Viet Kieu
Việt Kiá»u
Dear all,
In response to and to continue off of Peter Hansen's question on the
evolution of the term Việt Kiá»u, a Google "site:" search brought up four
past VSG threads about the term. It must be quite a blast to the past when
one realizes that in 2001 diacritics were inserted directly the old-school
way...Regardless, this is a good way to see how "academic" perceptions of
the term have changed over the years!
The first two of these threads date back to 2001, beginning with Professor
Caroline Kieu-Linh Valverde's inquiry into the origin of the term.
<http://www.lib.washington.edu/SouthEastAsia/vsg/elist_2001/Vietkieu.html>
In terms of linguistic origins, you can see that my previous remarks on
*hoaqiao* was already explored and confirmed by Dr. Regina M. Abrami and
expanded on by Greg Pringle. I would also pay close attention to the terms
for Chinese people with foreign nationalities in his second paragraph.
In terms of "semantics" (which many from the Asian American/ethnic/gender
studies crowd like myself believe *matter*, and as such "don't call me what
I don't want to be called"), I most closely associate with the views of
(and suggest reading) Professor Nhung Tuyết Trần's email on "8 Jan 2001",
especially the second half of the second paragraph through the fourth
paragraph ("Overseas Vietnamese certainly...")
Upon David Marr's return from Việt Nam a few months later, he continued the
topic, although most of the discussion was on the tiered pricing system
present in Việt Nam (super interesting, and perhaps many changes with the
advent of the internet).
<http://www.lib.washington.edu/SouthEastAsia/vsg/elist_2001/Vietkieu2.html>
Conversation
on the use of the term was restarted in earnest with this comment by
Professor Thu-Hương Nguyễn-võ
which expanded into its own thread here
.
​
I find my father's definition of Việt Kiá»u to be very interesting. For
context, we are both American citizens, my father by naturalization, me by *jus
soli*. He was born in 1947, to give context to his "place" in the
Vietnamese American community. I will trace how he adapted his definition
over the course of three days as we read through the 4 VSG topics linked
above.
On the first day, his definition essentially labels anyone "sent by" (i.e.
has a Visa approved by and can be tracked by) the current Vietnamese
government to work and/or study abroad *and has plans to return to Việt Nam* as
Việt Kiá»u. This definition was further strengthened by the frequent use of
the term "G.I." in both Vietnamese and American newspapers (e.g. *Newsweek*
, *The Times, Ngôn Luáºn,* etc.). Upon learning from his boss (U.S. Army
captain) that these initials stood for "Government Issue" (among other
things), he came to perceive U.S. troops as "Mỹ Kiá»u" in that war-time
context. [This blows my mind esp. because I did not know the meaning of
G.I. until he told me.] He does not see the term Việt Kiá»u as "pejorative",
but a case of "misuse" of the term.
On Day 2, my dad realized that based on his definition which places
emphasis the idea of "government issue" and having a Vietnamese passport,
that he, too, is Việt Kiá»u, along with anyone that "was given permission
by" the current Vietnamese government to "go away" (such as the H.O./O.D.P.
folks). "Buts" coming up on day 3...
On Day 3, my dad added this caveat to his "government issue" definition. He
argues that even though H.O./O.D.P. folks were provided a passport to leave
by the current Vietnamese government (and therefore "government issue"), he
notes the status of these folks *as they entered* the United States. For
those that have the American government give them a stamp of "refugee" on
their I-94 form (primarily H.O. folks), he believes that it is extremely
reasonable for these folks to refuse to be identified as Việt Kiá»u. For
those that have an I-94 but not a "refugee" stamp, then he believes they
have a right to accept or refuse the term Việt Kiá»u as they wish.
The final note from him is that he absolutely refuses that his son is
called a Việt Kiá»u as I am "U.S. born and bred". As you can see, a very
technical definition for Việt Kiá»u by my father based on government, laws
and specific circumstances (for now of course!).
