Creating sound in silences: the Second Wave podcast and pluralizing Vietnamese diasporic histories. (2nd October 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Tran, Tony
• Is Part Of: Popular communication. Volume 17:Number 4(2019)
• Page Start: 288
• Page End: 300
• Publication Date: 2019-10-02
• Subjects: Vietnamese American -- diaspora -- podcasting -- public sphere -- Second Wave; Mass media -- Periodicals; Popular culture -- Periodicals; 302.23
• DOI: 10.1080/15405702.2019.1634809
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1540-5702

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Debuting in the fall of 2017, the Second Wave podcast follows host Thanh Tan as she explores the experiences and challenges of U.S.-born Vietnamese Americans. Similar to many children of Vietnamese refugees, Tan's knowledge of Vietnam and her family's history contains gaps of silences created by trauma, which are often filled by non-Vietnamese American voices and pop culture. Through engaging these gaps, Second Wave aims to create sound among diasporic silences to challenge dominant narratives about Vietnamese Americans. While the podcast has several limitations due to its narrative format, Second Wave ultimately pluralizes historical narratives of Vietnamese diasporas, opening spaces for Vietnamese diasporic subjects to discuss their families' refugee experiences. In doing so, Second Wave is a step towards encouraging quieted voices to speak up and ask questions that continue to disrupt singular narratives of the Vietnam War and its' aftermath.