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Study of a Literary Theme: The Vietnam War In Literature and Film

ENGL 102.401
instructor(s):

The Vietnam War was not only waged by soldiers on the battlefield. Long
after the fall of Saigon in 1975, the traumas of war continued in the
intimate memories and scarred bodies of those who fought, and in the
nightmares of civilians whose lives were irrevocably changed.
The Vietnam War has had an enduring and contentious national legacy,
which still shapes military policy, political debates, and the way war is
represented in journalism, literature, and film.

This course explores the creative outpouring of responses to the Vietnam War
in literature and film.  We will ask how artists and film makers represented
the experience of those on the battlefield and the home front; how they
fought symbolic battles over the interpretation and memory of the war; how
they sought consolation for unfathomable losses; and how they produced a
legacy for future generations.

Films  include Cimono’s The Deer Hunter, Coppola’s Apocalypse Now, Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket, and Stone’s Platoon, and select documentaries.
Readings include novels by Bao Ninh, Graham Greene, Bobbie Ann Mason, and Tim O'Brien: memoirs by Le Ly Hayslip, Michael Herr, and Rob Kovic;  poetry by Yusef Komunyakka. 

Evening screenings on the dates posted below:

Sunday September 23rd 7-11:00 pm

Sunday October 7th 7-11:00 pm

Sunday November 18th 7-11:00 pm

Sunday, December 2nd 7-11:00 pm

Fall 2012 TA Office Assignments:

Ashley Chang FBH room 331

Christopher Jimenez FBH room 331

Nava Et Shalom FBH room 312

Dianne Mitchell FBH room 312

fulfills requirements
Sector 6: 20th Century Literature of the Standard Major