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Secrets, spooks and ghosts : memoirs and contested memory at the CIA
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Aldrich, Richard J. and Gaspard, Jules (2021) Secrets, spooks and ghosts : memoirs and contested memory at the CIA. Journal of American Studies, 55 (3). pp. 551-575. doi:10.1017/S0021875819001798
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Official URL: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0021875819001798
Abstract
The CIA is increasingly symbolic of major controversies in American foreign policy. It also presents the academic researcher with a fascinating paradox – since it is simultaneously secret and yet high-profile. In part, this is due to the CIA's willingness to allow former operatives to write memoirs. We argue that the memoir literature, authored by CIA personnel both high and low, together with others who worked alongside them, is now so dense that this allows us a degree of triangulation. Yet these memoirs are increasingly collective productions, involving censors, ghostwriters and teams of researchers, introducing conflicting voices into the text, and adding layers of separation between author and reader. We suggest that these ghosted memoirs, therefore, operate on several levels. For good or ill, these books shape the American public's perception of the CIA and should be studied closely, especially by those interested in the subjectivities of image management. This essay seeks to explore these issues by comparing four memoirs by CIA directors and acting directors who have served since 9/11.
| Item Type: | Journal Article | ||||||||
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| Subjects: | J Political Science > JK Political institutions (United States) | ||||||||
| Divisions: | Faculty of Social Sciences > Politics and International Studies | ||||||||
| Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): | United States. Central Intelligence Agency, Intelligence officers -- United States -- Biography, United States -- Foreign relations, Intelligence service -- United States, United States. Central Intelligence Agency -- Officials and employees -- Biography, Intelligence service -- United States -- History -- 20th century, Intelligence service -- United States -- History -- 21st century | ||||||||
| Journal or Publication Title: | Journal of American Studies | ||||||||
| Publisher: | Cambridge University Press | ||||||||
| ISSN: | 0021-8758 | ||||||||
| Official Date: | July 2021 | ||||||||
| Dates: |
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| Volume: | 55 | ||||||||
| Number: | 3 | ||||||||
| Page Range: | pp. 551-575 | ||||||||
| DOI: | 10.1017/S0021875819001798 | ||||||||
| Status: | Peer Reviewed | ||||||||
| Publication Status: | Published | ||||||||
| Publisher Statement: | This article has been accepted for publication in a revised form for publication in Journal of American Studies https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-american-studies | ||||||||
| Access rights to Published version: | Restricted or Subscription Access | ||||||||
| Copyright Holders: | Copyright © Cambridge University Press and British Association for American Studies 2020 | ||||||||
| RIOXX Funder/Project Grant: |
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