IDENTITY PRESENTATION IN STORIES OF PAST AND PRESENT: AN ANALYSIS OF MEMOIRS BY AUTHORS OF THE 1.5 GENERATION OF VIETNAMESE AMERICANS

Abstract

This paper investigates how authors of the 1.5 generation of Vietnamese Americans represent their identity in their memoirs. The analysis shows that the condition under which each author came to the United States, either as an anticipatory or an acute refugee, influences the way each memoir is constructed in terms of timeline and content. In particular, this study shows that the authors choose different themes such as conversion, imagined space and food to talk about the process of adaptation in the new world. Along with the themes, either linear or disruptive timeline is deployed as a way to represent their refugee condition. Together, they constitute a diverse and unique identity representation of the 1.5 generation of Vietnamese Americans.