Product Description
In the first book-length study of Vietnamese American literature, Isabelle Thuy Pelaud probes the complexities of Vietnamese American identity and politics. She provides an analytical introduction to the literature, showing how generational differences play out in genre and text. In addition, she asks, can the term Vietnamese American be disassociated from representations of the war without erasing its legacy? Pelaud delineates the historical, social, and cultural terrains of the writing as well as the critical receptions and responses to them. She moves beyond the common focus on the Vietnam war to develop an interpretive framework that integrates post-colonialism with the multi-generational refugee, immigrant, and transnational experiences at the centre of Vietnamese American narratives. Her readings of key works, such as Andrew Pham's Catfish and Mandala and Lan Cao's Monkey Bridge show how trauma, racism, class and gender play a role in shaping the identities of Vietnamese American characters and narrators. ... Read more

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Vietnamese American. Asian American, Boat people, Hyphenated American, List of U. S. cities with large Vietnamese American populations, List of Vietnamese Americans, Little Saigon, Overseas Vietnamese, Refugee, Vietnamese people ... Read more

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This landmark collection of poetry and prose heralds a new era for Vietnamese American literature. Here, for the first time, the most innovative contemporary Vietnamese American writers explore thematic and stylistic territory previously overlooked in other collections, which have traditionally focused on the all-too-expected theme of war. With works by such writers as Linh Dinh, Andrew Lam and Christian Langworthy. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Great lyrical stories
Actual title is "Watermark: vietnamese american poetry & prose," ISBN 1-889876-05-4 hc. PS591 .A76 W38 at Univ MN, Wilson Lib


One of the best stories is "Tale of Apricot," by Minh Duc Nguyen, p59-73. In the back of book p220, About the Contributors, it says that he is a grad film student at USC and he is working on several screenplays.

Originally pub in on of the last volumes of Viet Forum periodical v16, Yale (1997) where Dan Duffy (Ed), "Not a War: Amer Vietnamese Fiction, Poetry, and Essays," p131-44.

Great Stuff
Buy it for your friends. A lot of new writers. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A mediocre academic study
This is an academic book on the comparison and contrast of various authors in the body of Asian literature written in English, including an "update" to include Vietnam era authors. Probably like her PhD thesis (1957- , MA SJSU, PhD UC-Santa Cruz, Asst Prof Engl CalST-Stanislaus).

As opposed to the description in her Preface on her student's essays, she doesn't really include analysis and prose of Vietnamese-Amer authors. This is disappointing considering the title of her book. However at age 52, she could be an Editor for a future project to create an anthology and reader of Vietnamese fiction and memoir on non-fictional short story authors.

On p. xiii, she does say she wants to learn the Vietnamese language to improve her translating ability.
... Read more

Product Description
High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Korean Americans are Americans of Korean descent. The Korean American community is the fifth largest Asian American subgroup, after the Chinese American, Filipino American, Indian American, and Vietnamese American communities. The United States is home to the second largest overseas Korean community in the world after China. ... Read more

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a number of articles addressing the issues faced by Vietnamese Americans and the Vietnamese Diaspora ... Read more

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Introducing this collection of personal narratives, renowned author Sucheng Chan presents a history of Vietnam that enables readers to understand the larger historical, social, and political contexts within which the refugee exodus occurred between 1975 and 1997. The heart of the book consists of vivid personal testimonies written by members of the 1.5 generation of Vietnamese Americans when they were students at various campuses of the University of California. Six of the stories recall the April 1975 evacuation on U.S. military aircraft and naval vessels; nine tell tragic but ultimately triumphant tales of the "boat people" who fled by sea and were confined in refugee camps in Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, and Hong Kong while awaiting resettlement abroad. As testaments to the strength of human beings who persevere against severe odds in horrifying circumstances, the stories are gripping and inspiring. The book's bibliography and videography serve as guides to students, teachers, and other readers who may be interested in more in-depth knowledge about particular topics. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Informative and succint
Since the history of Vietnam (prior to the Vietnam War) is often difficult to find, this book gives a brief and objective (if there is such a thing) history of Vietnam.I found it very helpful as an introduction to my understanding of Vietnamese history as a PhD student working on Vietnamese American literature.

