The Unhomed Vietnam Veteran: “Queer Houses” in Tim O’Brien’s Vietnam Works
One of the most recurrent tropes in the US fiction emerging out of the experience of the war in Vietnam is the description of the feeling of estrangement of the soldiers. Up against a hostile and unreadable background, deprived of the tools to read the geographical and human landscapes, most returni...
Saved in:
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Association Française d'Etudes Américaines
2022-05-01
|
| Series: | Transatlantica |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://journals.openedition.org/transatlantica/18693 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1832580813190856704 |
|---|---|
| author | Cristina Alsina-Rísquez |
| author_facet | Cristina Alsina-Rísquez |
| author_sort | Cristina Alsina-Rísquez |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | One of the most recurrent tropes in the US fiction emerging out of the experience of the war in Vietnam is the description of the feeling of estrangement of the soldiers. Up against a hostile and unreadable background, deprived of the tools to read the geographical and human landscapes, most returning veterans describe their feelings of alienation and constant fear. Once back in the US, most found that their feeling of unease and estrangement did not subside. Because of this, most of the fiction written by veteran soldiers directly or indirectly tackles the issues of home, homesickness, homelessness, and being unhomed. I argue that the centrality of these issues can be read as a commentary on the strategies of inclusion and exclusion which characterize the definition of the nation as home. One of the ways Vietnam War fiction has represented the issue of homelessness and estrangement from the homeland has been to resort to one of the most pervasive metaphors in US literature: that of the imperfect, crumbling haunted house. A great number of the houses featured in Vietnam War literature are imperfect and uncanny. The main aim of this article is the contextualization and analysis of the “queer” houses in Tim O’Brien’s fiction as a trope that allows the author to build a “poetics of uprootedness.” |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-2ee5e5f42b06423382e802187bbf43e8 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1765-2766 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2022-05-01 |
| publisher | Association Française d'Etudes Américaines |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Transatlantica |
| spelling | doaj-art-2ee5e5f42b06423382e802187bbf43e82025-01-30T10:43:16ZengAssociation Française d'Etudes AméricainesTransatlantica1765-27662022-05-01110.4000/transatlantica.18693The Unhomed Vietnam Veteran: “Queer Houses” in Tim O’Brien’s Vietnam WorksCristina Alsina-RísquezOne of the most recurrent tropes in the US fiction emerging out of the experience of the war in Vietnam is the description of the feeling of estrangement of the soldiers. Up against a hostile and unreadable background, deprived of the tools to read the geographical and human landscapes, most returning veterans describe their feelings of alienation and constant fear. Once back in the US, most found that their feeling of unease and estrangement did not subside. Because of this, most of the fiction written by veteran soldiers directly or indirectly tackles the issues of home, homesickness, homelessness, and being unhomed. I argue that the centrality of these issues can be read as a commentary on the strategies of inclusion and exclusion which characterize the definition of the nation as home. One of the ways Vietnam War fiction has represented the issue of homelessness and estrangement from the homeland has been to resort to one of the most pervasive metaphors in US literature: that of the imperfect, crumbling haunted house. A great number of the houses featured in Vietnam War literature are imperfect and uncanny. The main aim of this article is the contextualization and analysis of the “queer” houses in Tim O’Brien’s fiction as a trope that allows the author to build a “poetics of uprootedness.”https://journals.openedition.org/transatlantica/18693Vietnam War FictionTim O’Brienpoetics of uprootedness |
| spellingShingle | Cristina Alsina-Rísquez The Unhomed Vietnam Veteran: “Queer Houses” in Tim O’Brien’s Vietnam Works Transatlantica Vietnam War Fiction Tim O’Brien poetics of uprootedness |
| title | The Unhomed Vietnam Veteran: “Queer Houses” in Tim O’Brien’s Vietnam Works |
| title_full | The Unhomed Vietnam Veteran: “Queer Houses” in Tim O’Brien’s Vietnam Works |
| title_fullStr | The Unhomed Vietnam Veteran: “Queer Houses” in Tim O’Brien’s Vietnam Works |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Unhomed Vietnam Veteran: “Queer Houses” in Tim O’Brien’s Vietnam Works |
| title_short | The Unhomed Vietnam Veteran: “Queer Houses” in Tim O’Brien’s Vietnam Works |
| title_sort | unhomed vietnam veteran queer houses in tim o brien s vietnam works |
| topic | Vietnam War Fiction Tim O’Brien poetics of uprootedness |
| url | https://journals.openedition.org/transatlantica/18693 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT cristinaalsinarisquez theunhomedvietnamveteranqueerhousesintimobriensvietnamworks AT cristinaalsinarisquez unhomedvietnamveteranqueerhousesintimobriensvietnamworks |