Vietnamese Diaspora Research Articles

The Emergence of Chinese Popular Music in Vietnamese Lyrics (nhc Hoa li Vit), 1979-1995

This paper studies the cultural phenomenon of nhc Hoa li Vit, a (sub)genre of nhc Vng music that blends Chinese melodies with Vietnamese lyrics which first gained prominence among the Vietnamese diaspora in the 1980s. The paper traces the historical and cultural origins of nhc Hoa li Vit in translations and adaptations of Chinese popular music, outlining three major historical periods. The first period spanning from 1979-1986, encompasses the genres emergence in Vietnamese refugee communities following the Sino-Vietnamese War, influenced by the popularity of Cantonese wuxia TV dramas. The second period from 1986-1995 marks the genres commercial flourishing due to the i mi policy. The final period after 1995 marks the fundamental transformation of the genre following the normalization of relations between the United States and Vietnam, when, energized by the possibility of returning to Vietnam, nhc Hoa li Vit shed the final vestiges of the melancholic and sentimental style it inherited from wartime nhc Vng and became its own genre. This paper examines the importance of nhc Hoa li Vit in shaping the Vietnamese exiled identity and analyzes how the practice of translation allowed the diasporic community to give expression to its refugee experience. The paper helps uncover a new kind of musical fusion that developed from an exiled culture in a transpacific context.

The Emergence of Chinese Popular Music in Vietnamese Lyrics (nhc Hoa li Vit), 1979-1995

This paper studies the cultural phenomenon of nhc Hoa li Vit, a (sub)genre of nhc Vng music that blends Chinese melodies with Vietnamese lyrics which first gained prominence among the Vietnamese diaspora in the 1980s. The paper traces the historical and cultural origins of nhc Hoa li Vit in translations and adaptations of Chinese popular music, outlining three major historical periods. The first period spanning from 1979-1986, encompasses the genres emergence in Vietnamese refugee communities following the Sino-Vietnamese War, influenced by the popularity of Cantonese wuxia TV dramas. The second period from 1986-1995 marks the genres commercial flourishing due to the i mi policy. The final period after 1995 marks the fundamental transformation of the genre following the normalization of relations between the United States and Vietnam, when, energized by the possibility of returning to Vietnam, nhc Hoa li Vit shed the final vestiges of the melancholic and sentimental style it inherited from wartime nhc Vng and became its own genre. This paper examines the importance of nhc Hoa li Vit in shaping the Vietnamese exiled identity and analyzes how the practice of translation allowed the diasporic community to give expression to its refugee experience. The paper helps uncover a new kind of musical fusion that developed from an exiled culture in a transpacific context.

‘Banana’, Vietnamese or Czech?

Abstract Second-generation members of the Vietnamese diaspora living in the Czech Republic (CR) are living between two cultures, which confuses their identity. The aim of the article is to understand the identity formation and sense of self of second-generation Vietnamese Czechs. The study analysed 31 in-depth interviews and three important situations to form engaged observations that show that neither the host society nor the diaspora recognise these people as full members of either community. As a result of their otherness, second-generation Vietnamese Czechs usually go through four stages of identity formation, at the end of which they develop one of three possible forms of hybrid identity, located between the Czech and Vietnamese sociocultural environment.

Reality theatre as a method for social science research: the Vietnamese diaspora in central europe

ABSTRACT This article examines the use of reality theatre and its seemingly distinct categories, ethnotheatre and documentary theatre, within the social sciences. Reality theatre employs qualitative methodology, data production, and factual information as a basis for the staging process and interlinks social science research with creative practice. This approach, I argue, results in performances that are not only entertaining but informative, educational, or function pedagogically as a stimulus for social change. I argue that the division of reality theatre into several categories can be omitted in favour of a broader approach, in order to analyse the sociocultural realities staged through performance. This is demonstrated through analysis of two theatre projects from Central Europe focused on the Vietnamese diaspora – Rimini Protokoll’s Vùng biên giới (Border Area) (2009), and the Czech part of the What’SAP project (a two-year project connecting Czech Republic, Serbia, Hungary, and France in an exchange of knowledge creation and audience participation in intercultural dialogues) called Každý má v sobě dva vlky (Everyone Has Two Wolves Inside of Them) (2023). By examining and analysing how each project utilises reality theatre, I present them as important examples of the links between social science and contemporary theatre practice.

