The Mission as a Master Signifier: Documentary Film, Social Change and Discourse Analysis

Authors

Joseph van der Naald, CUNY Graduate CenterFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

6-12-2015

Abstract

This field note explores the ways in which the documentary MIND ZONE: Therapists Behind the Front Lines (2014), directed by Dr. Jan Haaken, moves viewers into innovative and critical stances towards the U.S. military mental health program. Using a discourse analysis of the film and transcripts of interviews conducted by Haaken, I trace the deployment of the term “the mission” to show how the film teases apart problematic military discursive practices. Jacques Lacan’s theory of the four discourses is used to analyze how MIND ZONE’s content challenges audiences to produce their own critically informed opinions.

Comments

This is the accepted manuscript of an article published in Psychoanalysis, Culture & Society, available at doi:10.1057/pcs.2015.12.