'High and Just Proceedings': Notes towards an Anthology of the Cold War

In: Millennium: journal of international studies, Band 30, Heft 3, S. 691-707

Abstract

WWI & WWII, as well as other global conflicts, have merited reflection on the literature they occasioned. Yet the Cold War seems to have avoided such a literary retrospective. Starting with films in 2001 that evoked Cold War controversies, a first attempt is made here to sketch an anthology of Cold War literature, including novels, poetry, cinema, & other forms of popular culture. A thematic outline of the Book of the Cold War, which covers five distinct topics, is proposed: nuclear war; wars of the Third World; belief & betrayal; the spy novel; & the end of Cold War. This literary overview is suggestive of how substantial & varied the literary reflection on the Cold War has been, how this diversity says something about the complex levels of the Cold War itself, & finally, how culture not only reflected but was a factor in the Cold War. Adapted from the source document.