmeralda Kleinreesink

Esmeralda Kleinreesink

Volgens het Trouw Schrijfonderzoek 2007 hebben meer dan een miljoen Nederlanders schrijven als hobby. Als er één activiteit is die mensen in een flow krijgt, is het wel schrijven. Ook militairen schrijven en publiceren over hun ervaringen op uitzending. Luitenant-kolonel Esmeralda Kleinreesink heeft een proefschrift geschreven over deze schrijvende militairen. Ze heeft alle militaire Afghanistan autobiografieën die tussen 2001 en 2010 zijn uitgegeven in Nederland, Duitsland, Engeland, de VS en Canada onderzocht. Tijdens deze lezing neemt Esmeralda Kleinreesink je in Mensale sneltreinvaart mee door haar onderzoek. Ze beantwoordt vier vragen: Wie zijn die schrijvende militairen? Wie publiceert ze? Waarover schrijven …


Layman's Talk Phd Ceremony On Military Memoirs, Esmeralda Kleinreesink Sep 2014

Layman's Talk Phd Ceremony On Military Memoirs, Esmeralda Kleinreesink

Esmeralda Kleinreesink

Layman's Talk from promotion ceremony PhD thesis 'On Military Memoirs' by lt-col Esmeralda Kleinreesink (in Dutch). The presentation itself can be viewed on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHCkrgaVg_A


Truth And (Self) Censorship In Military Memoirs. A Five Country Study Into Military Afghanistan Autobiographies, Esmeralda Kleinreesink Jun 2014

Truth And (Self) Censorship In Military Memoirs. A Five Country Study Into Military Afghanistan Autobiographies, Esmeralda Kleinreesink

Esmeralda Kleinreesink

Sometimes it can be fairly difficult for outsiders to gain access to the military field. However, there is a rich source on the military that is readily available for every researcher: military memoirs. This source does provide some methodological challenges, nevertheless. One might wonder about the reliability (‘truth’) of these autobiographies and whether their content is affected by the fact that these books are prone to official censorship by the military in order to preserve operational security. This study shows that truth and (self) censorship are not only a concern for researchers, but also for military writers themselves and it …


Researching ‘The Most Dangerous Of All Sources’: Egodocuments, L.H.E. (Esmeralda) Kleinreesink Dec 2013

Researching ‘The Most Dangerous Of All Sources’: Egodocuments, L.H.E. (Esmeralda) Kleinreesink

Esmeralda Kleinreesink

Egodocuments are texts in which an author writes about his or her own acts, thoughts and feelings, such as diaries, blogs, and memoirs. This chapter looks at how egodocuments can be (and are) used by military researchers. It concludes that it offers great research opportunities for any researcher despite scientific discipline or methodological background. All sorts of elements can be researched from paratext, theme and plot, to the psychology behind word usage, and both qualitative and quantitative methods can be used. Careful scoping and time and patience to collect the documents involved are essential ingredients for the successful military egodocument …


International Military Autobiographies, Esmeralda Kleinreesink Sep 2013

International Military Autobiographies, Esmeralda Kleinreesink

Esmeralda Kleinreesink

Presentation given at the Veteran Authors symposium organized by the Dutch Veterans' Institute as a general introduction to international military autobiographies, detailing the results from my study into military Afghanistan memoirs, showing who these contemporary authors are, what they write and why they write.


Schrijven Nederlandse Veteranen Anders?, Esmeralda Kleinreesink Aug 2013

Schrijven Nederlandse Veteranen Anders?, Esmeralda Kleinreesink

Esmeralda Kleinreesink

Het septembernummer van het veteranenblad Checkpoint is een special over veteranenboeken. Vanwege mijn wetenschappelijk onderzoek naar internationale militaire schrijvers, wilde de redactie graag weten of Nederlandse veteranenauteurs anders zijn dan militaire schrijvers uit andere landen. Mijn antwoord op die vraag is in dit artikel te vinden.


How (Not) To Sell A Military Memoir In The Uk, Esmeralda Kleinreesink, Rachel Woodward, Neil Jenkings Jun 2013

How (Not) To Sell A Military Memoir In The Uk, Esmeralda Kleinreesink, Rachel Woodward, Neil Jenkings

Esmeralda Kleinreesink

In this study, we look at all (n=15) military memoirs published between 2001 and 2010 in Britain about military participation in the Afghanistan conflict, to establish the factors which determine whether a military memoir becomes a best-seller (sales >10,000 copies), or not. We look at three aspects of the book: content (i.e. type of plot), cover (e.g. whether rank or the award of medals is mentioned) and author features (e.g. seniority, sex, co-authorship by another established writer, preface by well-known person), and analysed data on these aspects, and on sales figures, using SPSS. The results are interesting for the insight …