Viet Nam Generation Journal & Newsletter
Announcements, Notices, and Reports
V4, N1-2 (April 1992)
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U.S. Women's War Bibliography
Here is a reference work by Viet Nam Generation subscriber Susanne Carter, War and Peace Through Women's Eyes: A Selective Bibliography of Twentieth Century American Women's Fiction. It is Number 14 in the series Bibliographies and Indexes in Women's Studies, from Greenwood Press, Westport, CT, 1992. It's got 293 pages in a sturdy dark linen hardcover binding. A reader trained in bibliography, experienced in meeting reference needs, and willing to work through this book comparing its entries to the volumes they described, should evaluate this work for a future issue. I can tell you that Carter explicitly restricts herself to "literary" rather than "popular" work. I wouldn't do that myself, but I would worry if Carter didn't mention some such restriction, since any bibliography of unlimited pretensions is probably a sloppy one. Anyway, Carter's limits didn't keep her from including science fiction authors Ursula LeGuin and James Tiptree, Jr. in her 374 entries. The book is classified into World War One, World War Two, Vietnam War, Nuclear War, War and Peace (stray, nonspecific, or utopian pieces). There are author, title, and subject indices. There is a Preface setting out the scope of the volume and an Introduction to discuss the topic in general, as well as a short essay before each section. Each section is classified into Novels, Short Stories, and Literary Criticism and Bibliographic Sources. The Lit Crit is just an alphabetized list with bibliographic information, not numbered. But each novel and short story collection gets a sensitive critical summary informed with gossip, ranging in length from a four-sentence paragraph to a page and a half. The punk thing to do when taking a quick look at a bibliography is to make clever remarks about its organization, and to flip through the book trying to catch the bibliographer out on one's own special list of war books no one has ever heard of. But that is punk. The book is easy to use, pleasant to read, dense with information, and reeks with integrity and devotion to U.S. fiction. The Short Fiction sections are especially impressive, with a selection of titles that could only have been gathered by years of accumulation. Now let's get an expert on the case.
Carter is the microforms supervisor at Southwest Missouri State University. She has written many essays about fiction from the American war in Viet Nam by U.S. women.
Vets for Peace
Here's a mail solicitation listing present goals and projects, to wit: Veterans for Peace Speakers Bureau, Interview a Veteran Contest, Veterans' Peace Action Team, Steve Sherlock's ASA program of Aid to Viet Nam, Closing Down the School of the Americas at Fort Benning, Help Veterans Heal From War. Past projects: The Veterans Peace Convoy to Nicaragua, The Pastors for Peace Convoy to Nicaragua, Veterans for Peace Speakers Bureau. They also seem to be involved with Navajo and Hopi causes. They say they just got a permanent seat at the UN, non-governmental observer status. Send a tax deductible check to Veterans for Peace, P.O. Box 11484, St. Paul, MN 55111-0484.
War Crimes
Subtitled, A Report on United States War Crimes Against Iraq. Ramsey Clark and Others Report to the Commission of Inquiry for the International War Crimes Tribunal. I'm looking at a flyer. It says the book offers a 19 point indictment of U.S. leaders, including Bush, Schwarzkopf, Quayle, Powell, Cheney and others. Included are extracts from relevant law. Indexed. 275 pages. Photo of a dead guy burned in place trying to exit his APC. Published by Maisonneuve Press and available from Commission of Inquiry for the International War Crimes Tribunal, 36 E. 12 St, 6th Floor, New York, NY 10003, (212) 254-5385, $12.95 plus $2 shipping, bulk rates available.
Viet Nam Cinema: Possible Sources
From Contributing Editor Tony Williams
--During this Christmas vacation in England in addition to visiting friends and family within the inflationist realms of Thatcher/ Majorite Britain, I obtained an appointment to visit the United Kingdom Embassy of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. Teaching a course of Viet Nam in Literature and Film, I found it impossible to obtain copies of Viet Nam films within the USA. Naturally, I was not among the fortunate who saw the special season screened in selective venues some years ago. Although England's Channel 4 television screened some six Viet films last fall, it looks extremely unlikely that PBS would do so here.
So I wrote letters (to be posted via friends in England) for an appointment to discuss various sources. Those of you who have ever attempted to write to or receive mail from "forbidden zones" such as Cuba may appreciate the caution. As it was, I discovered that two letters sent to me from the Viet Embassy had somehow "mysteriously" failed to reach me in the USA.
Second Secretary Ms. Tay made us extremely welcome. Her efficient and polite manner was a complete contrast to types one encounters in any British or American Embassy. She hoped that relations between America and Viet Nam would soon be fully restored and smiled when I mentioned the "problems" I usually had with mail to Viet Nam. The Embassy had no films or tapes except one videotape. Although I was offered the possibility of a loan so I could make a duplicate copy, I did not wish to risk their original getting "lost" in the U.S. mail. I was given a list of addresses of sources dealing with Viet films on video, which is reproduced here:
- Permanent Mission of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam to the United Nations, 20 Waterside Plaza, New York, NY 10010, (212) 685-8001.
- Mr. Nguyen Thu, General Director, Viet Nam Cinema, 62 Hoang Hoa Tham, Ha Noi, Viet Nam.
- Mr. Stanley Foreman, Chairman, Campaign for Viet Nam Cinema, P.O. Box 1962, London, England W11 3TS.
- VINAFILM (Viet Nam National Film Import-Export and Film Service Company), 73 Nguyen Trai St., Ha Noi, Viet Nam, 84 42 44566.
- Viet Nam Films, 144A Beaudry St., Montreal, Quebec, Canada H2L 3ES, 521-1344.