Bearing Witness to Immorality:
Poetry by Perpetrators and Victims of the Vietnam War
Poetry from and about the Vietnam War is extensive and inexhaustible, with poems still being written about the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, DC, and the prolonged impacts of the war felt by the people of Vietnam. This paper will explore and delve into the benefits and uses of poetry to understand and process one of the most divisive conflicts in American military history. It is a well established understanding that poetry offers readers and writers a way to process trauma, guilt, conflict, and feelings of responsibility for inhuman acts of violence perpetrated during war; this paper continues to analyze this understanding of poetry but also incorporates historical facts and digs into the moral impacts of war.
While there are numerous scholarly conversations on the poetry of Vietnam, many of these conversations do not take the angle of analyzing the poems as conversations on morality or as specific acts of witness or confessional poetry. One contradiction to this general aversion to engage in moral conversation and a text that will be greatly explored throughout this paper is the book A Shadow on Our Hearts. Where this paper will expand the conversation is by considering the poems of Vietnamese and American soldiers, and also civilians, as attempts to remember and debate the immoralities of a war that “officially” never took place.
By comparing the poetical dialogues and histories of the Vietnam War as experienced by combatants and stateside civilians this paper will work to differentiate between witness/confessional and protest poetry. To do so this paper will reach beyond the scope of “conventional” poems to include popular songs written during and about the war and how those songs generally reflect the anger and protest felt by Americans. These songs will be compared and contrasted with the styles and impacts of war poetry to determine their differences, similarities, and ultimate purposes.
Through this paper one of the most morally divisive topics will be discussed, and how the Vietnam War stands as a shameful figurehead to war’s atrocities and immoralities. While these conversations have been taking place for over fifty years, they are increasingly crucial to have as the world spirals into chaos and conflict. By exploring the themes of witness poetry in war and reflecting on the moral conflict experienced and perpetrated by combatants, civilians, and governments, this paper continues the vital conversation on the importance of remembering war.
Alice, I can’t wait to hear more about your project! It sounds so deep, so heartbreaking, but it also sounds like it’s a necessary discussion for so many people. It reminds of the poet that we read earlier dealing with PPD who was told to try poetry.
Also, after reading your proposal, I am struck by how informal mine looks with all of the links and graphics. Ugh. Yours is stunning, as expected. I am so lucky to be learning with you!