And now for something completely different... For my personal rejection of
the term, I essentially echo the arguments made in 2001 and 2009 above and
only wish to add a few personal notes. First, this passage from Jennifer 8.
Lee's (New York Times bestseller) *The Fortune Cookie Chronicles
*which particularly
struck me the first time I read it and promptly recorded it into my notes.
Feel free to replace "China/Chinatown/*hoaqiao*" with "Vietnamese
equivalents".
*---*
There is no consistent name for "Chinatown" in Chinese. Other languages
around the world have coalesced around names: *le quartier chinois* in
French, *el barrio chino *in Spanish, *chukagai* in Japanese and *Chinatown* in
English, Russian, German and Korean.
But in Chinese, the names vary. Newspapers use one name, popular speech
uses others. In the Chinatown subway station in New York City, the chosen
modern translation is delicately pixeled together with colorful tiles:
*huabu*. I never knew what this meant until the Chinese characters appeared
on the wall after a subway renovation, but it struck me. The *hua* in
*huabu* means "Chinese," but with a sense that transcends the nation-state
*. *After all, New York City's Chinatown has lived through the fall of two
governments, a split, and a reunification just in the last century of
Chinese history. *Hua* is an encompassing term, free of the fissures caused
by military détentes and colonization. It is the distilled essence of being
Chinese.
It is the link that ties together the Chinese I met while circling the
world, where we are known as *huaqiao*, "Chinese sojourners."
With a worldwide diaspora that began in earnest two centuries ago, you can
be *hua* even if you hold a passport from Singapore, the United States, or
Peru. You can be *hua* even if you have never set foot in China and don't
speak a single word of Chinese. The *huaqiao* label sticks, *albeit
technically inaccurate in many cases, as though one day we all might
return, as though the departure from the homeland is only temporary, even
if it may last for generations upon generations. Such is the presumption of
the long, muscular tentacles of Chineseness.*
[...]
Sociologists have noted that a sense of national and cultural identity is
often built on a triumvirate: blood, language and culture, and citizenship.
In some countries, such as Japan, you need all three to be considered
Japanese—anything less, and you're incomplete. The Japanese even
call Japanese-Brazilians who return *gaijin*, foreigners.
In America, there is no blood requirement. With the Chinese, there is only
a blood requirement.
---
[See Collet and Furuya's article "Enclave, Place, or Nation?" if you are
wondering what word could replace "Chinatown" for a Vietnamese "enclave".
Like in Chinese, the names for these enclaves in Vietnamese vary.]
That "technical inaccuracy" is precisely what matters to me. My sense of
discomfort with the term Việt Kiá»u does not lie in whether it is a
"Communist" term or not, rather it is the fact that I am being claimed by
these "long muscular tentacles" (of the current Vietnamese government, or
any) to "come home" (and bring my education/skills/money; to a place I have
never called home) that is a bit off-puting. Let me have that
self-determination, please.
Andrew Wells-Dang in 2009 wrote that "The point that I see everyone making
in these discussions is that a group should be able to decide for itself
what terms it is called by". Unfortunately, I do not really see that point
being made by too many people in that thread, rather I see quite a
few teleological linguistic arguments that reduce and see
definitions/meanings of words/terms (symbols) as "ended" and unchangeable
(see "An End to History" by Mario Savio for more of what I am subtly
hinting at). In the same way that "Chinatown" has multiple names in Chinese
(according to Jennifer 8. Lee), the Vietnamese American community
identifies itself in the same myriad amount of ways, just as we have seen
the "LGB community" "expand/redefine" itself to become the LGBT community
and even the LGBTQIA community when certain members of that community felt
mis- or unrepresented (interesting side-note, my LGBT-identifying friends
in Việt Nam use the term "cộng đồng LGBT" to refer to themselves as a
group). Then again, in the self-reflective nature that pervades academia
today, my views are just a result of my training in the ethnic studies in a
post-linguistic turn, post-'60s movements world.
