Abstract

The Vietnam War is the topic of books, comics, documentaries, films, and television shows. Contrary to popular filmic and literary representations of the Vietnam War, which feature violence and militant hypermasculinity, Thi Bui's The Best We Could Do: An Illustrated Memoir (2017) weaves a tapestry of stories about the Vietnam War through memories of her family members. Rather than reiterating a shibboleth of masculine struggle and American exceptionalism during the war, Bui's narrative centers on women, specifically their experiences with birthing and motherhood. Her graphic novel offers us an alternative lens to view the Vietnam War and the experiences of those whose stories were often excluded. The Best We Can Do illustrates memories of women and families commonly disregarded as unimportant and affirms their importance in understanding history and identities shaped by such exclusions. In mapping bodies and their various connections and separations to the nation and to each other, Bui invokes a new archive of memory in which the female body becomes a site for reframing the discourse of the Vietnam War.

中文翻译：

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诞生记忆的图形档案：重新审视Thi Bui的“我们能做的最好的事情”中的难民经历

摘要

越南战争是书籍，漫画，纪录片，电影和电视节目的主题。与以暴力和激进男性气概为特色的越南战争的流行电影和文学作品相反，提比的《我们能做到的最好：插图回忆录》（2017年）通过对家人的回忆编织了关于越南战争故事的挂毯。Bui的叙述并没有重申战争期间的男性斗争和美国例外主义，而是以妇女，特别是她们在生育和孕育方面的经历为中心。她的图画小说为我们提供了另一种视角，来观看越南战争以及那些常常被排斥在外的人们的经历。我们能做的最好的说明了对妇女和家庭的回忆，这些回忆通常被视为无关紧要，并肯定了她们在理解这种排斥所塑造的历史和身份方面的重要性。在绘制人体以及它们与国家以及彼此之间的各种联系和分离时，Bui调用了一个新的记忆档案库，在该档案库中，女性尸体成为了重新诠释越南战争话语的场所。