Abstract

The recent Viet Nam film wave invites comparisons to other forms of cultural production that occurred in Western countries after their frustrations at decolonization. What sort of cultural fare did the French create after their defeat at Dien Bien Phu in 1954? Did they too celebrate themselves and never talk of the Vietnamese? After Algeria gained its independence in 1962, did the French refuse to discuss the Algerians as we have never discussed, examined or even adequately represented the Vietnamese in fiction, film or plays?

For example, the response of seven American playwrighters to Vietnam is chronicled in Coming to Terms, a collection of plays published in 1985 by Performance Art Journal (PAJ).