Genre-Bending in The Armies of the Night

Authors

  • Jason Mosser Georgia Gwinnett College Author

Keywords:

The Armies of the Night, New Journalism, literary journalism, genre hybridity, Vietnam War protest, historiography and fiction

Abstract

How does Norman Mailer define the terms “novel” and “history” in the context of his literary journalism? Literary journalism is certainly the only generic label that completely fits. Further, if we take the text to be a work of New Journalism, then what part is journalism, as opposed to what parts are fiction and history, and how do we distinguish among the genres? Mailer configures all three genres in remarkably original ways.

Author Biography

  • Jason Mosser, Georgia Gwinnett College

    Jason Mosser is a graduate of West Virginia University and the University of Georgia. He is an Associate Professor of English at Georgia Gwinnett College in the Atlanta suburbs. He has written extensively about literary journalism. His book, Participatory New Journalism: Style, Persona, and Protest, will appear later this year. His next project is a book on Hunter S. Thompson.

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Published

2026-03-14

Issue

Vol. 3 No. 1 (2009): Beyond Fiction

Section

Articles