Title: This is all I choose to tell
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.
Subjects: Multiculturalism in literature, Vietnam War, 1961-1975, Vietnamese American authors, Vietnamese Americans, History and criticism, American literature, Ethnic identity, Race in literature, Vietnamese Americans in literature, Cultural fusion in literature, History in literature, Literature and the war, American literature, history and criticism, Vietnam war, 1961-1975, literature and the war