Denying the right of self-identification brings up the idea of the
subaltern (who are subject to aforementioned categorization by other groups
and power entities), but also Stuart Hill's articulation theory. That is to
say, while Steve Maxner (in 2009) claims that Việt Kiá»u is a term "is
purely Vietnamese, created by Vietnamese, to describe a group of fellow
Vietnamese who all seemed to accept and adopt it voluntarily – until now",
we must realize that "Vietnamese" have already had many divergent paths of
history. As Steve implied, there are different groups of Vietnamese... and
to use the words "fellow" Vietnamese in this case may not accurately
reflect the relationship between these groups. Other groups surely have
developed/coined derogatory/pejorative terms for smaller groups subsumed
within the larger.
My own time at SEASSI gave me the great pleasure of interviewing various
members of the Vietnamese American community in Madison. The majority that
we interviewed came to the United States pre-1975, and were mostly situated
at Fort Chaffee before being dispersed to Madison. The question we
specifically asked our interlocutors was whether my classmate Kim and
myself (two American born people of "full" Vietnamese heritage) were "Việt
Kiá»u". The tally is as follows.
Kim and Khiêm (Alvin) are Việt kiêu *while in* Việt Nam: 9
Kim and Khiêm (Alvin) are not Việt kiêu: 4
Không phân biệt: 2
I provide this merely for more quantitative evidence of the pervasiveness
of the use of the term Việt Kiá»u by Vietnamese in Việt Nam (cf. use by
those of Vietnamese descent with American nationality). One interviewee in
particular had this notable quote that touches on various concepts (X is a
placeholder for their name): "X nhắc tới chỗ cái nà y…là X dùng chữ “đi
Việt Nam.†Má»™t cái là đi, má»™t cái là vá», X phân biệt rõ lấm. Mặc dù VN lÃ
nơi X sanh, cái chữ X nghĩ là xà i đúng nhất là chữ đi VN và vỠMỹ, bởi vì
Mỹ là nơi mà nuôi sống X, đất nước thứ hai nuôi sống X, và X ở đây suốt
Ä‘á»i, nên Mỹ là quê hÆ°Æ¡ng của mình… Phải nghÄ© và nói cho nó chÃnh xác. Sao
lại dùng chữ mình đi VN? Mình đi VN vì đó là nơi mình sinh ra mà mình không
có ở đó..."
I also have this gem: an excerpt from the University of California
Education Abroad Program's program guide for the Việt Nam program in the
year 2012-2013, back when the program was held in HÃ Ná»™i.
Students of Vietnamese Origin
Being Viet Kieu (“Overseas Vietnameseâ€) is often difficult for students,
especially if they do not speak Vietnamese well. Relating to local
Vietnamese while feeling American is a very common sentiment, and it may
take some time to assimilate the differences...
There have been problems with U.S. consular access to American citizens.
Frequently the embassy or consulate general is not immediately notified
when U.S. citizens are arrested or detained. *The Vietnamese government
considers **all people born in Vietnam or born to Vietnamese parents to be
Vietnamese **citizens unless they have formally renounced their Vietnamese
citizenship **with the Vietnamese government. For this reason, Vietnamese
officials may **treat U.S. citizens of Vietnamese origin differently from
other U.S. citizens.* *Vietnamese citizens are subject to laws and
restrictions that may be applied differently to foreigners*. For example,
the investigative detention law enables the government to detain Vietnamese
citizens for longer periods of time while alleged criminal activities are
under investigation.
I believe the bold references the laws that Tạ Văn Tà i stated in 2009 to
have been recently changed then (at least, I hope so). The part I put in
bold cannot be found in the program guide for the year I went (2013-2014,
when the program relocated to Cần Thơ, for reasons one can surely
guess), or this year's program guide. Nevertheless, a good example of the
"tentacles" as characterized by Jennifer 8. Lee by which I do not wish to
be bound.
