NOSTALGIA AND IDENTITY OF THE VIETNAMESE DIASPORIC COMMUNITY IN VIET THANH NGUYEN’S WORKS

DOI: 10.18173/2354-1067.2024-0007

Abstract

Based on Svetlana Boym’s theory ofnostalgia, the paper analyzes Viet Thanh Nguyen’sworks in two aspects: restorative nostalgia andreflective nostalgia, to clarify the identity of theVietnamese American diasporic community. Withtwo novels The Sympathizer, The Committed, anda collection of short stories The Refugees, thewriter has quite successfully portrayed thenationalist identity and traumatic identity ofimmigrants in both positive and negative aspects,showcasing the writer’s sympathetic and criticalattitude. The writer criticizes the extremism of asegment of immigrants who want to turn ethnicityinto a tool for political goals, and at the same timesympathizes with the pain of most immigrants whohave lost loved ones. These two contents are placedon the historical background of the Vietnam Warin the flashbacks of the characters. From theresearch results, the paper contributes tointroducing a new way of perceiving Viet ThanhNguyen, an immigrant writer who is receivinginternational attention, and at the same timeproposes a way to research identity in general andidentity of the Vietnamese diasporic community inparticular, through the nostalgic perspective ofmemory