Maybe banana split is a better description than banana, it allows for extra fillings with a cherry on top!
To explain my identity a little more, I see myself as Vietnamese Australian, or Australian of Vietnamese origin which is sort of clunky. I don’t speak Vietnamese and I was born in Australia so would be counted as generation 2.
Some of my acquaintances have argued that I’m not Asian at all- but these are people who don’t know me very well. It has been argued that language is the main vehicle of culture but I disagree with this- I have been exposed to plenty of Vietnamese customs and sensibility being explained (or not explained) to me in English.
For instance I somehow inherited family obligation and female self sacrifice and guilt without Vietnamese language. One could argue that this is the conditioning of most women but I’m not so sure- I’d like to think that I’ve outgrown and shed the notion of sacrificing myself.
Is there such a thing as Vietnameseness? Mandy Thomas would say there is. As a point of national pride the Vietnamese national character includes resistance to other cultures such as Chinese or American.
I think that there is a unique “vietnameseness” but I don’t know how different it is to Chineseness for instance. This is what I’m going to look for in my research.