On a final note, there was also a claim by Thạch Nguyễn in 2009 that those
that do not accept the term "Việt Kiá»u" "do not want to recognize their
roots". I respond to this *ad hominem* by asking simply to look at the word
"gốc" in "ngÆ°á»i Mỹ gốc Việt". I will even gladly use the long-winded
"American of Vietnamese/Asian descent" rather than "Vietnamese American" if
the need to recognize my roots must be so stressed. But I was hoping that
my commitment to studying Vietnamese (and Vietnamese American) history,
language and culture would solve that. Of course, "recognizing one's roots"
can be conceived of in many different ways, in the same way as the term
diaspora, in the same way some of my friends who do spoken word (roughly
"ngâm thơ kiểu Mỹ") interpret "vỠnước" as returning literally to the water
out of which their refugee family emerged out, rather than a return to that
country. Such is the fluidity of words.
I hope this adds fresh perspectives to the already large pot. Welcome to
Technicality Club (!?)
<http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=3470>
Embracing the Path of Peace,
Alvin Khiêm Bùi
University of California, Los Angeles | History | Asian American Studies |
Asian Languages minor | academia.edu profile
<https://ucla.academia.edu/AlvinBui>
Dear Alvin,
Such a long, thoughtful, and insightful post. Thank you!
There are so many bits I would like to respond to, such as the linguistic
troubles an Irish-American, adult Vietnamese-language-learner, spouse of an
Vietnamese-American woman has when navigating the grammar/propriety of "di
Viet Nam" vs. "ve Viet Nam" - both when in Vietnam and when in the US...
But my more interesting (to me) question is the whole idea of "identity,"
so I make the following statements as a kind of inquiry, not as "fact":
This question of Viet Kieu-ness is in part a symptom of a moment of huge
cultural shift, both in the diaspora and in the homeland. What I am
referring to is the cultural move from a collective identity --
nation-village-family -- to a private, individual identity. This is, in my
perception, an inevitable shift under advanced capitalism, as well as under
the massive tidal forces of globalization on cultural transformations.
My thinking is that if one' s identity is first and foremost to the family
(ho hang) and village, then one's connection to the homeland is eternally
intact. The homeland is the source of one's ancestors, the well-spring of
one's life, the ultimate que huong (no matter where one happens to be
born). One "returns" home to the homeland, even if one has never been there
before.
On the other hand, if one is an individual (who just happens to have a
family) like I feel myself to be, then my identity is self-created. I can
decide who and what I am. My identity is not ascribed, it is discovered,
manufactured, and changed as an act of will. This can be in conjunction
with family, nation, ancestry, etc., or despite these. Therefore, as an
individual, one "goes to" the ancestral home from one's place of current
residence as one would "go to" any foreign country.
(In the American context, a huge complicating factor in this idea is the
issue of "race." One's ability to construct one's identity can be
circumscribed by society's built-in structures for ascribing traits and
one's "place" through individual and structural racism.)
I have been increasingly interested in the "nuclearization" of the
Vietnamese family over time, particularly "overseas" but also in large
cities in Vietnam such as Saigon. Just anecdotally, I think there may be
more and more 1-generation families with weaker links to their ho hang or
home village. I think the idea of identity is shifting under the influence
of similar forces.
What are your thoughts?
Joe Hannah
Alvin's post made me think of issues of citizenship/nationality,
positionality and place of origin (big words, I know, and I apologize).
Whether or not one considers oneself a Vietnamese-American (Nguoi My goc
Viet), a Viet Kieu or an overseas Vietnamese or part of some community thus
labelled surely depends on whether one privileges ethnicity over
nationality and current position/location. As the holder of a passport
issued by a now defunct government but with the intention of returning to
Vietnam, I used to consider myself as a Vietnamese temporarily sojourning
abroad. No doubt this is true of many Vietnamese who have recently come to
the US to study or engage in short-term occupations.
Eventually, I acquired American citizenship. I therefore regard myself as
a Vietnamese-American. But I have no problem considering myself as
Vietnamese as any Vietnamese who has just stepped off the plane. When I am
in Vietnam, I am considered as a Viet Kieu; I don't mind. It puts me in the
same category as Vietnamese who are based abroad, whether Australia, France
or North America (or even Israel or Finalnd). This categorization is based
on both ethnicity and location rather than politics or even nationality. To
me, being called Viet Kieu underscores the fact that I am based not in the
city of my birth but in the city of my current residence. However, when I
am back in Cambridge, MA, I am definitely an American citizen with the
rights and obligations this entails.
