Viet’s answer to “I quite literally just finished the last pages of your book, and as you've hoped, the book has shak…” > Likes and Comments
25 likes · Like
@tinaathena, shaken is the perfect way to describe how I felt, too. I am a first-gen as well (Vietnamese-American), and have been so excited over the last couple of years to finally read substantial literature about Vietnamese immigrants coming from a voice I could connect to (thank you thank you thank you, Viet Nguyen—I think the Vietnamese immigrant community breathed a huge sigh when you came onto the literary scene). I am so happy to hear other voices in the Việt Kiều community reflect the same sentiments. @Viet Nguyen, thank you for sharing the translation status of The Refugees. I am eagerly awaiting the translation of The Sympathizer to be released so I can share this with my family, too!
Thanks Quyen! I do not live in a community with many Vietnamese people so to see the term "Việt Kiều" really catapulted me back to my childhood and visiting VN with my family. Growing up, I always thought of the term as an insult and it was synonymous with betrayer - I'm curious if you had the same experience. Or was it more of a neutral term, something akin to "ex-pat" or is it lightly barbed like the way Americans use the word "immigrant."
And to echo Quyen, Thanks so much to you Viet Nguyen for your info and for the book. I've been telling everyone who will listen about it and it has inspired me to get writing again.
Apologies, tinaathena—for some reason I didn't see the notification for your comment before, so I'm a little late on the response. To answer your question, Việt Kiều is an interesting term for me, too—and something that has evolved for me in a slow process to where I began to use it to describe myself. I felt the same way about it until I lived in Vietnam a few years ago and came to feel it and understand it as neutral. I think that the younger generations have reclaimed the term so that it isn't seen as an insult any longer and can't be used in that way—in Vietnam, at least. I understand your reaction and thoughts on it, though. It's a term I use carefully when I'm back home in the US because it is so contentious. Thank you for sharing your experiences around it—it's a nice reminder for me of how differently the language has developed in different parts of the world—and of how differently I personally use the language now after growing up in the US, speaking an Americanized version of Vietnamese, then living in Vietnam during my adult life and connecting with the language in a completely new way.
back to top
date
newest »
newest »
message 1:
by
Quyen
(new)
Feb 20, 2018 10:01AM
@tinaathena, shaken is the perfect way to describe how I felt, too. I am a first-gen as well (Vietnamese-American), and have been so excited over the last couple of years to finally read substantial literature about Vietnamese immigrants coming from a voice I could connect to (thank you thank you thank you, Viet Nguyen—I think the Vietnamese immigrant community breathed a huge sigh when you came onto the literary scene). I am so happy to hear other voices in the Việt Kiều community reflect the same sentiments. @Viet Nguyen, thank you for sharing the translation status of The Refugees. I am eagerly awaiting the translation of The Sympathizer to be released so I can share this with my family, too!
reply
|
flag
Thanks Quyen! I do not live in a community with many Vietnamese people so to see the term "Việt Kiều" really catapulted me back to my childhood and visiting VN with my family. Growing up, I always thought of the term as an insult and it was synonymous with betrayer - I'm curious if you had the same experience. Or was it more of a neutral term, something akin to "ex-pat" or is it lightly barbed like the way Americans use the word "immigrant."And to echo Quyen, Thanks so much to you Viet Nguyen for your info and for the book. I've been telling everyone who will listen about it and it has inspired me to get writing again.
Apologies, tinaathena—for some reason I didn't see the notification for your comment before, so I'm a little late on the response. To answer your question, Việt Kiều is an interesting term for me, too—and something that has evolved for me in a slow process to where I began to use it to describe myself. I felt the same way about it until I lived in Vietnam a few years ago and came to feel it and understand it as neutral. I think that the younger generations have reclaimed the term so that it isn't seen as an insult any longer and can't be used in that way—in Vietnam, at least. I understand your reaction and thoughts on it, though. It's a term I use carefully when I'm back home in the US because it is so contentious. Thank you for sharing your experiences around it—it's a nice reminder for me of how differently the language has developed in different parts of the world—and of how differently I personally use the language now after growing up in the US, speaking an Americanized version of Vietnamese, then living in Vietnam during my adult life and connecting with the language in a completely new way.
