How does a nation come to terms with losing a war—especially an overseas war whose purpose is fervently contested? How, in the ensuing years, does it construct and reconstruct national identity and national values? For the French in Indochina, the stunning defeat at Dien Bien Phu ushered in the violent process of decolonization and a fraught reckoning with a colonial past.Contesting Indochina is the first in-depth study of the competing and intertwined narratives of the Indochina War. It analyzes the layers of French remembrance, focusing on state-sponsored commemoration, veterans’ associations, special interest groups, intellectuals, film, and heated public disputes. These narratives make up the ideological battleground for contesting the legacies of colonialism, decolonization, the Cold War, and France’s changing global status.