Perhaps it is a generational issue. Those of Vietnamese origin but born in
the US may feel differently about the labels applied or applicable to them.
Hue-Tam Ho Tai
Hi Alvin,
Please be assured I wasn't challenging your explanation of the term's
etymology, which I'm sure is correct. I am simply noting a trend in
current usage (at least as far as I've observed, though I do a lot of
observing) amongst Vietnamese Australians, and hence perhaps, an evolution
in definition.
BTW, I think there's a consensus that it applies to Vietnamese-born only.
I doubt any Australian-born Vietnamese would refer to themselves as Viet
Kieu, and if they did, it would not be an accepted usage.
Best,
Peter Hansen
Re Peter's comment
"BTW, I think there's a consensus that it applies to Vietnamese-born only. I doubt any Australian-born Vietnamese would refer to themselves as Viet Kieu, and if they did, it would not be an accepted usage"
I agree
In interviews I carried out in the 90s for a film about Vietnamese people immigrating and settling in Oz, young people around 13 to 25 who were born in Australia tended to think of themselves as Vietnamese Australians and some older one's born in Vietnam thought of themselves as Australian Vietnamese - they would argue about this among themselves but they didn't like the term Vk being applied. Some people felt the Vietnamese way would work no matter where you were while others felt you had to be Australian to succeed in Australia. We explored the tension between Vietnamese and Australian way. I think the term Vk is problematic for many people with Vietnamese ancestry - I don't know what it is but it seems to always threaten to organise in ways that draw focus back to Vietnam - rather than where people are
Brett
One point I tried to make is that in Vietnam everybody who is of Vietnamese
descent is a Viet Kieu.
Hue Tam Ho Tai
Hi guys,
> One point I tried to make is that in Vietnam everybody who is of
Vietnamese descent is a Viet Kieu.
I'm not sure if that is true anymore. I've been corrected multiple times by
Vietnamese people when I introduce myself as a Viet Kieu. Vietnamese people
in the countryside and in Ho Chi Minh city will correct me and say that I
am "Nguoi My Goc Viet". At the same time, in casual conversation, I will
still be referred to as Viet Kieu because it's simply easier to say. Nguoi
My Goc Viet is a mouthful.
Cheers,
Minh
Minh, I suspect that's the main reason why Vietnamese-born Australians use
the term as well; convenient and easy usage. I'm no scholar of
linguistics, but isn't that one of the most common reasons language evolves
and meanings shift?
Peter H
Dear all,
Sorry for being late in this discussion,… and I may have missed many great points.
I concur that "anyone who carries Vietnamese blood in their veins" (há»… ai mang ding
máu Việt Nam…) from many respected elders… are considered Vietnamese.
Between the late 1980's and the early 1990's I had a privilege of sitting in discussion
in Ban Việt kiá»u (Trung Æ°Æ¡ng, Tp HCM, …, which later was renamed as Uá»· ban vá»
NgÆ°á»i Việt Nam ở NÆ°á»›c Ngoà i, as the results of these discussions. During the US
embargo, the amount of trade, important imports, gift packages, and family money
transfer was huge. And Ban Việt kiá»u became important -- yet, it could not change
any law in favor of Việt kiá»u.
The discussion is more on a policy level. Ban Việt kiá»u has the role of "protecting
the interests of Việt kiá»u" in the state policies. After a lot of these discussions, when
Ban Việt kiá»u, actually has no power in the state policies or laws, most of "Việt kiá»u"
wanted to be considered as "foreigners" -- because then they would know what do
and had the laws protecting them.
In the meantime, it had become more obvious for Vietnamese overseas to take up
citizenship where they lived and made a living, esp. the US, than keeping the
Vietnamese citizenship (which Ban Việt kiá»u could not do).
