Preface

My local public library, in a Virginia suburb where many Vietnamese refugees and immigrants settled after 1975, contains a long shelf of books about the Vietnam War. Some are undoubted masterpieces, but only one or two are by Vietnamese authors. And few of the over thirty thousand volumes written about the war in English continue beyond the withdrawal of American aid and military forces. As we mark the fiftieth anniversary of the war’s end, this special issue of the Journal of Vietnamese Studies contributes to addressing these imbalances by presenting a selection of Vietnamese texts, songs, and poems from a wide spectrum of viewpoints, all appearing in English for the first time.

The United States Institute of Peace, the Congressionally founded organization where I work, is proud to sponsor the translations in this special issue. Taken together, they illustrate important themes of our Vietnam War Legacies and Reconciliation Initiative: the long-lasting physical and psychological impacts of war on both winners and losers; the importance of veterans, youth, and the Vietnamese diaspora; and the ways that determined individuals have forged ahead of governments to transform violence into peace.

These subjects are of academic and historical relevance, but not only that. The efforts of Vietnamese inside and outside the country to rebuild their culture continue to the present, expressing the potential and limitations of twenty-first-century peacebuilding. Survivors of recent global conflicts have experienced similar displacement, hope, and disappointment. As the northern intellectual Vương Trí Nhàn puts it in his diary entry in this volume, “the greater the historical transformation, the more lost a person feels.”

Peace-making and peace-maintaining is an intensive process—not like the flowers and rainbows of cheery propaganda posters. Vietnamese from all sides and perspectives have worked hard for peace: crossing oceans to visit and listen, reaching out to former allies and adversaries. I’ve learned from them about patience, integrity, and resilience, qualities more valuable now than ever. This special issue is a call to deepen our understanding and commitment to the persistent tasks of acknowledging the past, strengthening human relationships, and envisioning the future.