FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, LOS ANGELES August 28, 2003
Contact: Russell Leong, Editor, Amerasia Journal, (310) 206-2892
Beyond Survival and Silence: UCLA Publishes New Voices of Vietnamese American Generations
UCLA's Asian American Studies Center is pleased to announce the publication of "Vietnamese Americans:
Diaspora & Dimensions," a special 280-page issue of AMERASIA JOURNAL (29:1), edited by Professor Linda
Vo. Over twenty articles by a new generation of Vietnamese and American scholars and writers examine the
Vietnamese who live in the U.S. and their complex connections to Vietnam. The writers take different approaches
to looking at the Vietnamese American experience--including education, economics, ethnic studies, history,
literature, political science, public health, religion, and sociology.
According to Vo, a professor of Asian American Studies at UC Irvine, " Vietnam is marked by 1,000 years of
invasion by the Chinese, followed by 300 years of French colonialism, Japanese occupation during WWII,
attempts at French recolonization, and a decade of direct U.S. intervention. In the post-war years, Vietnam has
been shaped by countries with socialist regimes."
Writers, activists, and artists within this special AMERASIA issue address such issues as women's health, gender
relations, marriage, and culture. Articles go beyond the "survival and silence" of the Vietnam war years and ask
important questions about changes within the Vietnamese communities in the U.S. Prof. Vo states: "Although the
majority of our population is first-generation, we can now speak about 1.5, second, and even a third generation
of Vietnamese Americans."
Each generation of Vietnamese is forging new diasporic, transnational connections between the U.S. and
Vietnam. The concept "diasporic" as it applies to Vietnamese outside Vietnam includes many of the following
features: territorial/political connections; economic and trade relationships; remittances; immigrant and labor
migrations; and cultural and ethnic identification with a homeland.
For example, in her essay, Tran Ngoc Angie explores the linkages between Vietnamese workers in the U.S.
electronic industry and Vietnamese workers in the garment industry in Vietnam. Her study compares labor
conditions in factories and homes of male and female workers. While some immigrants experience mobility,
others experience similar forms of exploitation both within Vietnam and in the U.S. Other articles explore
transnational linkages in the Vietnamese music industry, in literature, and in politics. In the literary section,
chaplain, artist, and poet Phuc Luu writes about his pilgrimage--from the time his family left Saigon in 1974 to
their arrival in Morgantown, West Virginia, to his current life in Houston, Texas. His journey remains a constant
struggle to transcend the cultural trappings imposed by others, and to seek new voices in the spiritual wilderness
of America.
"Vietnamese Americans" is available for $13.00, plus $4.00 shipping and handling; California residents add
8.25% tax. Please make checks payable to "UC Regents" and send payment to UCLA Asian American Studies
Center Press, 3230 Campbell Hall, Box 951546, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1546. We also accept VISA,
MASTERCARD, and DISCOVER; include expiration date and phone number on correspondence. For order
inquiries, or review copies for media or classroom use, email thaocha@ucla.edu or call (310) 825-2968.
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VIETNAMESE AMERICANS: TABLE OF CONTENTS
Linda Vo, "Vietnamese American Trajectories: Dimensions of Diaspora"
Mong-Lan, "rush hour"
Angie Tran, "Transnational Assembly Work: Vietnamese American Electronic and Vietnamese Garment Workers"
Kieu Linh Caroline Valverde, "Making Vietnamese Music Transnational: Sounds of Home, Resistance, and
Change"
Hung Cam Thai, "The Vietnamese Double Gender Revolt: Globalizing Marriage Options in the 21st Century"
Thien Bao-Phi, "For Us"
Karin Aguilar-San Juan, "Fields of Dreams: Place, Race, and Memory in Boston's Vietnamese American
Community"
Lan Duong, "Desire and Design: Technological Display in the Vietnamese American Café and Karaoke Bar"
Gina Masequesmay, "Emergence of Queer Vietnamese America" Marking Histories
Vu Pham, "Antedating and Anchoring Vietnamese America: Toward a Vietnamese American Historiography"
Dorothy B. Fujita-Rony and Anne Frank, "Archiving Histories: The Southeast Asian Archive at University of
California, Irvine"
Mariam Beevi, James C. Lam, and Michael Matsuda, "Transforming Curriculum: Incorporating the Vietnamese
American Experience into K-12 Education"
Viet Mike Ngo, "Grave Digger" and "Red, White and Blue" Facing Challenges
Tu-Uyen Nguyen, Marjorie Kagawa-Singer, Sora Park Tanjasiri, and Mary Anne Foo, "Vietnamese American
Women's Health: A Community's Perspective and Report"
Christian Collet and Nadine Selden, "Separate Ways. . .Worlds Apart? The 'Generation Gap' in Vietnamese
America as Seen Through The San Jose Mercury News Poll"
Viet Le, "I sleep in your bed"
Viet Le, "Incense"
Isabelle Thuy Pelaud, "Catfish and Mandala: Triple Vision"
Brandy Lien Worrall, "Stories from Home"
Phuc Luu, "Across the Ocean of My Soul: A Personal and Spiritual Journey in America"
Michele Janette, "Vietnamese American Literature in English, 1963-1994"