{"id":29206,"date":"2018-01-25T17:03:29","date_gmt":"2018-01-26T01:03:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dvan.org\/?p=29206"},"modified":"2018-10-15T12:51:32","modified_gmt":"2018-10-15T19:51:32","slug":"diacriticize-vietnam-7-letter-word","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dvan.org\/2018\/01\/diacriticize-vietnam-7-letter-word\/","title":{"rendered":"diaCRITICIZE: “Vietnam” is a 7-Letter Word"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Image from the artist Dinh Q. L\u00ea’s installation “Crossing the Farther Shore”, exhibited at Rice Gallery in Houston, TX in 2014<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

This article appeared first in slightly different form on the De-Canon blog<\/a> on 11\/10\/17. It was compiled\u00a0in response to the Ken Burns’ documentary on “The Vietnam War” that aired on PBS in September 2017.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

“Vietnam” = 7-Letter Word\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

A couple years ago, I went to see a reading at Powell\u2019s bookstore on Hawthorne, in my hometown of Portland, Oregon. The reading was for the debut novel of another author I\u2019d been in shared circles with for years, through an organization called Diasporic Vietnamese Artists Network (DVAN).<\/p>\n

At Powell\u2019s that night, myself and the friend I\u2019d invited were the only Asian people in attendance and there were not more than fifteen people total in the audience. The novelist (whom some readers of this blog may already be quite familiar with), a university professor specializing in topics having to do with cinema and the Vietnam War , showed a montage of clips from famous American movies depicting the Vietnam era, then went on to critique the dehumanizing representation of Vietnamese (and other Asians) in such movies. The scene he read from his novel satirically depicted said dynamics. It was discomfiting, a little, to witness this presentation being given in front of a small crowd of mostly white people, but I was glad to see it being done. In the audience was at least one Vietnam veteran, who seemed eager to connect on the topic of the war, its wrongs especially. The thought occurred to me that the literary subject matter of Vietnam tended to attract this demographic\u2014the same I\u2019d encountered when my own first novel came out more than ten years earlier\u2014boomer-aged and psychically wounded, usually white, men, and that both our groups, refugees and veterans, our perspectives, struck me as somewhat sad and marginalized.<\/p>\n

This was, however, some months before this particular novel would go on to win a prestigious literary prize and the author<\/a> a year later awarded a MacArthur Genius Grant. This was also before the topic of Vietnam and its contextual war was thrust back into mainstream media consciousness with the September 2017 debut of Ken Burns\u2019 and Lynn Novick\u2019s epic 18-hour documentary titled \u201cThe Vietnam War.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

After the reading at Powell\u2019s, we went to a nearby bar, myself and the novelist and my friend, and the American vet came with us. At some point in the bar I took note of the scene at our table: the middle-aged white man seated there was doing most of the talking, while the three brown people at the table kept quiet and listened. I remember feeling a little guilty for who we were\u2014refugees turned into fairly successful, privileged immigrants\u2014in relation to his experience: working class boy pulled into a demoralizing war, life and fate altered irrevocably at the behest of men more bureaucratically powerful than he. As he expounded on U.S. government corruptions and conspiracies, and the horrors of war he had experienced, the burden of his trauma and his sense of victimization as a war veteran were plain. There was no room for us\u2014the Vietnamese people at the table\u2014even to speak to each other that night, because the white man\u2019s trauma was taking up so much space in the conversation.<\/p>\n

The irony occurred to me, that although the Asian bodies at the table housed direct connection to the history he was referencing, he asked us few questions, showed little interest in our personal stories. He seemed simply to need a Vietnamese audience.<\/p>\n

