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VOL. 8, ISSUE 1 (2026)
Individual trauma, collective memory, and counter-memory: Writing memory in the Sympathizer
Authors
Ling Yun
Abstract
Vietnam
War narratives constitute a battleground of competing representations, where
multiple actors struggle to assert their versions of history. Viet Thanh Nguyen’s The Sympathizer interrogates dominant
narratives of the Vietnam War through the confessional voice of its nameless,
biracial narrator—a communist double agent embedded among South Vietnamese exiles in the
United States. Through the lens of psychoanalysis, postcolonial theory, and
memory studies, this paper argues that The Sympathizer exposes the
limitations and ideological biases of dominant Vietnam War narratives by
examining the interplay between personal trauma and collective memory. Through
its confessional, ironic narrative mode, the novel performs an act of
counter-memory that challenges official histories and re-centers marginalized
Vietnamese voices. The analysis demonstrates that memory is not static or
singular, but rather a dynamic, contested space shaped by power, identity, and
resistance.
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Pages:18-24
How to cite this article:
Ling Yun "Individual trauma, collective memory, and counter-memory: Writing memory in <i>the Sympathizer</i>". International Journal of Social Science and Humanities, Vol 8, Issue 1, 2026, Pages 18-24
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