本論文旨在探討越裔美籍女作家莫妮卡‧張如何在其第一本小說《鹽之書》中超出越戰的框架，重新探討越南人民的離散議題。在越南近代史中，越戰無疑是影響甚鉅的一章。因此，現今有關越南的文化及文學研究多著眼於此，以及越南人民被迫遠離家國的流亡經驗。在《鹽之書》裡，張並未提到越戰，而是將讀者帶回越南歷史上的法國殖民時期，藉此強調對於越南子民，去國懷鄉有更長且更深遠的根源。
本論文以《鹽之書》中的一則小故事為開端：種風信子的年輕人為了尋找讓風信子發芽的田地而離開越南，從此再未返鄉。這位年輕人的旅程由故事主人翁阿彬(Bính)延續，兩位旅者都在不斷地尋找可以替代故土的地方。在本論文中，我思考「回家」(return)與「迴家」(re/return)的區別。「回家」固然是穩定身分的傳統方法，歷經殖民、戰爭，回不得家的越南人，卻必須在「迴家」--迂迴曲折於家以外的旅途中--斡旋自我的身分。在小說裡，原生的越南人民成為了旅行者。他們離開家園後就未返家，而是「迴轉向」(re-turn to)一個又一個的陌生土地。
論文分成四個章節。第一章為論文概要。在此章，我簡述法國殖民文化對越南社會帶來的影響，藉此瞭解《鹽之書》如何描繪殖民史對越南的影響。第二章探討書中兩位越南人物，阿彬的爸爸「老子」(the Old Man)和阿彬的媽媽，一位沒有姓沒有名的女人(Má)。「老子」和阿彬的媽媽各以他們不同的方式把身為被殖民者這種模糊不明的角色，轉為嘲笑甚至批判西方疆界幻想的媒介。第三章討論《鹽之書》中的旅行論述。在阿彬遠離家園的旅程中，和「橋上男人」(the man on the bridge)的相遇是十分重要的歷程，也是阿彬從「流亡者」(the diasporic)變為「旅行者」(the traveler)的轉折點。《鹽之書》將阿彬描述成旅行者而非難民，書中用不同的觀點來討論越南裔的種族身分。第四章比較阿彬及其雇主，葛楚史坦(GertrudeStein)和艾莉絲‧托克拉斯(Alice B. Toklas)三位旅行者的離家經驗。我分析阿彬的旅行經驗，探討他如何「以旅途中的居所為家」(dwelling-in-travel)，並重新定義「家」的意義。在結論的部份，我回到種風信子的年輕人的故事，比較他和阿彬的旅行經驗相似及相異之處。最後闡明《鹽之書》如何將「離家」變成閱讀越南文學的傳統。

The thesis aims to investigate how Monique Truong’s The Book of Salt re-approaches Vietnamese people’s exile beyond the scope of the Vietnam War. Since the Vietnam War plays a vivid part in the contemporary history of Vietnam, the current studies of Vietnam have been focusing on the war and the subsequent exodus of Vietnamese as refugees or adoptees. The Book of Salt, however, draws our attention to the French colonial period and shows that the issues of departures (from homeland) and diaspora has a much longer history and deeper roots for people of Vietnam.
The thesis begins with the story of a young basket weaver, who leaves Vietnam and has never returns. The journey of the basket weaver is continued by Bính, the central protagonist of the novel, who as well departs from home with the wish to search for an “alternative” to motherland. The term “re/turn” is defined as “detour” to illustrate the situation that a native Vietnamese turns into a traveler, who has no desire to return home but turns to one foreign soil after another.
The thesis is divided into four chapters. Chapter One serves as an introduction to the whole project. I summarize the cultural and social changes brought by the French administration, in order to study how The Book of Salt reflects on the colonial construction of Vietnam and the Vietnamese. Chapter Two focuses on the characterizations of two Vietnamese characters: Bính’s father, “the Old Man,” and Bính’s mother, a no-name woman who is addressed solely as Má. In their respective ways, the Old Man and Má turn their murky position as a colonized to mock and criticize the Western frontier myth. Chapter Three moves on to discuss the travel narratives. In Bính’s journey away from home, the meeting with the man on the bridge serves as a turning point upon which Bính turns from a diasporic into a traveler. By portraying Bính as a “traveler” instead of a “refugee,” The Book of Salt deals with the issue of Vietnamese identity formation different from the known approaches. Chapter Four discusses three travelers’ experiences of leaving home: Bính’s employers, GertrudeStein and Alice B. Toklas, and Bính himself. From Binh’s experience, I study his “dwelling-in-travel” and further explore how the meaning of “home” is modified. In the concluding chapter, I go back to the story of the basket weaver and make explicit the similarity and difference between him and Bính. The Book of Salt establishes “home-leaving” as a tradition of modern Vietnamese literature.

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