Summary

Chapter Seven, the first of the third major section of this book, focuses on Vietnamese American writers and their role in the broader American literary community. The author argues that refugees and victims of a war, like Vietnamese Americans, are constantly haunted by ghosts and ghost stories. Photos and memories of the dead travelled with them from Vietnam and are a constant presence. Vietnamese and other refugee writers are forced to be accountable to dead relatives by telling their stories and serving as their replacements. Nguyen further argues that many minorities view themselves as victims. Doing so deprives them of both their humanity and inhumanity, just as the powerful majority does by labeling them minorities. In reality, the minority does have power and can inflict harm. Minorities and their advocates often ignore this fact, assuming the minority is only human, and thus do not...