Abstract
Fox explores the construction of heroic mercenary masculinities and identities across fictional and factual narratives connected to Frederick Forsyth’s 1974 novel The Dogs of War. Through a close reading of the novel, Fox argues that alpha-mercenary Cat Shannon represents a construction of a modern, ‘authentic’ mercenary masculinity—a principled rugged individualist, conscientious professional warrior, and noble trickster folk hero—distinct from ‘false’ mercenaries who fight only for money. As a pedagogical text, the novel teaches readers about vast, complicated global systems of war and the impact a careful individual can make. Analyzing the imbrications of fact and fiction in the novel’s structure, storytelling, conditions of production, and legacy, Fox argues that literary constructions of mercenaries create ways of defining and understanding ‘real-life’ mercenaries and masculinities.
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Notes
- 1.
Moroz and Chittenden both cite information found in a former mercenary’s diaries in 1978 as the source of credible allegations of Forsyth’s involvement in the 1973 coup attempt, but they cite different venues for the publication of the allegations. Moroz found his information in the French magazine Jeune Afrique in 1978 (see Moroz 64), while Chittenden cites investigative work done by The Sunday Times’s Insight team in 1978.
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Fox, C. (2017). Rugged Individualists and Systemic Coups: Imagining Mercenary Masculinities in The Dogs of War (1974) . In: Horlacher, S., Floyd, K. (eds) Contemporary Masculinities in the UK and the US. Global Masculinities. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-50820-7_3
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