ENGLISH

Ghosts of War in Vietnam (Studies in the Social and Cultural History of Modern Warfare)

By Heonik Kwon

Book information

Year
2008
ISBN
0521880610, 9780521880619, 9780511388217
Open Library ID
OL10438329M
Language
english
Format
PDF
Filesize
906 kB (927935 bytes)
Edition
1
Pages
232\234
Topic
History
Time added
2011-06-04 13:46:07

Description

This is a fascinating and truly groundbreaking study of the Vietnamese experience and memory of the Vietnam War through the lens of popular imaginings about the wandering souls of the war dead. These ghosts of war play an important part in postwar Vietnamese historical narrative and imagination and Heonik Kwon explores the intimate ritual ties with these unsettled identities which still survive in Vietnam today as well as the actions of those who hope to liberate these hidden but vital historical presences from their uprooted social existence. Taking a unique approach to the cultural history of war, he introduces gripping stories about spirits claiming social justice and about his own efforts to wrestle with the physical and spiritual presence of ghosts. Although these actions are fantastical, this book shows how examining their stories can illuminate critical issues of war and collective memory in Vietnam and the modern world more generally.

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