This is not an exceptional situation. As a Vietnamese American writer of the \u201c1.5 generation\u201d, I have encountered many American veterans of the conflict in Vietnam. At readings, American vets have handed me manila envelopes full of documents they felt the need to educate me with. At a folk music festival in Oklahoma I performed at once, a Marine came up after my set and said, \u201cI think your music can provide healing for men like me.\u201d I have found these moments to be both touching and, at times, presumptuous. I\u2019ve been befriended by men who were – either or both – veterans or conscientious objectors of the war in Vietnam; I\u2019ve been privy to less welcoming sentiments, as well. And, no doubt, I feel for these men and what they suffered due to a war that was, to so many degrees, horrific and criminal. It also does not escape me, as a South Vietnamese person who grew up as a refugee and immigrant of the 1970s\/80s in California, my potential position in the narrative of their pain.<\/p>\n

To know oneself as both catalyst and foil in a narrative of America\u2019s national (and prevalently male) trauma of the late 20th century\u2014can be a tricky position to occupy.<\/p>\n

And so I have stood back, in many instances, and stayed quiet. I have done my best to listen and receive. Being a naturally reserved person, not readily inclined to verbal self-disclosure, this has perhaps been the easier path for me to take. But I\u2019m also aware of an underlying equation in this dynamic: one in which the Vietnamese body in question (read: <\/em>brown, ‘other’-ed) remains in the position it has always, already, been\u2014that of receptacle and catalyst for the psychological and emotional processes of non-Vietnamese, often white and male, Americans. For better and worse. In these cases what the white veteran seems to need from someone like me (not me uniquely or specifically, but someone of my body type and skin color) is a form of acknowledgment, even gratitude, toward his traumatic experience in Vietnam, and\/or acknowledgment of his efforts toward retribution, his wrestlings with his own darkness and demons.<\/p>\n

Let me be clear here in saying: my critique of the emotional habits of (some of) these men is by no means intended to diminish the reality of their traumas. That reality\u2014of being pawn or witness or player in a grave disaster\u2014is no doubt immense and lasting. And I see that what these men may be seeking\u2014what I assume all of us who\u2019ve suffered variations of war trauma ultimately seek\u2014is a reaffirmation of our humanity, after having faced the inhumanity of, not just the great demon of war itself, but also, quite possibly, the blurry evidences within ourselves: what war drives people to do to other people.<\/p>\n

Part of that recovery involves, no doubt, sharing our stories with one another.<\/p>\n

*<\/p>\n

Like other Vietnamese Americans, I anticipated the Ken Burns\/Lynn Novick documentary on the Vietnam War with both hope and trepidation. Maybe America is ready, I thought, for the narrative to shift. Maybe, just maybe, I thought, we need to address and let heal the white man\u2019s trauma (our national trauma) before it can be time to give other traumas (read:<\/em> implicit problem in this thinking of non-white and multicultural narratives as subcultural narratives) their due.<\/p>\n

I felt some hope after attending a preview screening event of the Burns\/Novick documentary and hearing the filmmakers speak about representing the complexity of the history, its contradictions and need for a multiplicity of viewpoints; but I was less heartened by reading things like the New Yorker<\/em> article<\/a>\u00a0titled \u201cKen Burns\u2019s American Canon\u201d (which tacks as more of a cult-of-personality piece on Burns than any address of substance on the subject of the war in Vietnam), in which Burns is quoted as saying he at first didn\u2019t see the need for including many Vietnamese viewpoints in the documentary. It was only on Novick\u2019s insistence that this aspect was developed as much as it was.<\/p>\n

That the Vietnamese perspective\u2014and, notably, South Vietnamese\u2014has been repeatedly erased or simplified in the \u201cAmerican\u201d narrative of \u201cVietnam\u201d is nothing new, really. Even my son\u2019s dentist (an immigrant from Vietnam) remarks to my son, upon hearing he is studying film in college, that she hopes he\u2019ll make films that represent \u201cus\u201d better than has so far been done. Part of the narrative we\u2019ve been telling each other, for decades now, includes an awareness of our own problematic silences and invisibility. (And: how much power we have\u2014independent of the larger societal system this problem exists within\u2014to change the terms of our representation and visibility may be a longer topic for another discussion.)<\/p>\n