In the late 1990's when Vietnam began to sign immigration agreements with the
US, it only accepts back only those who travel with the current Vietnamese
passports (not those who left in 1975, 1989, … or with the HO, Amerasians…).
The term "Việt kiá»u" has been redefined as just "those Vietnamese
citizens with Vietnamese passports". Many Vietnamese Americans who have
not naturalized quietly enjoy this and use the argument in their legal strategy
against deportation (3 strikes rule, as well as Nguyen vs Ascroft after 2001 which
redefines a strike, at least 1 year in prison, or $10,000 US in damage).
Uá»· ban vá» NgÆ°á»i Việt Nam ở NÆ°á»›c Ngoà i is now a branch of the Foreign Ministry…
which is more logical.
Best,
Nhà n
I need a little help with this -- how so, every one in Viet Nam of
Vietnamese descent is Viet Kieu --- overseas from the Yueh in China?
Something else?
thanks in advance (cam on truoc) for clarification,
Diane
That is precisely why Viet Kieu is more commonlly used. I also think it is
useful to distinguish between formal and informal usage.
Interestingly the state uses the term Vietnamese residing overseas when
discussing such issues as five year visas
Hue Tam Ho Tai
Hi guys,
> One point I tried to make is that in Vietnam everybody who is of
Vietnamese descent is a Viet Kieu.
I'm not sure if that is true anymore. I've been corrected multiple times
by Vietnamese people when I introduce myself as a Viet Kieu. Vietnamese
people in the countryside and in Ho Chi Minh city will correct me and say
that I am "Nguoi My Goc Viet". At the same time, in casual conversation, I
will still be referred to as Viet Kieu because it's simply easier to say.
Nguoi My Goc Viet is a mouthful.
Cheers,
Minh
Nothing to do with the Yueh in China. Persons of Vietnamese descent
residing abroad are called VIet Kieu in VIetnam--at least informally. The
issue is what to call them in their country of residence. Some object to
being called Viet Kieu. Younger people might prefer to be called XXX of
Vietnamese descent; their parents might prefer Overseas Vietnamese on the
grounds that Viet Kieu has specific political overtones.
There are even more complicated cases. For instance, in Vietnam, David
Tran, whose grandfather settled in Vietnam at the beginning of the 20th
century, would be called Nguoi Viet goc Hoa. But in the US? By Vietnamese?
Non-Vietnamese? And what about children of mixed marriages?
Hue Tam Ho Tai
Aha -- I was mis-reading. I thought you were making a distinction of
people residing in Vietnam -- Kinh versus other. This explanation, of
course, makes more sense!
thanks,
Diane
Children of mixed marriages? I've never been corrected when I refer to my
kids as ngÆ°á»i Mỹ lai Việt.
David Brown
Fresno, CA
Dear all,
Thank you all for carrying on a wonderful discussion and CCing my Gmail
along. I apologize for that as I simply forgot to send my initial email
from my UCLA email, which is subscribed to the VSG list. I tried to keep it
short but I cannot help reply to all of you!
Peter Hansen: No worries! I did not mean to subtly imply that you did
challenge my explanation. At that point in time I was not 100% sure myself
of the terms’ etymology, though looking at these old VSG topics certainly
helped in that regard.
Joe and (Cô) Huệ-Tâm, I would say it is generational, but for a different
reason. Huệ-Tâm, you leaned on the generational argument for the Thầy Quyên
Di stuff and I would have to say I see both that and this a bit
differently. I think that (and I am about to generalize based on my
personal experience) the majority of my generation of American-born
Vietnamese heritage students are not in disagreement with the “Bút Xuân
Trần Äình Ngá»c†types because of difference in what we want to learn,
rather many struggle to learn Vietnamese as a language to begin with. As
such, the term Việt Kiá»u means next to nothing to my generation who may be
able to understand Vietnamese (and perhaps only their parent’s Vietnamese)
but cannot respond with much more more than “dạ†or a few broken sentences
riddled with code switching. Like pretty much every ethnic group to come to
the United States, fluency in the “mother tongue†will be gone by the
“second†or “third†generation. However, I do not think that people like
“Bút Xuân†have resigned themselves to such a fact. We could learn
Vietnamese “history and geography†all we want but it will not really do us
any good if 80%+ of my friends cannot properly pronounce or read the names
of the 63 tỉnh of Việt Nam. Actually “Bút Xuân†probably wants our poor
souls to memorize the tỉnh’s as they were trước ‘75…unfortunately it is
high time to wake up and smell the cà phê sữa đá.
