Vietnamese Memories Book 1: Leaving Saigon
Written by Clément Baloup
Illustrations by Clément Baloup
Publication date 2018
162 pp.
ISBN: 9781594656583
Vietnamese Memories Book 2: Little Saigon
Written by Clément Baloup
Illustrations by Clément Baloup (with additional help on colours from Mathieu Jiro)
Publication date 2018
249 pp.
ISBN: 9781594657993
Vietnamese Memories Book 1 and 2 are two graphic novels written and illustrated by Clément Baloup, a Vietnamese-French cartoonist. Through the eyes of both men and women who experienced firsthand trauma of war and displacement, this short series reveals the complex lives of refugees navigating survival, identity, and resilience during World War II and the Vietnam War.
Vietnamese Memories Book 1 is divided into two parts. The first part focuses on stories of five young men who described their experiences escaping Vietnam during a war. Some of these stories include accounts of being forced to attend re-education camps while in Vietnam, discrimination faced by those of mixed race from Japanese soldiers, and attempting to escape the war by boat which led them to refugee camps or prison. The second half of the book focused on the journalist Pierre Daum’s four-year investigation on the forced labour of 20,000 Vietnamese settlers in France after France’s defeat in 1954. In this section of the graphic novel, there were 10 separate stories of Vietnamese men who were taken away from their families as young adults, travelled to France by ship, and were forced to work in places such as rice fields, digging ditches, road construction, and weapon factories in order to support France’s war efforts. Daum’s research led to the creation of his book “Immigrés de force” (Forced Immigrants) which sparked much controversy in France, but also led to many people discovering and understanding a part of France history that was hidden for a very long time.
Vietnamese Memories Book 2 consists of stories from five young women’s perspective, illustrating how they escaped Vietnam during a war to live in the United States. The stories shared in this book illustrate the struggles that these young women faced in camps, prisons, and their new lives in the United States. Some of these struggles included escaping by boat, going to prison for trying to escape, sexual assault in camps, and also mental illness while trying to start a new life in the United States. Please be mindful that some of the struggles faced by these characters may be disturbing or upsetting.
These graphic novels are beautifully illustrated using vibrant colours and detailed backgrounds to depict the streets and architecture of Saigon and to vividly depict the asylum-seeking experience of the characters. This series would be particularly interesting to those who would like to learn about Vietnamese history and Vietnamese refugees’ lived experience during World War II and the Vietnam War. One notable discovery Baloup mentions in his book is that many settlers in France and the United States often try to hide this part of their past from their families, and the younger generations often have not heard stories about how their family arrived in the place that they currently call home. I believe that these books could be conversation starters for these families, and could help bring families closer together.
Review by Victoria Ho, editing assistance by Molly Higgins.
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