Contesting Indochina: French Remembrance between Decolonization and Cold WarHow does a nation come to terms with losing a war—especially 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, veterans’ 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 France’s changing global status. |
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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 Beucler Bigeard Boudarel affair Bulletin de l'AAFV Bulletin de l'ANAI CAFI camps CEFEO ceremony chapter Charles Fourniau civilian combat commemorative Communist conflict critical cultural decolonization depiction Diên Biên Dien Bien Phu Figaro film FORGOTTEN OF VIETNAM-SUR-LOT former fought France Franco-Vietnamese François Léotard Fréjus French colonial French forces French Indochina Georges Boudarel groups guerre d'Indochine Hanoi harkis Henri de Turenne Henri Martin Ibid Indochina War Indochinese Jean L'Affaire Boudarel l'histoire Laos Le Figaro Marcel Bigeard March mémoire memory military Missing in Action Monde Montreuil monument Mort museum nationale Noyant 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