베트남전쟁의 기록과 기억 －딘 큐 레의 작품을 중심으로 1

Abstract

This paper examines the work of Dinh Q. Le, who challenges the official American Memory of the Vietnam War and the pseudo-memories generated by Hollywood films. It focuses on his presentation of counter-memory through the weaving and juxtaposition of diverse memories. As a Vietnamese- American who fled Vietnam as a boat person during the Cambodian invasion, Dinh amassed images related to the Vietnam War to affirm his identity. The historical scenes taken by Western war photographers, the spectacles produced by Hollywood films, and the war sketches by artists who were guerrilla soldiers and painters for the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam serve as significant records of the Vietnam War. However, aware that Vietnamese memories are often excluded or omitted from these records, Dinh explores the potential of memory beyond the official accounts by weaving photographs and juxtaposing different perspectives and attitudes, thereby emphasizing discontinuity and disjunction. By juxtaposing, intersecting, and weaving historical war photographs and sketches with ordinary commemorative photos sourced from Vietnamese market and antique shops, his works transgress the official memories of both America and unified Vietnam, blurring the boundaries between reality and fiction. The meaning of this study lies in revealing that Dinh's works, rather than merely recalling and reproducing the memories of war that ended over 50 years ago, revive neglected and forgotten memories within the gaps of conflicting narratives, prompting a reconsideration of the war.