Genre-Bending in The Armies of the Night

Authors

  • Jason Mosser Georgia Gwinnett College Author

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.68910/86d9ts09

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 Professor of English at Georgia Gwinnett College. A native West Virginian, he received his B.A. and M.A. in English from West Virginia University and his Ph.D. in English from the University of Georgia. He has taught at WVU, UGA, Georgia Tech, the Atlanta College of Art, Rockford College, and the University of North Georgia. His primary area of interest is contemporary American literature, especially literary journalism. His most recent articles and reviews have been published in The Mailer Review and Cambridge University Press. His book on the New Journalism of the 1960s and 70s was published in 2012. He published a chapbook, Salvage and Other Poems, in 2018, and another, The New Ones and Other Poems, in 2026.

The Mailer Review v.16: 20 Years of the Review

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Published

2026-11-04

Issue

Vol. 16 (2026): Special Edition: 20 Years of the Review

Section

III. Genre, Form, and Method

How to Cite

Mosser, Jason. “Genre-Bending in The Armies of the Night”. The Mailer Review, vol. 16, no. 1, Nov. 2026, pp. 75–87, https://doi.org/10.68910/86d9ts09.