Bringing the Marginalized into Conversations about American Raciality - Erin Kane - Keely Gaeta - Emily Norris

ON EARTH WE'RE BRIEFLY GORGEOUS

EXPLORING THE REFUGEE

STORIES OF REFUGEES AND THE HISTORY SURROUNDING REFUGE CAN BE TOLD IN VARIOUS WAYS WITH VARIOUS MEDIUMS. SIMEON MAN, FOR EXAMPLE, DETAILS THE MILITARIZATION OF HAWAI’I AND THE EFFECTS OF U.S. TROOPS ON THE LOCAL AND INDIGENOUS PEOPLES. HIS PIECE, “MILITARIZED MIGRATION”, FOCUSES ON THE HISTORY OF HAWAI’I IN THE VIETNAM WAR WITH AN EMPHASIS ON THE HAWAIIAN PERSPECTIVE AS A WHOLE. ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF THE HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE CAN BE SEEN IN ESPIRITU’S PIECE, “MILITARIZED REFUGE(ES)”. ESPIRITU EMPHASIZES THE PATHWAY OF THE REFUGEES IN THE VIETNAM WAR FROM VIETNAM TO CLARK AIR FORCE BASE IN THE PHILIPPINES TO ANDERSON AIR FORCE BASE IN GUAM AND ENDING UP IN CAMP PENDLETON IN SAN DIEGO. WHILE THESE AUTHORS BOTH EMPHASIZE THE PERSPECTIVE OF THE REFUGEES AND COUNTRIES OTHER THAN THE UNITED STATES, THEY ARE LOOKING AT THE REFUGEES ON A LARGER SCALE AS A GROUP. OCEAN VUONG’S NOVEL GIVES A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE TO THE REFUGEE STORY. IN VUONG’S “ON EARTH WE’RE BRIEFLY GORGEOUS”, THIS NOVEL APPROACHES THE VIETNAM WAR AND THE STORY OF REFUGEES IN A DIFFERENT AND MORE PERSONAL WAY. IT GIVES VOICE TO THE NUMBERS CHARACTERIZED THROUGHOUT HISTORY. IT OFFERS A MORE COMPLEX UNDERSTANDING OF THE PEOPLE THROUGH THEIR INTERSECTIONALITY AND OFFERS A DEEPER LOOK AT HOW REFUGE AND WARS AFFECT PEOPLE. VUONG DOES THIS THROUGH THE STYLE OF POETRY USING LANGUAGE AS A MEANS TO TELL A STORY AND DEPICT LITTLE DOG’S LIFE. IN HISTORICAL DEPICTIONS OF REFUGEES, THE STORY SEEMS TO BEGIN WITH THE COUNTRY FROM WHERE THEY LEAVE AND END WITH THE COUNTRY THAT THEY ARRIVE AT. THIS NOVEL OFFERS A CONTINUATION OF THE STORY OF THESE CHARACTERS WITH BACKGROUND PRIOR TO BEING A REFUGEE AND MORE IMPORTANTLY, LIFE AS A REFUGEE IN AMERICA. VUONG GIVES SOME INSIGHT INTO WHY THE CHARACTERS ACT THE WAY THEY DO AS OPPOSED TO LEAVING ROOM FOR ASSUMPTIONS AND GENERALIZATIONS TO BE MADE. BOTH STYLES OF PRESENTING INFORMATION ARE IMPORTANT. HOWEVER, THEY EMPHASIZE DIFFERENT ASPECTS AND FOCUS ON DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES AND CONSEQUENCES OF CERTAIN WARS OR SITUATIONS. 32