Enemy, Views of the
Enemy, Views of the.All cultures dehumanize their enemies to some degree. They do this by portraying them as aggressors or even devils, savages, torturers, rapists, or vermin. These attributes may be applied to the enemy's entire society or only to its ruler or ruling elite. Americans have typically applied this more focused view of the enemy to countries that mirror themselves racially, culturally, or ideologically. Peoples who seemed alien were more likely to be regarded all‐inclusively as the enemy.
Adversaries who have most nearly resembled Americans include the British during the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812, the Germans of World War I and II, and of course the Northerners and Southerners of the Civil War. In each case, the true enemy was ordinarily identified as the opponent's leadership rather than population. Thus, revolutionaries fixed...
[The entire page is 2191 words long]
Join eNotes
Over 3,500 study guides, question and answer forums, literature criticism, reference content, and much more!
Oxford University Press Titles
