What did the first waves of Vietnamese refugees in America think about themselves? What was their mindset regarding their place in the world? Is it possible to write a coherent literary history of their experience?
The search for answers can take different directions and have different starting points. In my opinion, it isn’t a bad idea to begin with a collection of poetry, essays, memoirs, and fiction entitled Tuyển Tập Thơ Văn 90 Tác Giả Việt Nam Hải Ngoại 1975-1981: Selected Poetry and Prose from Ninety Vietnamese Writers Abroad, 1975-1981 (Missouri City, TX: Văn Hữu, 1982). KEEP READING!
Here’s my first blog post ever from ten years ago this week, when I was in grad school. How time flies! It’s slightly edited with added links and photos.
One of my fondest memories of last year was getting together every now and then with two grad friends to strum acoustic guitars and sing Beatles songs. Frequently enough, we did “Here, There and Everywhere,” with art historian Jen in lead vocal, fellow Americanist Matt in solo guitar, and me on rhythm guitar and backing vocal.
We rendered the song as close to the original recording as possible, and at the end of one such rendition, the normally low-key and quiet Matt let out, “It’s the best Beatles song ever!” KEEP READING!
BÀI GIỚI THIỆU: HỒI TƯỞNG CỦA NHỮNG NGƯỜI ĐÓNG GÓP XÂY DỰNG NỀN ĐỆ NHỊ CỘNG HÒA CỦA MIỀN NAM VIỆT NAM (1967-1975)
We have the first guest blog post, of a sort. Tuong Vu asks to post his Vietnamese translation of the introduction to the recent volume Voices from the Second Republic of South Vietnam (1967-1975), and I am most happy to oblige.
Continue reading “Please, more Romeo and Juliet in college!”
To reiterate a point from the last post, nationalism appears here and there in South Vietnamese music, not in one place. Strong arguments will necessarily come from a broad survey of songs, not a few. For now, however, I will zoom in on just one song in the hope of illustrating certain aspects of nationalism in the Republican South.
What is Ba Lần Mẹ Khóc, whose title I have Englished as Thrice Mother Wept, opting for old-style “thrice” over “three times” in order to cut down on syllables? Like Tuổi Trẻ Chúng Tôi, it was recorded only once in South Vietnam. KEEP READING!
This is the first of two posts on music in South Vietnam. Here is the second post.
The first time at the Association of Asian Studies (AAS), I presented a paper on ethnic nationalism in South Vietnamese music. Thanks to a nice line-up that I put together (including the Australian anthropologist Philip Taylor as chair and discussant) and auspicious scheduling (right after lunch time on Friday and without another panel on Vietnam at the same time), a lot of people in the field showed up to this panel. It seemed, indeed, as if Keith Taylor was the only big name from the U.S. that was missing. (I did see him a few days later at Cornell.) The sizable room was nearly packed: a most desirable outcome for a conference panel anywhere.
Alas, it was a successful outing in most respects but for me. KEEP READING!
Great Books instructors at Pepperdine typically teach the courses in sequence from I to IV. There is also an optional course on Asian Great Books alternately taught by three other faculty, and students are most encouraged to take them. But out of needs and schedule, my first couple of years began with III and IV. For 2015-2017, I will teach the four-semester cycle as originally intended.
This reading list reflects my design for the sequence while adhering to criteria and practice in the Great Books program at Pepperdine. KEEP READING!
Posted on FB on April 26, 2015 The Cornell Vietnam Speakers Series asked last week, “What is on your mind about the Vietnam War as we approach the 40th anniversary of its conclusion?” Here are the things that I jotted down between grading and seeing students as the semester wound down.
Continue reading “Thoughts on the fortieth anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War”
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