What I will focus on here is small: just a step toward what I call \u201cde-canonizing<\/a>\u201d <\/strong>the spectre of Vietnam. Here, I am gathering a few of our voices in one space, simply to point to the presence of those voices at the larger table, so to speak, on the discourse of the \u201cAmerican\u201d narrative surrounding \u201cVietnam\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"\"
from Dinh Q. L\u00ea’s “South China Sea Pishkun” (2009)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I compiled the list below initially for a blog post on the literary web resource De-Canon.com, back in November 2017. It is a list of articles written by Vietnamese American and Southeast Asian diasporic writers in reaction to the Burns\/Novick documentary, and relating more generally to Vietnamese representation in American\/western culture and forums. In this list you’ll recognize the contributions of this blog’s publisher, of course, a writer and academic who has been quite prolific – over many years – on writing\/re-writing the diasporic Vietnamese narrative; as well, articles by lesser known names in our diaspora, who have been equally as busy over the past few decades. If you can take the time to plug in your headphones and listen for a spell, you’ll also find some great discourse happening, for instance, in the “roundtable discussion” hosted by Saigon Broadcasting Television Network at the link below, and many nuanced stories available on Thanh Tan’s Second Wave radio show.<\/p>\n

The list below is by no means exhaustive, nor does it claim or aspire to be a fully dimensional representation of Vietnamese American or Southeast Asian diasporic perspectives: it is just a starting point.\u00a0This list has room to grow, certainly; so please send me your additions if you have them.<\/em><\/p>\n

To summarize for now: For many Americans \u201cVietnam\u201d has been a moniker for a whole hellish debacle of American experience, and\/but it is also the name of a country and a people. This is to say: we are at this table, too, and have been here all along. Perhaps you overlooked us, or perhaps you didn\u2019t realize, due whatever your perception of us, that we were – and are – speaking the same language as you. Or perhaps you couldn\u2019t hear us through all the other voices at the table.<\/p>\n

\n

IN RESPONSE TO THE BURNS\/NOVICK DOCUMENTARY ‘THE VIETNAM WAR’ :<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Articles:<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Nguyen, Duc. \u201cThe Vietnam War and being on the \u201cwrong side\u201d of HIS_Story\u201d<\/a>, Medium <\/em>(10\/14\/17).<\/p>\n

Worra, Bryan Thao. \u201cIn remembering Vietnam War, more stories of Lao refugees deserve to be told\u201d<\/a>, WHYY<\/em> (10\/12\/17).<\/p>\n

Nguyen, Beth. \u201cA Refugee\u2019s Review of \u2018The Vietnam War\u2019\u201d<\/a>, KQED Arts<\/em> (10\/10\/2017).<\/p>\n

Le, Anh. \u201cKen Burns\u2019 Vietnam Documentary Misses Mark\u201d<\/a>, Vietnam Full Disclosure (10\/10\/17).<\/p>\n

Phan, Aimee. \u201cKen Burns\u2019 \u2018The Vietnam War\u2019 offers same narrative, with little perspective\u201d<\/a>, SF Chronicle<\/em> (10\/3\/2017).<\/p>\n

Tan, Thanh. \u201cWhat Do Vietnamese-Americans Think of \u2018The Vietnam War\u2019?\u201d<\/a> NY Times<\/em> (10\/3\/2017).<\/p>\n

Le Minh Khai. \u201cThe Absence of South Vietnam in \u201cThe Vietnam War\u201d and in the American Consciousness<\/a>\u201d, (09\/26\/17).<\/p>\n

Le Minh Khai. \u201cThe Soundtrack of the Vietnam War\u201d<\/a>, (9\/12\/17).<\/p>\n

