ERIC Number: ED247176
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 1984-Apr-8
Pages: 21
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Vietnam through a Different Lens: Fiction, Memoirs, and History.
Taylor, Sandra C.
Literary accounts help society gain a better understanding of the Vietnam War by providing coverage missing from historical accounts of this period. Literature on the Vietnam War has focused on a number of issues: America's initial involvement in Southeast Asia, the American perspective on the war, the experience of the American soldier, and the experience of people at home. Major themes are the moral implications, violence, racism, and personal consequences of participation in the war. Much of the importance of fiction and memoirs lies in their ability to depict the world of the combat soldier and to present the moral dilemma posed by this particular war. The most recent works on the war indicate that the basic question involved in interpreting the Vietnam experience--deciding whether the war was a war like any other or a unique experience in American history--is still unresolved. None of the literary works on Vietnam provide an overview of the war as a whole. While literature does not answer the fundamental historical questions that historians have raised concerning the Vietnam War, it does provide a vital human dimension of the war which complements historical treatments. (LP)
Descriptors: Fiction, Literature, Modern History, Nonfiction, Personal Narratives, Social History, United States History
Publication Type: Opinion Papers; Speeches/Meeting Papers
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A