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Living in two worlds| An autoethnographic study of a Vietnamese American family

<p> The controversies and political conflicts associated with the Vietnam War led to three resettlement waves of Vietnamese refugees to the United States. Adapting to a new set of American customs and cultural traditions challenged many Vietnamese immigrants who were faithful to their own familiar traditions and were economically and linguistically challenged. In this autoethnographic study, I present the history of my family experience, beginning with my parents' urgent departure from Vietnam as boat people, their struggle to adapt to a foreign country, the development of their family, the cultural and generational clashes experienced by the family, the reunification with extended family members, and establishing a local cultural identity. This study is grounded in personal voice to illustrate the struggles that my Vietnamese family experienced in adapting to American society. It offers a view of Vietnamese immigrants and their second-generation children living in two worlds. The autoethnographic study revealed five social dynamics for Vietnamese American families: (a) escape from civil war, (b) reliance on social support network, (c) family generational conflict between immigrants and their children, (d) loyalty to family and culture, and (e) class conflict in native country. These findings were derived from the vignettes and analyses of a Vietnamese American family living in two worlds: Vietnam and the U.S.</p>

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:PROQUEST/oai:pqdtoai.proquest.com:3689054
Date25 April 2015
CreatorsNguyen, Hong Thi Minh
PublisherFielding Graduate University
Source SetsProQuest.com
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
Typethesis

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