Review: The Vietnamese Diaspora in a Transnational Context: Contested Spaces, Contested Narratives, edited by Anna Vu and Vic Satzewich

Review: <i>The Vietnamese Diaspora in a Transnational Context: Contested Spaces, Contested Narratives</i>, edited by Anna Vu and Vic Satzewich

Exploring Socio-Political Dimensions of Heritage Language Maintenance: The Case of Vietnamese Speakers in Montréal

Research on heritage language (HL) development often focuses on immigrants’ identity and social network as predictors of HL maintenance. However, an important and overlooked factor is the socio-political circumstances that trigger emigration, such as whether immigrants relocate due to economic hardship or political turmoil. This study examines if the pattern of HL maintenance and its association with immigrants’ ethnolinguistic identity and social engagement differ for families of political versus economic immigrants. Participants were 38 parent–child pairs from Montreal’s Vietnamese diaspora. The parents identified their reason for immigration and completed an ethnolinguistic questionnaire, their children provided a HL communication profile, and all participated in interviews. To determine participants’ Vietnamese speaking skills, short interview excerpts were rated for accentedness, comprehensibility, fluency, and global knowledge. Participants were generally successful at maintaining their HL, but there was a decline in the children’s Vietnamese, especially for the economic immigrants. Several ethnolinguistic variables (desire to preserve a HL, pride in heritage culture) and social network properties (network size, intimacy, communication-related stress) appeared to contribute to HL maintenance. However, these relationships were different (and sometimes opposite) in the groups of political versus economic immigrants, suggesting that HL development and maintenance are subject to various contextual influences.

Digital Vietnam: State of the ‘State of the Field’, Saigonese Motorbike YouTubers, and Diasporic Vietnamese Social Memories of the Republic of Việt Nam

Abstract This article employs two approaches to characterize the nascent field of research on digital Vietnam. I first analyze the source base and methodologies in state of the field essays about Vietnam. I then turn to digital autoethnography to weave my academic journey with digital Vietnam studies and resources that I encountered along the way. In the second half, I use a case study from an emerging genre in YouTube videos uploaded by Saigonese motorbikers. These motorbikers not only provide a record of the city today that can offer points of entry for social-scientific studies of contemporary Hồ Chí Minh City but also helps historians and members of the Vietnamese diaspora alike to identify histories and memories of a Sài Gòn of the past.

“We Never Really Talked About politics”: Race and Ethnicity as Foundational Forces Structuring Information Disorder Within the Vietnamese Diaspora

ABSTRACT This paper joins a growing effort within mis/disinformation research to better address the transnational spread of misinformation and, in particular, the impact of political mis/disinformation on historically marginalized and immigrant communities. While misinformation spreads across cultural, sociolinguistic, and geo-political contexts, it impacts communities differently according to preexisting power structures and information resources. Through focus groups with Vietnamese Americans across two generations and several geographic locations, we explore the complexities of misinformation within one such immigrant community. Findings highlight how a prevalence of intergenerational divides in political information seeking, lasting historical and political traumas of immigration, and language barriers underpin the saliency and impact of misinformation for Vietnamese Americans. Further, we explore how misinformation impacts political engagement, highlighting the consequences of misinformation at a familial and community-level. This research highlights the need for researchers of misinformation to better attend to the inequities of informational access and the vulnerabilities of already marginalized communities as targets of problematic information and information disorder.

