By Justin Hsieh
The FVHS English Department debuted the novel “Catfish and Mandala” this year in junior English classes, bringing the first Vietnamese-American voice in its core curriculum. The book’s inclusion, part of the department’s larger effort to maintain and expand a collection of diverse voices in its literature, fills a long-standing gap in a school whose student body was 54% Asian in the 2016-2017 school year.
“‘Catfish and Mandala’ is [Vietnamese-American author Andrew X. Pham’s] memoir of his trip biking through Vietnam in search of his history,” said English teacher Sean Ziebarth, who taught the book to his AP classes this winter. “His family had left right after the Vietnam War, so he was trying to go back and recapture what it meant to be Vietnamese.”
“Catfish and Mandala” was one of three books that the English Department chose to add to its collection of core works of literature last year, along with “The Gangster We Are All Looking For,” by fellow Vietnamese-American author Lê Thị Diễm Thúy and “March: Book Two” by Andrew Aydin and John Lewis. The decision was part of a regular curriculum renewal process that allows HBUHSD schools to add books on a rotating grade-level basis when funds become available.
“I let all of the junior teachers know that we had the funds, and then we had several meetings where we met and talked about what books we would want to consider,” FVHS English Department coordinator Amy Hollingsworth said. “We talked about all of them; we talked about why they would or wouldn’t be a good fit, until we narrowed it down, piece by piece.”
A major consideration in this selection process, said Hollingsworth, was the department’s goal of including a group of authors diverse in gender, time period and ethnic and religious background. The same aim informed teachers’ decision two years ago to add “Persepolis” and “Little Princes” books, respectively covering the Iranian Revolution and Nepali orphanages, to the department’s sophomore curriculum.
“For us, and for other schools too, we’re often trying to find new voices,” Hollingsworth said. “If we can bring in something that isn’t just—like some people say—another dead white man voice; if it represents some other group or culture, that’s great. Anything where it represents another kind of person—not that those voices speak for all those people—but it’s something new and different.”
The result of that emphasis on diversity was “Catfish and Mandala,” “The Gangster We Are All Looking For” and “March.” Because budgetary constraints ordinarily limit the number and variety of core novels that the department can offer, Hollingsworth and Ziebarth said, the availability of funding and the discovery of the three books was to many teachers a golden opportunity.
“The other teachers and I felt that our curriculum was not reflecting our student body,” Ziebarth said. “We have a large Vietnamese-American population, and there was zero representation from that community, at least in our core works. We do bring in diverse voices, but it’s usually in the shorter pieces; things that we can get—essays, short stories, maybe out of our textbooks. So when we had this opportunity to bring in new books to our core works, that was for me the big reason.”
Although the English Department made the use of the new books optional this year to accommodate an unexpectedly rushed renewal process, some junior English teachers have chosen to teach the books in their classes. The same goals of diversity and representation that led teachers to include the books in the curriculum to begin with, said Ziebarth, are the reasons why teachers have used them in their classes.
“One thing literature does is teach us to appreciate the other and to empathize with people who are different than we are,” Ziebarth said. “At the same time, it’s crucial for people to identify with books, with characters, with authors so they can enter into this empathetic space and so that they know that someone understands who they are. So [books like these] model that empathy and help students enter that space.”
Ziebarth has used “Catfish and Mandala” as a modern counterpoint to Nathaniel Hawthorne’s classic novel “The Scarlet Letter,” whose account of 17th century Puritan life highlights similar themes of community to Andrew X. Pham’s tale of soul-searching, immigration and exclusion in modern Vietnam and the United States. As Ziebarth hoped, those themes were made more accessible to many students by the inclusion of “Catfish and Mandala.”
“While reading this book, I was able to predict some of the scenes,” said junior Minh Phan, who moved to the U.S. from Vietnam in third grade. “When Pham introduced the struggles of an immigrant, I was able to relate to them… This book did a great job at depicting common struggles many immigrants share, not just Vietnamese. I feel happy, appreciated and respected [because we read this book].”
The story of “Catfish and Mandala,” which includes Pham’s flight from Vietnam, childhood acclimation to the United States and adulthood identity struggle as both American and Vietnamese, resonated for first- and second-generation immigrants alike.
“I’ve never felt like I’ve related to a book so well before,” said junior Megan Truong, whose parents immigrated to the U.S. from Vietnam. “There would be moments in ‘Catfish and Mandala’ where I’d read something and just think ‘yes, that’s exactly how I’ve felt before,’ or ‘oh my gosh yes I love eating that too!’ In all honesty, I’ve never been excited to read any books in our English curriculum, but [with this book] there were so many moments where I could connect with the book on a personal level and I actually enjoyed reading it.”
For other students, the book offered an opportunity to experience new perspectives.
“When I first heard about ‘Catfish and Mandala,’ I was super intrigued,” junior Avery Austin said. “I’ve always thought that the differences among cultures and countries are super interesting, so I was really excited that I could learn more about Vietnam.”
