Military Experience and the Arts: Bridging the Gap Between Military and Civilian Cultures Through Creative Expression Scholarship

Abstract

This paper considers the arts as a means of engaging veterans' military experiences, to help in reframing trauma and helping veterans use their pasts to move into positive futures. The author provides motivations and background on the material and explains the role of the arts in expressing and rendering military experience, before moving into the theory and practice of the arts-especially writing-as a path to healing and acceptance.