Born in Vietnam, made in Australia

Featured in

  • Published 20100302
  • ISBN: 9781921520860
  • Extent: 264 pp
  • Paperback (234 x 153mm)

Selected for Best Australian Essays 2010

MY PARENTS ARE known as members of the ‘first generation’ of Vietnamese refugees, who came to Australia after the Vietnam War. I, however, am known as part of the ‘1.5 generation’. Born in Vietnam, made in Australia. We are the children of defeated warriors who have tried to come to terms with the present life, and the act of negotiating the past with all its rules and traditions, in the hope that the two very different cultures could blend into one well-adjusted whole. This always seemed better in theory than in practice.

Already a subscriber? Sign in here

If you are an educator or student wishing to access content for study purposes please contact us at griffithreview@griffith.edu.au

Share article

About the author

Pauline Nguyen

Pauline Nguyen, is the author of Secrets of the Red Lantern.Along with recipe writers Luke Nguyen, Pauline's brother, and Mark Jensen, Pauline's partner, she is...

More from this edition

Food in the age of unsettlement

EssayI HAVE THREE personas: designer-educator, sustainment theorist and forest farmer. The farmer came first. My grandfather was a market gardener who taught me to...

Tulips to Amsterdam

ReportageTASMANIA'S LABOR PREMIER, David Bartlett, was sensitive to the critical attention his state has long attracted on the mainland when he addressed the National...

Hunting with the boys

MemoirAS SOON AS we heard the growl, Hans released the safety on his rifle and, in the same motion, swung it from its cradled...

Stay up to date with the latest, news, articles and special offers from Griffith Review.