Memory of War. Remembering Hollywood’s Vietnam War in Call of Duty: Black Ops

The Call of Duty franchise is well-known for its setting in historical warfare and is frequently discussed under the themes of realism or its treatment of history. Whilst this is helpful to address historical inconsistencies and the often-resulting lack of critical perspective on warfare in general, it is perhaps more accurate to refer to Call of Duty as a site of memory. Call of Duty is not interested in an accurate historical retelling of war, rather, it is to evoke cultural memories usually produced by (popular) media related to specific events, repurposing them for entertainment. By analysing Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War through its Vietnam War missions, I explore the formal and narrative qualities of the game to examine what the game chooses to remember. Two key aspects can be found in its gameplay: the game takes on an exclusive U.S.-American perspective on the Vietnam War. Second, Vietnamese characters are largely absent or only exist as enemies. I will then discuss the game’s use of the Vietnam War as a catharsis for its storytelling and how it fails to live up to any subversive potential it has concerning its treatment of memory. This essay will then conclude with final thoughts on how the Vietnam War is remembered in international politics and how its remembrance is also related to intergenerational divides within the Vietnamese diaspora.

Diasporic capital and the financialisation of housing in Ho Chi Minh City

In recent years, policymakers and development practitioners have focused on the potential of remittances for economic growth. The World Bank projects that remittances will soon outpace overseas aid and foreign direct investment combined in low- and middle-income countries. This article examines how remittances, or what I call ‘diasporic capital’, sustain urban financialisation at multiple scales. Most research on urban restructuring in the financialisation literature has focused on major corporations, management actors and financial markets without considering the specific sources of capital flows. Diasporic capital flow is facilitated through a unique financial architecture and an incoherent regulatory framework distinct from foreign direct investment. Drawing from interviews conducted with government stakeholders, private sector representatives and members of the Vietnamese diaspora, this article examines the actors, motivations, mechanisms, regulations and products that shape and constitute diasporic capital flow. I argue that classical notions of remittances as money supporting the social reproduction of family are outdated and do not reflect emergent forms of diasporic investments in Ho Chi Minh City’s financialised landscape.

Cultural Continuity and Fragments of Diaspora: A Comparative Study of Identity Construction by Second and Third Generations of Overseas Vietnamese in Northeast Thailand

This article is based on research on how members of the Vietnamese diaspora in northeast Thailand construct their hybrid identities. Although “diasporic identity” is mentioned often in diaspora studies, it is crucial when investigating it to consider relevant political, social, cultural and economic contexts. This article investigates, compares and analyzes the similarities and differences in place-making and ethnic identity construction by the Vietnamese diaspora’s second and third generations, over different periods of residence, in northeast Thailand. Participant observation, in-depth interviews and desk research methodologies were utilized in this research. The findings reveal that second and third generations of the Vietnamese diaspora underwent dissimilar processes when constructing their hybrid ethnicities (as Vietnamese Thai) due to differences in their migration experiences and levels of social embeddedness in their home and host countries, and because of changes in the geopolitical context in the last 70 years. The differences in identity construction between the two generations reflects their journey from migrant group to diaspora community, their cultural continuity and fragmentation, and their ongoing negotiations to culturally adapt within the host country, and at the same time, maintain attachments with their home country. Keywords: Vietnamese diaspora, Second generation, Third generation, Place-making, Hybrid identities.

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Overseas vietnamese in Russia and their contributions to the promotion of bilateral relations

This article is devoted to the formation, current position, and development prospects of the overseas Vietnamese community in Russia. The purpose of the study was to critically review the directions of work of the authorities in the interests of the Diaspora and in order to strengthen mutually beneficial cooperation between the two countries in the socio-economic, cultural, scientific, technical and political spheres. The authors relied on empirical data, including official statistics on migration from Vietnam to Russia, the main indicators of the socio-economic situation in Vietnam as the major factor of emigration, as well as research publications on the history of the Vietnamese communities formation in Russia. As the result of its analysis, we identified the main areas of cooperation between Vietnam and Russia where the Vietnamese diaspora makes a significant contribution. Accordingly, the paper proposes evidence-based policy recommendations for the government and authorities of Vietnam, which outlined several areas of work with the diaspora in Russia, namely: promoting intercultural dialogue, providing information support and legal assistance for legal migration, developing cooperation in the economy, trade, and labor, as well as joint scientific research and technology transfer.

