June 16, 2000

How a War Spawned Postmodernism

By JEFF SHARLET

The Vietnam War and Postmodernity edited by Michael Bibby (University of Massachusetts Press)

Michael Bibby is worried about the title of his collection. When he started editing it, Mr. Bibby, an associate professor of English at Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania, wanted to explore "the blossoming of postmodern studies [that] occurred in the shadow of that moment when the last Huey lifted off from the U.S. embassy in Saigon." By the time he'd read all the essays, he wasn't sure