ABSTRACT
Moving between the notions of the war in Vietnam as “mutual destruction” and a “noble cause,” this chapter explores the limits of the permissible discourse around the conflict within the American mainstream during the late 1970s and the 1980s. It discusses the rise of neoconservatism and Ronald Reagan’s presidency, as well as their use of the Vietnam War. It then turns to the liberal center and focuses on the figure of the veteran, in the context of the depoliticization of the war and the resurgence of American militarism and nationalism married to both neoconservative and neoliberal visions of the world. The chapter provides a synthesis of historical studies concerning the reception (and “reinterpretation”) of Vietnam in the late 1970s and 1980s, thus constituting a full account of the Vietnam discourses in the United States in that period and of the development of the notion of American victimization as central to the cultural narrative of the conflict. In addition, it also provides analyses of several Vietnam-related texts, pertaining to the discourses and processes discussed, such as Gloria Emerson’s Winners & Losers, Myra MacPherson’s Long Time Passing, C.D.B. Bryan’s Friendly Fire, and Ron Kovic’s Born on the Fourth of July.
