NailTrap : A Web of Dynamic Linear Perspectives Through Poetic Entanglements of Nail Salons, Family (politics), Stories and Vietnamese Diasporic Understandings

Abstract

A poetic argument of Vietnamese refugees settled in the U.S. through the nail salon space as they ‘belong’ there but not in other spaces; reveal entanglements of relationships between family, community, customer/technician, and Vietnamese/refugee/Americans; and an exploration of my family’s journey. While this research acknowledges the factors of race, labor and chemical toxins, the primary focus is about the relationships between people, place, and understandings of one another. Rather than considering points of view as unique and perspectives as insular, my poetic collection demands that the many entities that exist in this space be considered a multiplicity of linear perspectives. As a Critical Ethnic Scholar, I use these tools: conversation as a research method, poetry as an argument and visiting. The poetic collection is primarily situated in San Juan, Puerto Rico (Borinquén) as well as Los Angeles, California (Tongva) where most of my relatives working in nail salons are based in. Scholars such as Trinh Minh-Ha, Leslie Marmon Silko and Leanne Simpson have led me to this culmination of knowledge and argument within this poetic collection. This paper acts as the preface discussing the genealogy of this project, theorization and practice of stories and visiting, and conversations held.