Second Year Winner: Language and Lies

WRIT 2100, Studies in Non-Fiction. CD: kerry doyle.

Abstract

“Language and Lies” explores the social impacts created by regional differences in vocabulary and dialect in the Vietnamese language. By examining intensely personal fears of ostracization, the text reveals the tension between Northern and Southern Vietnamese speakers and the larger history that eclipses it. Through concrete examples of how linguistic differences can separate communities, the author displays how language can also reveal a shared heritage regardless of that separation. “Language and Lies” investigates the fractured worlds of identity and creates a dialogue between language and cultures that make it a well-deserved winner.