Nothing ever dies : Vietnam and the memory of war / Viet Thanh Nguyen.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Nguyen, Viet Thanh, 1971- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Social aspects.

Vietnam War, 1961-1975.

Social aspects.

Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Art and the war.

Memory--Sociological aspects.

Memory.

War and society.

Art and war.

Identity (Psychology) in art.

Genre:

Art.

Art and the war.

Physical Description:

viii, 374 pages : illustrations ; 22 cm

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Massachusetts : Harvard University Press, 2016.

Summary:

"All wars are fought twice, the first time on the battlefield, the second time in memory. Exploring how this troubled memory works in Vietnam, the United States, Laos, Cambodia, and South Korea, the book deals specifically with the Vietnam War and also war in general. He reveals how war is a part of our identity, as individuals and as citizens of nations armed to the teeth. Venturing through literature, film, monuments, memorials, museums, and landscapes of the Vietnam War, he argues that an alternative to nationalism and war exists in art, created by artists who adhere to no nation but the imagination."--Provided by publisher.

"All wars are fought twice, the first time on the battlefield, the second time in memory. From the author of the bestselling novel The Sympathizer comes a searching exploration of the conflict Americans call the Vietnam War and Vietnamese call the American War--a conflict that lives on in the collective memory of both nations. From a kaleidoscope of cultural forms--novels, memoirs, cemeteries, monuments, films, photography, museum exhibits, video games, souvenirs, and more--Nothing Ever Dies brings a comprehensive vision of the war into sharp focus. At stake are ethical questions about how the war should be remembered by participants that include not only Americans and Vietnamese but also Laotians, Cambodians, South Koreans, and Southeast Asian Americans. Too often, memorials valorize the experience of one's own people above all else, honoring their sacrifices while demonizing the "enemy"--or, most often, ignoring combatants and civilians on the other side altogether. Visiting sites across the United States, Southeast Asia, and Korea, Viet Thanh Nguyen provides penetrating interpretations of the way memories of the war help to enable future wars or struggle to prevent them. Drawing from this war, Nguyen offers a lesson for all wars by calling on us to recognize not only our shared humanity but our ever-present inhumanity. This is the only path to reconciliation with our foes, and with ourselves. Without reconciliation, war's truth will be impossible to remember, and war's trauma impossible to forget." -- Publisher's description

Contents:

Just memory

Ethics:

On remembering one's own

On remembering others

On the inhumanities

Industries:

On war machines

On becoming human

On asymmetry

Aesthetics

On victims and voices

On true war stories

On powerful memory

Just forgetting.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 330-352) and index.

ISBN:

9780674660342

067466034X

OCLC:

923017640