The Power of Narratives!
Chan's The Vietnamese American 1.5 Generation is a collection of personal narratives. Edited by Chan -- wrote arguably the best history of Vietnam -- situates the Vietnam story within its historical context. This historical introduction allows the reader to appreciate the broad historical, social, and political context. By sharing this extensive history, readers get a better sense of the context within which the refugee mass departure took place. According to Chan there were to waves one in 1975 and one in 1997. The core of the collection consists of oral histories of Chan's students at the University of California - mostly members of the controversial designation "1.5 generation" of Vietnamese Americans. The oral histories disclose several core issues vis-à-vis the Vietnamese American experience. The critical intervention of this book, aside from the historical component of the early chapters is that the book contributes to preservation of refugee history. Similar in style and function to Elaine H. Kim and Eui-Young Yu's East to America: Korean American Life Stories and Gary Okihiro's Storied Lives, this book also stands as an important work of the understudied aspect of the immigrant experience. Although this book is about the Vietnamese Americans, it contributed to Asian American Studies as a field of study. First, Chan examines the fissure between the two driving ideologies: Capitalism and Communism. Second, she looks at the contrapuntal dynamics between pedagogy and politics. By examining these two tensions, she allows us to experience the complexity of being Vietnamese American.

The student-written oral histories, as a change of method, are both refreshing and unique. This approach is a major contribution to both Vietnamese American Studies and Asian American Studies. Six of the oral histories bring to presence the April 1975 flight on U.S. military aircraft and naval vessels. Nine tell heartrending but ultimately victorious stories of the "boat people" who were incarcerated in refugee camps through out Southeast Asia. This work stands as a testimony to the power of the human spirit who despite the odds survive to inspire. Note: One of the more compelling of the oral histories was Chapter 20: The Never-Ending Struggle (Chan, The Vietnamese American 1.5 Generation 190-197). The author's ethnic Chinese family lived comfortably in Saigon prior to the fall. In this narrative, the author deals with both her Vietnamese and Chinese heritage as she is finally settled in Oakland, California. Bounced around from island to island she finally settles down to explore and find her "Chineseness" in her Chinese-language school experience. One of the more compelling issues, I think, that surrounds Asian's in the diaspora is the tension between maintaining their "ness" while navigating and negotiating their way around the mainstream white challenge. The tensions are real, as expressed in this narrative, but it also points to the socially constructed and psychologically motivated qualities about both identity and culture. Nonetheless, the struggles - and the results that can go either way - are real and exist in material reality. The challenge now is for us to understand that dynamic and allow for personal growth and fulfillment.

Excellent book, especially for other 1.5 generation Asian Americans
Someone who is "1.5 Generation" is someone who immigrated to America at a very young age, not quite 1st generation and not quite 2nd generation. This book is excellent for those like me, who are of this generation.

I completely agree with Smallchief's review. Half of the book is a quick history of the American involvement in Vietnam and the refugee process that followed that period.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who is a 1.5 generation immigrant from Vietnam or who has any close friends or family from this group.

Refugee Lives
The sub-title of this book is "Stories of War, Revolution, Flight, and New Beginnings."That about sums it up.Sucheng Chan, a well-known Southeast Asian scholar, edited the book which consists mostly of contributions by her Vietnamese students at the University of California in Santa Barbara. The book begins with 100 pages covering briefly the history of Vietnam, the Vietnam War, and the refugee crisis in its aftermath. We then have 150 pages of personal accounts by 15 Vietnamese American students of their escapes from Vietnam and and lives in America.

The book is hardly unique as rooms could be filled with books about the Vietnam War and about Vietnamese living in the U.S., and quite a few of them have delved more deeply than this one.The virtues of "The Vietnamese American 1.5 Generation" are a good introduction, well written background chapters, an epilog by the editor --a former refugee -- good notes and a good bibliography.The concept of a collaboration between students and teacher is also interesting and is fully explained in the introduction.

Smallchief ... Read more

Product Description
This book is the first in Paulist Press's new Ethnic American Pastoral Spirituality series, which puts practical information at the fingertips of all who engage in pastoral ministry a way to better understand, appreciate, and thereby minister to the new immigrant groups that have changed the face of American Catholicism. This first volume explores the religious and cultural traditions of Vietnamese-American Catholics.

