Signs of War

In time of conflict, sides are drawn and groups identify themselves and others through symbols and signs. Signs can predict, represent, support, or protest war; their association to meaning may be obvious, unequivocal, or ambiguous, different according to co-opters or viewers, or yet hidden, unconscious. It is therefore vital to apprehend and understand their various meanings which is the aim of this collection of essays through the analysis of visual and written signs, relating to Vietnam, 9/11 and the now Iraq War, in the US or abroad, such as the US flag, ribbons, car-stickers, cartoons, movies, the media and presidential war rhetoric.

Anne-Marie Obajtek-Kirkwood is Associate Professor of French in the Department of Culture and Communication at Drexel University. She has published on the German Occupation of France, the Algerian War, conflict in the French suburbs, the Iraq War, and French 20th and 21st-century writers.
 
Ernest A. Hakanen is Associate Professor of Communication in the Department of Culture and Communication at Drexel University. He edited Mass Media and Society with A. Wells, Leading to the 2003 Iraq War. The Global Debate with A. G. Nikolaev, and is on the editorial board of Popular Communication.

PART I: THE IRAQ WAR: REAL AND VIRTUAL * Yellow Ribbons Everywhere and No Meaning to Be Found–Ernest A. Hakanen * Political Bumper Stickers and Vehicle Class: Are SUVs the Enemy?–Douglas Porpora and David Koch * Stars and Stripes in the Year after 9/11: ‘Rally around the Flag’ or ‘The Flag Is a Rag’–Ronald E. Ostman and Harry Littell * A Small World-and Its Flags-in a Much Bigger One–Anne-Marie Obajtek-Kirkwood * Searching for Common Sense: Tracing the Roots of George W. Bush’s War Rhetoric–Michael Butler * The Pornographic Barbarism of the Self-Reflecting Sign–Paul A. Taylor * Warlords of the Iraqi Blogosphere–Priscilla Ringrose * Warriors or Amazons: How Opposing the War in Iraq Became a Gender Issue in Mexico–Maria de la luz Matus-Mendoza * PART II: WARS THEN AND NOW *