Kali Tal
scholar, editor, author
author, artist, activist
Tag Archives: Vietnam war
On the Cover of the Rolling Stone: Toward a Theory of Cultural Therapy
The cultural therapist, examining the survey results gathered from questions about the Vietnam War, would formulate certain important questions: 1) What are the bases on which this generation has decided that the U.S. should not have been involved in the Vietnam War? 2) What fears or anxieties are reflected in this generation’s reluctance to involve itself in foreign wars which it perceives to be similar to the war in Vietnam? and, 3) In what terms are these issues addressed?
The Self-Reflexive War: War looking at film looking at war
Soldiers’ expectations about their Vietnam experience, and influenced their actions while they were in Vietnam.They made life and death decisions based on film images, and the consequences could frequently be fatal. The devastating effects of their betrayal by the film medium brought about a deep ambivalence toward film in Vietnam War veterans. Film has also become an acknowledged weapon in the battle over who owns the narrative rights to the Vietnam War.
When History Talks Back: Using Combat Narratives and Vietnam Veteran Speakers to Teach the Vietnam War
The very thing that makes veterans’ testimony so attractive to us — the authenticity of it — makes that testimony suspect as history. The Vietnam veteran has a tremendous personal investment in his version of the story. Retelling the war is his way of rebuilding personal and national myths that have been shattered by the wartime experience. Vietnam veterans, in this respect, are no different than their Civil War, World War 1, World War 2, or Korean War veteran predecessors.