Cultural heritage through the lens of community psychology and narrative therapy: a community project on Chinese and Vietnamese diaspora in London

ABSTRACT This reflexive article documents a project which explored the oral history of Chinese and Vietnamese communities in London through the methodology of object-based storytelling. The project was titled the Soul Relics Migration Project. Stories of migration were collected from community members, with a particular focus on aspects of wellbeing shaped or impacted by their experiences. These stories were then curated and exhibited in local community spaces. Through the medium of object-based storytelling, the project sought to highlight culturally-specific beliefs about distress and wellbeing, facilitate the re-authoring of personal and collective migration narratives, and document testimonies in a tangible form that supports community building. Methodologically, I argue that the method of narrative therapy coupled with community psychology practices could be a useful way to facilitate the creation of collective memory and heritage, as well as spur collective action and resistance in marginalised communities.

Gender Roles in Transmitting Vietnamese Buddhism to Taiwan: Two Case-studies of Vietnamese Buddhist Nuns

This paper introduces the works of two Vietnamese Buddhist nuns in Taiwan. They both envision a permanent or long-term stay in Taiwan and have purchased properties to function as their temples. They provide services to the Vietnamese diaspora. Special attention will be given to the discussion of gender role in the transmission of Vietnamese Buddhism to Taiwan and an assessment of what Buddhist feminist Rita Gross calls “the prison of gender role” in the works the nuns conduct.

Experiences and perceptions of dementia in Vietnam and among the Vietnamese diaspora: a systematic review of qualitative studies

Objectives: This paper aimed to review and synthesise the qualitative research evidence on the experiences and perceptions of dementia in Vietnam and among the Vietnamese diaspora. Methods: Systematic searches were conducted in June 2019 using Medline, Embase, Emcare, PsycINFO and Cochrane electronic databases, as well as grey literature. Keywords and Medical Subject Headings [MeSH terms] for dementia and associated terms were combined with keywords for Vietnam and its provinces. Qualitative research articles published in English or Vietnamese were included to examine evidence on the life experiences of Vietnamese people with dementia using thematic analysis. Results: Our searches resulted in 3,940 papers, from which 21 qualitative research studies were included for final analysis. The majority of research has not been undertaken in Vietnam but with the Vietnamese diaspora in Western countries and has taken a cultural perspective to analyses. Research in Western countries has focused on the need for culturally adapted and culturally sensitive models of care. Emerging themes about the life experiences of Vietnamese people with dementia identified from the studies included: many people do not have diagnostic terms for dementia but use the descriptive language of symptoms; stigma was a reported problem and on occasions can be observed in the descriptive language used for people with dementia; cultural and traditional values create both an opportunity and a barrier, supporting compassion, family care and relaxation, but creating barriers to accessing health services or long-term residential care. Conclusions: This is the first systematic review reporting qualitative evidence on the life experiences of people with dementia in Vietnam and among the Vietnamese diaspora. Future research is needed on the voice of people with dementia themselves and their caregivers particularly in Vietnam, and low and middle-income countries with regards to living with dementia, pathways to care from diagnosis, treatment, care and support, additional social care and preparedness for end of life care for people with dementia.

