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Subjective Experience and Military Masculinity at the Beginning of the Long Eighteenth Century, 1688‐1714
Author(s) -
Brittan Owen
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
journal for eighteenth‐century studies
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.129
H-Index - 11
eISSN - 1754-0208
pISSN - 1754-0194
DOI - 10.1111/1754-0208.12462
Subject(s) - normative , masculinity , reputation , officer , negotiation , institution , variety (cybernetics) , social psychology , psychology , sociology , relation (database) , gender studies , political science , law , database , artificial intelligence , computer science
Abstract No other institution illustrates the tensions between competing normative ideals and discursive behaviours more than the army. At the turn of the eighteenth century the British military had a reputation for being particularly untrustworthy, licentious, immoral and drunk. Using autobiographical sources and focusing on subjective experience in relation to normative expectations, this article questions such stereotypes by looking at four men in the middle ranks of the army officer corps. The attempt of these four officers to understand, perform and negotiate competing norms illustrates the tension that often existed between the expectations of a variety of masculine discourses.