Trauma hero paradigm has been a long standing tradition in American war literature

which has lead to problematic representations of war from a unilateral perspective of American soldiers. In reaction to this narrative paradigm and in a call for a broader reckoning with the multifaceted realities of the Iraq war

contemporary war novelists have taken on multiple perspectives in their war writings to address the other muted voices from war

including women soldiers

Iraqi and Afghan civilians

as well as ordinary Americans as outsiders and moral observers of war. This essay focuses on three novels

War Porn (2016) by Roy Scanton

Sand Queen (2011) by Helen Benedict

and Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk (2012) by Ben Fountain to explore how and why these works have disputed the trauma hero paradigm by producing multiple counter-narratives against the predominant white male soldier narrative.