Contesting Indochina: French Remembrance Between Decolonization and Cold WarHow does a nation come to terms with losing a warÑespecially an overseas war whose purpose is fervently contested? In the years after the war, how does such a nation construct and reconstruct its identity and values? For the French in Indochina, the stunning defeat at Dien Bien Phu ushered in the violent process of decolonization and a fraught reckoning with a colonial past. Contesting Indochina is the first in-depth study of the competing and intertwined narratives of the Indochina War. It analyzes the layers of French remembrance, focusing on state-sponsored commemoration, veteransÕ associations, special-interest groups, intellectuals, films, and heated public disputes. These narratives constitute the ideological battleground for contesting the legacies of colonialism, decolonization, the Cold War, and FranceÕs changing global status. |
Contents
of the Indochina War | 88 |
Repatriate Camps | 116 |
and the Georges Boudarel Affair | 145 |
Notes | 215 |
Bibliography | 277 |
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Common terms and phrases
AAFV ACTIVISM TO REMEMBRANCE ACVGI Alain Ruscio Algerian Algerian War ANAI ANAPI anciens anniversary anticolonial anticolonial narrative antiwar ARAC archives argued Association Bigeard Boudarel affair Bulletin de l'AAFV Bulletin de l'ANAI CAFI camps CEFEO ceremony chapter Charles Fourniau cinéma civilian combat commemorative Communist conflict critical cultural decolonization depiction Diên Biên Dien Bien Phu expeditionary corps Figaro film FORGOTTEN OF VIETNAM-SUR-LOT former fought française France Franco-Vietnamese François Léotard Fréjus French colonial French forces French Indochina Georges Boudarel groups guerre d'Indochine Hanoi Henri de Turenne honor Ibid Indochina War Indochinese Jean l'histoire Laos Le Figaro Marcel Bigeard March mémoire memory military MISSING IN ACTION Monde Montreuil monument MORTS museum nationale Noyant organizations Paris party Pierre Brocheux Pierre Schoendoerffer political Press prisoners published rapatriés d'Indochine regime repatriates residents Sainte-Livrade SALE AFFAIRE scholars tion Turenne unknown soldier veterans victims Viet Minh Vietnam Vietnamese