Novels of Vaddey Ratner and Viet Thanh Nguyen—unpacking trauma language, facing ghosts, and killing shadows

Abstract

This article focuses on why exiled writers turn to literature to untangle their complicated pasts and reconstruct their identities. Ratner and Nguyen’s memories and reconstruction of Cambodia and Vietnam are fragmented, secondary, and indeterminately accurate. Growing up with transnational identities and relearning about their motherlands in the US altered their perceptions of SEA. Both writers turned to literature to untangle their complicated pasts and reconstruct their identities. During these journeys, ghosts, enemies, and guilt surfaced and stalked them until confronted and resolved. Nevertheless, their reconciliation plunged them deeper into crisis as it became clear that their memories were in fact nostalgia. Ratner and Nguyen are among the ultraminor world writers who witnessed chaos, yet still successfully articulated their failures and displacement in literature. The results of this research affirm that their works can help us understand Southeast Asian political and cultural dynamics then and now.