For myself, I thought that I, too could step off the plane and with two of
the triumvirate of national and cultural identity (blood and language
fluency), be as Vietnamese as any other Vietnamese. True, to some extent.
It turns out that my Bắc ‘54 dialect infused with southern vocabulary was
too northern for the southeners and too southern for the northeners (I even
got a “chuẩn Nam†designation once!). Việt Nam may be the “motherland†or
“fatherland†in the sense that it is the quê hương of my parents, but
otherwise, a place whose people cannot accept me (someone who has worked
quite hard to attain said language fluency) fully as “one of them†could
never be my “homelandâ€. But this could be a retroactive argument I am
making and a case of my expectations being mismatched. As for now, I would
say your idea regarding Viet Kieu-ness, connection to the motherland and
nuclearization in these economic milieux is very interesting and I lean
towards it being true, maybe I will have a more extended correspondence in
the future.
Minh, it is certainly encouraging to hear that those corrections occurring.
For myself, I do remember a particular incident in either Äà Nẵng or Huế
where a man carrying and selling sunglasses called my general group “Việt
Kiá»us†after about 5 seconds of soliciting sales and us promptly ignoring
him. At which point I proceeded to yell at him (I am not bình tỉnh in these
situations).
Nhà n, I was wondering if you could expand on the use of non-naturalization
status in the Nguyá»…n v. Ascroft case. I read through a brief of the case
and am unsure of how Nguyễn’s status as a permanent resident (alien) was
used to support his appeal. A few elders in the community always refer to
“the Vietnamese gangster who drove the car in a drive-by and went to jailâ€
as an example of “bad Vietnamese†(assuming a language of bifurcation) and
now I think I know where that example comes from…
Regardless, your story about the name changes and departmental shifts is
fascinating. One of the Vietnamese administrators at the university and I
got into an argument when he called me “Việt Kiá»uâ€... to which he said
something to the effect of “the official government term for folks like you
is ‘Việt Kiá»u’ based off of term kiá»u bà o and the name of the governmental
departmentâ€.
Also, when you write “The term ‘Việt kiá»u’ has been redefined as just
‘those Vietnamese citizens with Vietnamese passports’,†do you mean to say
with the current Vietnamese passports as based on your previous sentence
(e.g. “not those who left in 1975, 1989, … or with the HO, Amerasians…â€)? I
have critiqued wrongly in the past because of lack of clarity, so I just
want to be sure.
And finally back to Peter in regards to language: certainly. Although I
would look more towards how immigration/refugee settlement patterns
differed between receiving nations. Maybe this “allergy†to the term Việt
Kiá»u is nested in certain types of Vietnamese diasporic communities. I
would venture to say that a small number of your friends may be using the
term facetiously as well. Maybe there was a fluctuation over time as per
Brett’s interviews in the ‘90s. Though I know that my father and I would
probably have a good laugh at anyone with non-Vietnamese citizenship that
vehemently tried to assert that they were “Việt Kiá»u†and promptly move on.
Yay a few more emails! Huệ-Tâm, your point about formal and informal use is
well taken, however, I think it all goes back to not being called something
we do not wish to be called—even in an informal setting, even while in VN
(after all, my aunt who resides in Sà i Gòn calls me Việt Kiá»u against my
will)—a feeling that I am sure transcends any and all inherent generation
gaps.
