Forced to contend with unprecedented levels of psychological trauma during World War II, the United States military began sponsoring a series of nontheatrical films designed to educate and even rehabilitate soldiers and civilians alike. Traumatic Imprints traces the development of psychiatric and psychotherapeutic approaches to wartime trauma by the United States military, along with links to formal and narrative developments in military and civilian filmmaking. Offering close readings of a series of films alongside analysis of period scholarship in psychiatry and bolstered by research in trauma theory and documentary studies, Noah Tsika argues that trauma was foundational in postwar American culture. Examining wartime and postwar debates about the use of cinema as a vehicle for studying, publicizing, and even what has been termed “working through” war trauma, this book is an original contribution to scholarship on the military-industrial complex.

"Noah Tsika offers a brilliant exposé of wartime trauma management by the military during World War II. Documentary was crucial to this task. Rich in detail, bold in claims, and teeming with discussions of overlooked films, this is revisionist history at its best."—Bill Nichols, author of Introduction to Documentary

"The interminable Wars on Terror tell us that the Cold War age of military trauma has returned in force, if it ever really went away. In this bold, brilliant work of film-historical scholarship, Noah Tsika shows us why, in the words of Hollywood's veterans, Americans continue to be 'nervous out of the service.'"—Jonathan Kahana, author of Intelligence Work: The Politics of American Documentary and editor of The Documentary Film Reader: History, Theory, Criticism

 

"This book creates a space in which trauma of all kinds can be explored and confronted."