ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses situations in which migration and exile informs constructions of place and locality. Writing on migration and exile has thus far primarily focused on the experiences of those living in exile, i.e. individuals or groups who have either left their ‘home’ and/or those who see themselves as living in a state of separation from their ‘home’. The restaurant was in fact part of the family home, with guests served on the verandah surrounded by landscaped bonsai gardens. Exile figures as an important part of the story of anti-colonialist struggle in Vietnam, a badge of honour bestowed by the French on errant emperors and early nationalist thinkers alike. Migration and exile are often written about as a movement away from that which is familiar and self-same, which either leads to nostalgic attempts at recovery or to a liberatory experience from the self.