As per your questions, I can share how my retention project at UCLA
(mission: 100% retention/graduation of students of Southeast Asian descent)
categorizes/tracks students. We do not turn anyone away, so we do have
students of Chinese, Japanese, Pacific Islander, “Other Asian†descent etc.
We also have a category called Southeast Asian Chinese, which I presume
would be used for students of Chinese heritage whose families came from a
Southeast Asian country. Within my family, ngÆ°á»i (Mỹ gốc) Hoa has come to
mean Chinese who came from VN while ngÆ°á»i Mỹ gốc Trung Quốc means Chinese
American and ngÆ°á»i Mỹ gốc Äà i Loan (although these terms may not always
accurate because of the novelty of these nation-states and the latter does
not distinguish between native Taiwanese and those that escaped to there
from the mainland). Oh the joys of categorization!
Finally,. having collaborated with the mixed student community at UCLA, I
find that there is a general promotion of “mixed race†as a term of
identification in and of itself rather than “compartmentalizing†into “half
this, half thatâ€. But then again that is a concept conceived of and created
in a certain milieu.
Until next time,
Embracing the Path of Peace,
Alvin Khiêm Bùi
University of California, Los Angeles | History | Asian American Studies |
Asian Languages minor | academia.edu profile
<https://ucla.academia.edu/AlvinBui>
Southeast Asian Campus Learning Education and Retention
<http://www.vsubruins.com/about/seaclear/> | Transfer Coordinator | Peer
Counselor
Dear List
I would like to invite you to consider publication in a special number of Central and East European Migration Review Journal. The number, entitled "The global Vietnamese diaspora: transnational ties, cultural flows, political entanglements", will contain papers submitted by scholars dealing with the issue of Vietnamese communities residing with various countries. Detailed information about the number can be found in attachment.
The special number is an outcome of the conference "Global Vietnamese Diaspora", organized in Warsaw in March 2014: http://www.is.uw.edu.pl/pl/badania-i-konferencje/konferencje/2014-2/the-global-vietnamese-diaspora/. Scholars from Germany, United States, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Poland, who participated in the conference, have already submitted the articles, which are now peer-reviewed. However, still more papers, especially offering comparative perspective towards particular migrant groups, are welcomed. In case you are willing to submit a paper coping with the problematics of this community, we would be honored to consider your submission.
Central and East European Migration Review is a peer-reviewed, online, open-access journal, published by the Centre of Migration Research, University of Warsaw and Polish Academy of Sciences. Detailed information can be found at the website: http://www.ceemr.uw.edu.pl/
http://ceemr.uw.edu.pl/sites/default/files/Instructions_to_authors_5.07.2013_final_2.pdf
Best
Le Thanh Hai, PhD, researcher at Institute of Philosophy and Sociology, Polish Academy of Science.
Hi --
This regular program on VTC 10 television might be of interest to some in
this conversation: a series of stories about people who have come back to
VN from other places, and their work.
with thanks to the friend who sent this to me -- a friend who embraces and
transcends all the categories
Diane
Hi Alvin.,
Why don't you like being called Viet kieu? I used to hear objections from
students who disliked being charged a higher rate than locals because they
were poor students and also they thought of themselves as being just as
Vietnamese as locals, even when they did not speak fluently. But your
objections seem to be on different grounds.
Hue Tam Ho Tai
I just returned from five weeks in Vietnam and am catching up on office email. This discussion of `Viet Kieu’ et al is especially interesting. But it would be nice to put in some comparative perspective.
As a boy in Cleveland in the late 1940s I had my ethnicity baptism among Polish classmates. Their parents wanted to be called `Polish Americans’, not `American Poles’. But I’m afraid behind their backs we called them `Polaks’ and laughed at a host of Polak jokes.
Joe Hannah (3/9) says “my identity is self-createdâ€. But this ignores how other people and institutions identify us. The most tragic example: those who saw themselves as Jewish Germans in the 1930s. Since 1975 my impression is that Vietnamese migrants have navigated the ethnicity shoals better than most.
David Marr
ANU