Peter Phan distills in eight chapters essential information: the history of Christianity in Vietnam, the conditions of Vietnamese Catholics in America, their customs and feasts, the challenges facing Vietnamese Catholics and suggestions on how to meet them. Pastoral strategies for assisting Vietnamese-American Catholics in becoming more active members of the Church are included, as are photographs and maps.Highlights:

--first in a promising series of books--no other book like this on the market--concise, information packed, but easy to read--perfect for pastoral leaders and all who minister to Vietnamese Catholic and--Vietnamese-American youth who do not know their culture and history well ... Read more

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This collection of evocative personal testimonies by three generations of Hmong refugees is the first to describe their lives in Laos as slash-and-burn farmers, as refugees after a Communist government came to power in 1975, and as immigrants in the United States. Reflecting on the homes left behind, their narratives chronicle the difficulties of forging a new identity. From Jou Yee Xiong's Life Story: 'I stopped teaching my sons many of the Hmong ways because I felt my ancestors and I had suffered enough already. I thought that teaching my children the old ways would only place a burden on them'. From Ka Pao Xiong's (Jou Yee Xiong's son) Life Story: 'It has been very difficult for us to adapt because we had no professions or trades and we suffered from culture shock. Here in America, both the husband and wife must work simultaneously to earn enough money to live on. Many of our children are ignorant of the Hmong way of life. Even the old people are forgetting about their life in Laos, as they enjoy the prosperity and good life in America'. From Xang Mao Xiong's Life Story: 'When the Communists took over Laos and General Vang Pao fled with his family, we, too, decided to leave.Not only my family, but thousands of Hmong tried to flee. I rented a car for thirty thousand Laotian dollars, and it took us to Nasu. We felt compelled to leave because many of us had been connected to the CIA. Thousands of Hmong were traveling on foot. Along the way, many of them were shot and killed by Communist soldiers. We witnessed a bloody massacre of civilians'. From Vue Vang's Life Story: 'Life was so hard in the [Thai refugee] camp that when we found out we could go to the United States, we did not hesitate to grasp the chance. We knew that were we to remain in the camp, there would be no hope for a better future. We would not be able to offer our children anything better than a life of perpetual poverty and anguish'. Author Sucheng Chan, Professor and Chair of Asian American Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara, is general editor of "Temple's Asian American History and Culture Series". ... Read more

Customer Reviews (14)

Hmong Means Free
Whether or not the meaning of "Hmong" LITERALLY means "free" or not, I'm SURE, is not what the author is trying to say.

My thoughts
I thought the chineses' called Hmongs "Miao" and the Tais' called Hmongs "Meo." Don't quote me on that, I could be wrong.

Hmong peoples' stories are a bit different than most immigrants that came to the US. They are here because they assisted the US CIA with a "Secret War" against Indochina Communist and fled to the US to escape from death and imprisonment.

I agree that other races faced equal or more horrific conflicts, as well, but to bicker with PMS is a bit over the top. All of the reviews have brought much joy to me. At least there are people thinking deeply about the idea of Hmong and "reading" this cool book.

To the not so cool dude.Get a life!
I have not read this book personally, but the reviews I have read seemed like some of you are a little ticked off. It doesn't matter what "Hmong" really means to you, it's what it means to the author. But all of a sudden, some of you have become experts in the Hmong culture and language.Well send me your email address and I will personally send you a diploma, a B.S. in Hmong culture and language.

Now for the jerk that wrote the last review- The Hmong have put up with all kinds of stereotyping, but to say that they are inferior by looking at the way they live is really a slap in the face. I could say the same thing about the Vietnamese, Laotians, Cambodians, Chinese, or any other Asian groups in this country but I don't.What a person becomes is really up to that individual, so for you to pass judgement on others, especially a group of people, based on your narrow minded pea brain, I nominate you for the "Jerk of the Year" award.

Go get a life and stop ruining mine!

Cried and laughed all at once.
The author's intro was informative but lacks passion (some day, a Hmong author may be able to do a more passionate job on our plight).

