From Pearl Harbor (1941) to Pearl Harbor (2001): On the Emancipatory Potential of Nursing During Wartime and its Representation in Hollywood Film

Authors

  • Susanne Bueechl

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5283/copas.264

Keywords:

Pearl Harbor (film), World War II, Nursing, Emancipation, Gender, Feminism

Abstract

This essay examines the representation of the nursing profession in the Hollywood movie Pearl Harbor“ (2001). As cultural products of their time, films tell us about the social and political conditions in which they were created. In the late 1990s and early 2000s a conservative feminist backlash, which Susan Faludi described as early as 1991 was still impacting the emancipation of women. In its often reactionary portrayal of the women nurses of World War II, Pearl Harbor“ seems to reflect more the situation of women in the 1990s than doing justice to the role of nurses during the attack on Pearl Harbor. Thus, through a cultural studies-informed analysis of the movie and its protagonist Evelyn Johnson, expectations of nurses during World War II will be examined and challenged.

Author Biography

Susanne Bueechl

Susanne Bueechl studied English, History, Social Studies and German as a Foreign Language at the University of Regensburg to become a teacher for secondary schools in Germany (Lehramt Gymnasium). Her research interests include current phenomena and topical issues in American society, particularly regarding women’s representation in the media and the respective historical background.

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Published

2017-05-26

How to Cite

Bueechl, Susanne. “From Pearl Harbor (1941) to Pearl Harbor (2001): On the Emancipatory Potential of Nursing During Wartime and Its Representation in Hollywood Film”. Current Objectives of Postgraduate American Studies, vol. 17, no. 2, May 2017, doi:10.5283/copas.264.

Issue

Vol. 17 No. 2 (2016): Women and Medicine in American Literature and Culture

Section

Articles

License

Creative Commons License

Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) 4.0 License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgment of the work’s authorship and initial publication in this journal.