"Bold. . . . The greatest pleasure the book offers is the often
thought-provoking close reading of both familiar and long-forgotten
movies and fiction of the Vietnam War era."
"--The Journal of American History"
"Beattie shows us how ideological strategies operate and,
thereby, prepares us to outflank them in the future. The importance
of his contribution to the study ofAmerican culture can hardly be
overstated."
"--Contemporary Sociology"
." . . brilliantly shows how the war lost abroad was
subsequently won at home."
"--American Quarterly"
At the height of the Vietnam War, American society was so
severely fragmented that it seemed that Americans may never again
share common concerns. The media and other commentators represented
the impact of the war through a variety of rhetorical devices, most
notably the emotionally charged metaphor of "the wound that will
not heal." References in various contexts to veterans' attempts to
find a "voice," and to bring the war "home" were also common.
Gradually, an assured and resilient American self-image and
powerful impressions of cultural collectivity transformed the
Vietnam war into a device for maintaining national unity. Today,
the war is portrayed as a healed wound, the once "silenced" veteran
has found a voice, and the American home has accommodated the
effects of Vietnam. The scar has healed, binding Americans into a
union that denies the divisions, diversities, and differences
exposed by the war. In this way, America is now "over" Vietnam.
In The Scar That Binds, Keith Beattie examines the central
metaphors of the Vietnam war and their manifestations in American
culture and life. Blending history and culturalcriticism in a lucid
style, this provocative book discusses an ideology of unity that
has emerged through widespread rhetorical and cultural references
to the war. A critique of this ideology reveals three dominant
themes structured in a range of texts: the "wound," "the voice" of
the Vietnam veteran, and "home." The analysis of each theme draws
on a range of sources, including film, memoir, poetry, written and
oral history, journalism, and political speeches. In contrast to
studies concerned with representations of the war as a combat
experience, The Scar That Binds opens and examines an unexplored
critical space through a focus on the effects of the Vietnam War on
American culture. The result is a highly original and compelling
interpretation of the development of an ideology of unity in our
culture.
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