The narratives were honest and sincere. There was no "sugar-coating"--I know! The narratives had a single common denominator: the sufferings of the human condition. Throughout the narration, I cried and laughed all at once. I cried: all the sufferings. I laughed: when one of the narratives failed the drivers' written test (in California) the first time because after she took the test, she didn't even realized it was in Spanish until her husband told her--she did not know Spanish.

The book gave me a sense of my history in a personal and down-to-earth way. The book is an excellent reference.

Helping young Hmong Americans find and identity...
I work in the healthcare field and have seen quite a few young (teenage +) Hmong Americans struggling with their sense of value.In particular, a young girl who had been "Americanized" AKA taken from her family when she was young because of supposed abuse - a common practice not that long ago.She was depressed, living with a loving but very white family in which she felt inferior.Asian gang activities in our area made her feel embarrassed.This book put a spark back in her eyes.I found it wonderful and would highly recommend it. ... Read more

Product Description
Contrary to the stereotype which depicts them as economic successes, Asian workers have a high incidence of underemployment when compared to white workers. This book integrates immigration and labor market trends into an analysis of the economic assimilation of Asians in the U.S. It examines four forms of underemployment (unemployment, part-time employment, working poverty, and job mismatch) for Asian Indian, Filipino, and Vietnamese men and women. This study shows that Asian underemployment rates are consistently higher than for non-Hispanic whites, with Asian Indians having the highest rate. Each Asian group displayed varied effects of human capital, family and household, industry, and assimilation variables on the different underemployment categories. Important implications of the findings show that ethnic group variation in underemployment appears stronger than differences by gender.
(Ph.D. dissertation, Pennsylvania State University, 1994; revised with new preface and index) ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

a hot topic rendered dull
Talking heads that exploit Asian Americans as "model minorities" assume that all Asian Americans are doing well.The author hear divides underemployment into four parts:those with no job, those with a job beneath their qualifications, those working part-time who could work full-time, and those getting paid unconscionable salaries and then asks how this affects three Asian-American groups: Indians, Filipinos, and the Vietnamese.

The author is diverse in choosing these groups, they are both yellow and brown, South Asian and Southeast Asian.The groups came to the United States at differing times, in differing numbers, and for differing reasons.The author also looks at how gender, years in the US, college education, and other factors affect this data.Her point is that Asian Americans are not in better positions than European Americans as some falsely argue.

While I loved this book's subject, the actual reading was painful.Only number crunchers would enjoy this book.She could have been discussing issues about which I don't care as boring as most of this read.I also wonder if the Census Bureau now has computer programs that could generate this info in a few minutes compared to someone actually getting a Ph.D. through presenting this info.This book felt so impersonal.Firstly, the author describes Asian immigration in terms that I don't think underscored the racism and imperialism that these groups faced.Second, when Apu spoke of being the top of his graduate class but still working at the Quik-E-Mart, I related more to a cartoon character than the dull info presented here.

This topic is timely and important.However, this book is only for hardcore statisticians, not for round-the-way anti-racist activists, readers, and thinkers. ... Read more

Product Description
Tseng studies community based organizations (CBOs) within Chinese and Vietnamese enclaves.These provide cultural services, leadership, and advocacy, facilitating social adjustment.Their viability depends on government and community support and adapting to changing political and community priorities.Even though ethnic CBOs and immigrant populations lack political voice, they represent valuable human and social capital.Ethnic CBOs have central roles to play in fostering collaboration and legitimacy across government and communities and strengthening cultural proficient health and human services to support immigrant populations.With globalization increasingly contested in immigrant neighborhoods, ethnic CBOs have become fundamental urban features that local and global development cannot do without. ... Read more

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Discusses conditions in Vietnam, particularly after 1975, that led Vietnamese to leave the country, describes the difficulties these people faced, how they managed to immigrate to the United States and to keep their traditions alive in their new homeland. ... Read more

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Introduces readers to the Vietnamese American culture, immigration aspects, customs, religion, foods, and holidays. Famous Vietnamese Americans, as well as noted contributions and inventions by Vietnamese Americans, are also presented. ... Read more