Author : Heonik Kwon
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
ISBN 13 : 9781107659421
Total Pages : 234 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (594 download)
Book Synopsis Ghosts of War in Vietnam by : Heonik Kwon
Download or read book Ghosts of War in Vietnam written by Heonik Kwon and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2013-08-22 with total page 234 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is a fascinating 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.