Memories, traumas and hope: remains of the Vietnam War

Abstract

This master's thesis aims to analyze how the Vietnam veterans' experiences are represented in Vietnam War narratives. The thesis therefore necessarily discusses the powerful role of the post-war period in the lives of veterans who fought in different periods of the Vietnam War. The Vietnam War as a pointless and shameful conflict, and its absurdity, immorality, crimes and atrocities remained in the vets' mind, in the form of irreparable traumas. As methodology, historical and cultural approaches are used. The vets lived an important historical moment, and their war narratives must be considered a legacy of great significance to understand the war narratives through their historical context and to understand cultural and intellectual history through literature. Finally, the thesis intends to show that the representation of the vets' experiences in war narratives is also the result of the vets' strength to transform the traumas of their war experiences into something meaningful.