Bass, Thomas. “America’s Amnesia”<\/a>, Mekong Review<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Video\/Audio Broadcast :<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Saigon Broadcasting Television Network: \u201cViet-Am Voices on \u2018The Vietnam War\u2019: A Roundtable Discussion\u201d<\/a> (with Duc Nguyen, Trinh Mai, Steve Le, Linh Kochran, Quan Nguyen, Jason R. Nguyen, 10\/25\/17).<\/p>\n

Second Wave Podcast: An American Story That Begins in Vietnam<\/a>, Hosted by Thanh Tam.\u00a0A new podcast from Seattle’s KUOW\u00a0Public Radio and\u00a0PRX\u00a0follows Thanh Tan as she uncovers how a war that ended decades ago is still affecting the Vietnamese community.<\/p>\n

Related Perspectives from the Diaspora :<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Do Nguyen Mai. \u201cFrom Beneath the Shroud of Silence: How Tommy Le\u2019s Death Shifts the Focus for Vietnamese American Political Involvement\u201d<\/a>, diaCRITICS (10\/10\/17).<\/p>\n

Nguyen, Viet Thanh. In \u201cVietnam Redux\u201d: Letters to the Editor<\/a>, NY Times<\/em> (09\/29\/17).<\/p>\n

Nguyen, Viet Thanh and Hughes, Richard. \u201cThe Forgotten Victims of Agent Orange\u201d<\/a>, NY Times<\/em> (9\/15\/17).<\/p>\n

Nguyen, Viet Thanh. \u201cThe Great Vietnam War Novel Was Not Written by an American\u201d<\/a>, NY Times<\/em> (5\/2\/17).<\/p>\n

Nguyen, Beth. \u201cAmerican Stories Are Refugee Stories\u201d<\/a>, LitHub<\/em> (5\/1\/17).<\/p>\n

Bui, Trang. \u201cEight Writers Share Their Must-Read Books from Vietnam and the Diaspora\u201d<\/a>, Words Without Borders<\/em> (4\/28\/17).<\/p>\n

Nguyen, Viet Thanh. \u201cVietnamese and Vietnamese American Lit: A Primer from Viet Thanh Nguyen\u201d<\/a>, LitHub<\/em> (2\/10\/17).<\/p>\n

Nguyen, Viet Thanh. \u201cThe Prophecy of Martin Luther King, Jr., from Vietnam to Iraq\u201d<\/a>, LitHub<\/em> (4\/4\/16).<\/p>\n

Gustafsson, Mai Lan. \u201cThe Warlore of Vietnamese Bargirls, Part 2\u201d<\/a>, diaCRITICS<\/em> (10\/29\/15).<\/p>\n

Gustafsson, Mai Lan. \u201cThe Warlore of Vietnamese Bargirls, Part 1\u201d<\/a>, diaCRITICS<\/em> (10\/26\/15).<\/p>\n

Nguyen, Viet Thanh. \u201cOur Vietnam War Never Ended\u201d<\/a>, NY Times<\/em> (4\/26\/15).<\/p>\n

Print & Online Publications<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Mekong Review<\/strong><\/em><\/a>\u00a0is\u00a0a quarterly literary journal publishing fiction, essays, reviews and poetry from Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia.<\/p>\n

(Re)Collecting the Vietnam War<\/strong>,\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/a>The Asian American Literary Review, Vol. 6, Issue 2<\/em>\u00a0(Fall 2015). Special issue of the AALR focused on “Cartographies, Historiography and Nomenclature, or Forty Years into the Aftermath.”<\/p>\n

–<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

CONTRIBUTOR BIO<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

Dao Strom<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>is the Oregon-based author of two books of fiction\u00a0and the hybrid-forms memoir We Were Meant To Be a Gentle People<\/em>\u00a0+ music album\u00a0East\/West<\/em>.<\/em>\u00a0She has a bilingual poetry book forthcoming in 2018 with the Hanoi-based Ajar Press. She is co-founder of the collective art projects She Who Has No Master(s)<\/a> and De-Canon<\/a>, and editor of diaCRITICS.<\/p>\n

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