Social Media and the Online Political Engagement of Immigrants: The Case of the Vietnamese Diaspora in Poland

This study investigates the political engagement of Vietnamese immigrants in Poland on social media. It employs the typology of online political participation as a theoretical framework to determine the pattern of online involvement in the political sphere staged by the migrant group. Through analysing materials relating to political discussions created daily on an online community of the Polish Vietnamese, collected by doing netnography, this study shows that the political activism on social media of Vietnamese immigrants in Poland exists and varies. Vietnamese-migrant users discuss homeland politics and express views about political issues in the host country as well as other countries by creating non-mobilising posts (Information and Diffusion), while being inclined to produce posts with calls for action (Instruction and Promotion) to criticise social injustice and mobilise equality. This study also found a growing critical attitude towards homeland politics among Vietnamese-origin individuals in the country. The findings have practical implications for associations and state actors in both the host and home countries to account for the evolvement of the migrant community.

Life experiences of people with dementia in Vietnam and among the Vietnamese diaspora: A systematic review of qualitative studies

AbstractBackgroundAs part of the effort to gather research evidence for the development of Vietnam’s National Dementia Plan, a systematic review was conducted to map dementia research in Vietnam or among the Vietnamese diaspora. This paper aimed to report the qualitative research evidence on the life experiences of people with dementia in Vietnam and among the Vietnamese diaspora.MethodSystematic searches were conducted in June 2019 using Medline, Embase, Emcare, PsycINFO and Cochrane electronic databases, as well as grey literature. Keywords and Medical Subject Headings [MeSH terms] for dementia and associated terms were combined with keywords for Vietnam and its provinces. Qualitative research articles published in English or Vietnamese were included to examine evidence on the life experiences of Vietnamese people with dementia using thematic analysis.ResultOur searches resulted in 3,940 papers, from which 21 qualitative research studies were included for final analysis. The majority of research has not been undertaken in Vietnam but with the Vietnamese diaspora in Western countries and has taken a cultural perspective to analyses. Research in Western countries has focused on the need for culturally adapted and culturally sensitive models of care. Emerging themes about the life experiences of Vietnamese people with dementia identified from the studies included: many people do not have diagnostic terms for dementia but use the descriptive language of symptoms; stigma was a reported problem and on occasions can be observed in the descriptive language used for people with dementia; cultural and traditional values create both an opportunity and a barrier, supporting compassion, family care and relaxation, but creating barriers to accessing health services or long‐term residential care.ConclusionThis is the first systematic review reporting evidence on the life experiences of people with dementia in Vietnam and among the Vietnamese diaspora. Future research is needed on the voice of people with dementia themselves and their caregivers particularly in low and middle‐income countries with regards to living with dementia, pathways to care from diagnosis, treatment, care and support, additional social care and preparedness for end of life care for people with dementia.

Perception of institutional quality differences and intention of migrants to return home: a case study of Vietnamese diaspora

Perception of institutional quality differences and intention of migrants to return home: a case study of Vietnamese diaspora

From North-South to East-West: The Demarcation and Reunification of the Vietnamese Migrant Community in Berlin

Abstract In 1989, the Berlin Wall fell, marking the breakdown of the East-West demarcation and the reunification of the German Democratic Republic (gdr) and Federal Republic of Germany (frg). Consequently, thousands of predominantly Northern Vietnamese contract workers, who came to East Berlin under the bilateral agreement between the gdr and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (srv), stayed in the reunified Germany alongside thousands of Vietnamese thuyền nhân from South Vietnam, who were settled in West Berlin by the frg. Therefore, Berlin became the host of two Vietnamese communities. To this day, significant tension exists between the two Vietnamese communities in Berlin due to the geographical and ideological divisions linked to the deterritorialisation and consequently reterritorialisation of the imagined homeland and host-land within the diaspora. This tension is further exacerbated by the socioeconomic segregation in the Vietnamese diaspora due to the differences in settlement policies and reception by the host land. This article focuses on the migration paths, policies, and subsequent development of the Vietnamese diaspora in Berlin. Based on ethnographic fieldwork conducted in Berlin from 2016 to 2018, I argue that the differences in policies before and after reunification regarding two different groups of Vietnamese migrants ultimately shape the experiences and reinforce the pre-existing cleavages between them.