THE GENERIC ROOTS OF THE ENOLA-GAY CONTROVERSY

Between 1993 and 1995, the National Air and Space Museum was involved in a heated generic controversy. Curators at the museum planned a disp lay called ''The Last Act'' from an interpretative genre to interrogat e the traditional histories surrounding the Enola Gay bombing of Hiros hima. Characterized as ''revisionists,'' these curators became involve d in a political clash with those veterans and members of Congress who saw the Smithsonian as part of a commemorative genre that should cele brate the end of World War II. The present analysis examines the polit ical implications that attended this clash of genres and the resulting rhetorical constraints in the cultural wars over the Enola Gay displa y.