“I Feel Close to Myself”: Solipsism and US Imperialism in Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried

Clarke, Michael Tavel

doi:10.1353/lit.2013.0018

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

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“…Addressing these concerns of verisimilitude can lead to discussions of the larger epistemological issue of whether it is possible to derive a definitive understanding of any lived-world or fictional event (Baxter, 2011). For example, in responding to The Things They Carried, students may discuss reasons for O'Brien's references to his own issues involved in creating fictional versions of events that may have had no basis in any factual reality (Calloway, 1995;Clarke, 2013) (Beidler, 1982, p. 87). As O'Brien noted, "You start sometimes with an incident that truly happened .…”

Section: Fostering "Participatory Sense-making" In Classroom Spacesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Students' Use of Languaging in Rewriting Events from The Things They Carried

Beach

2017

Dialogic Pedagogy Journal

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This article describes high school students' responses to events in the novel, The Things They Carried, leading to their collaborative rewriting to create their own narrative versions of these events. It draws on "enactivist" theory of languaging, an approach to language that focuses on its use as social actions to enact and build relationships with others (Cowley, 2011;Linell, 2009). The focus is on "in-between" meanings constituted by "shared intentionality" (Di Paolo & De Jaegher, 2012) in readers' transactions with authors' portrayals of events in texts as well as in responding to uses of languaging in characters' interactions. Analysis of four students' rewriting events from the novel indicated that they drew on their responses to the novel to portray tensions in their characters' interactions as well as their ownexperiences of coping with these tensions. Students also benefitted from collaboratively creating their narratives through sharing their different perspectives on events in the texts, suggesting the value of using collaborative rewriting activities to enhance students' literary responses and awareness of how languaging functions to enact relationships.

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Section: Fostering "Participatory Sense-making" In Classroom Spacesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Students' Use of Languaging in Rewriting Events from The Things They Carried

Beach

2017

Dialogic Pedagogy Journal

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Tim O’Brien’s representation of the subjugated other’s voice against war in The Things They Carried

Aqeeli

2020

Ars Aeterna

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Tim O’Brien’s Vietnam-based The Things They Carried has been criticized for exclusively depicting the painful and traumatic experiences of the American soldiers in the war zone. Despite the limited number of Vietnamese characters in the novel, and despite their relegation to the role of powerless and voiceless onlookers, their presence shows the degree of the power imbalance between Vietnam and America. This article demonstrates how O’Brien infused sentiments in his stories to emphasize his opposition to the war and his concern for the dignity of the Vietnamese people. O’Brien asserts that the main purpose of the United States’s invasion was to make Vietnam a learnable and controllable place. Through his critique of the United States’s imperial ambitions in Vietnam, O’Brien provides a representative voice for the people of Vietnam to share their sufferings from an unjust war.

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“I Feel Close to Myself”: Solipsism and US Imperialism in Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried

Cited by 2 publications

References 24 publications

Students' Use of Languaging in Rewriting Events from The Things They Carried

Students' Use of Languaging in Rewriting Events from The Things They Carried

Tim O’Brien’s representation of the subjugated other’s voice against war in The Things They Carried

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