English translations of Vietnamese literature

From: Qui-Phiet Tran via Vsg <vsg@u.washington.edu>
Sent: Tuesday, April 23, 2024 5:22 PM
To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
Subject: Re: [Vsg] English translations of Vietnamese literature

I have two pieces, "A Worthy Résumé" and "The Sparrows Fly Across the Woods" in Of Vietnam: Identities in Dialogue (Palgrave, 2001). eds. Jane Bradley Winston and Leathina Chau-Pech Ollier. The stories were translated from Y Ban's "Tờ lý lịch" and Võ Thị Xuân Hà's "Đàn sẻ ri bay qua rừng." My interview with Y Ban and Võ Thị Xuân Hà on writing and Vietnamese women's condition has also appeared in the same book.

Qui-Phiet Tran, emeritus

Schreiner University

From: Hue-Tam Tai via Vsg <vsg@u.washington.edu>
Sent: Tuesday, April 23, 2024 12:26 PM
To: Bich-Ngoc Turner <turnerbn@uw.edu>
Cc: vsg@u.washington.edu
Subject: Re: [Vsg] English translations of Vietnamese literature

Dear Bich Ngoc,

I believe that Ngo Nhu Binh was referring to his experience in school, and that his family did not possess Tu Luc Van Doan novels. That would have been a common situation for northern families without their own personal libraries.

Hue-Tam Ho Tai
Harvard University emerita

From: Bich-Ngoc Turner via Vsg <vsg@u.washington.edu>
Sent: Tuesday, April 23, 2024 11:43 AM
To: Hue-Tam Tai <huetamtai@gmail.com>
Cc: vsg@u.washington.edu
Subject: Re: [Vsg] English translations of Vietnamese literature

Dear Hue-Tam and group,

I grew up in Hanoi as well, but since the late 1970s and early 1980s, I already had access to almost all the Thơ Mới and Tự Lực Văn Đoàn works written before 1950. I did not know much about their works after they moved to the South though. Prof. Binh Ngo's experience is only his particular one; many other Hanoians read and knew about those 1930-1945 authors, thanks to their family libraries and the thorough reading of the 4 volumes "Nhà Văn Hiện Đại" by Vũ Ngọc Phan (literary critic).

However, their works were all officially taken off North Vietnam's school textbooks from the early 1950s until 1989, when many were reintroduced to Vietnamese school students (I assume it was part of the many "đổi mới" projects). 

All the best,

Bich-Ngoc Turner, PhD (she/her)
Asst. Teaching Professor, Vietnamese Language and Literature, University of Washington

206-221-3362  |  turnerbn@uw.edu  |  235 Gowen Hall

From: Bich-Ngoc Turner via Vsg <vsg@u.washington.edu>
Sent: Tuesday, April 23, 2024 9:11 AM
To: jdp49@cornell.edu
Cc: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
Subject: Re: [Vsg] English translations of Vietnamese literature

Hi John,

I only saw all the emails in this thread just now. I taught 20th C Vietnamese Lit at UW twice before. This is the syllabus I can find now. Some updates may be in the Canvas site, but I can't get to it right now. I hope this helps. 

All the best,

Bich-Ngoc Turner, PhD (she/her)
Asst. Teaching Professor, Vietnamese Language and Literature, University of Washington

206-221-3362  |  turnerbn@uw.edu  |  235 Gowen Hall

Viet 486: 20th Century Vietnamese Literature                                LOW 220

Instructor: Bich-Ngoc Turner  | Email: turnerbn@uw.edu

Office hours: Fridays 11.00-12.00 & by appointment                                Gowen Hall 235

Course description:

This course is intended to introduce students to Vietnam’s rich literary history, with major emphasis on the modern period since the late colonial era (1900s) when modern Vietnamese language began to replace classical Chinese or Nôm script to be the primary form of literary composition until the turn of the century (2000), with the phenomenal emergence of a generation of outspoken women writers. We will explore poetry, short stories, biographical fictions, novels, and feature films  from literature adapted screenplays.

Course objectives:

Literature provides students the opportunity to consider Vietnamese culture, language, history, society, and politics. In this course, students will be equipped with a general understanding of modern Vietnamese literature with an emphasis on the 20th century period. They should be able to apply certain literary and Cultural Studies theories in their reading and analyzing of the literary and visual texts, and especially to appreciate specific aspects of Vietnamese culture as expressed in the literary works. All of the materials taught in this course are in English translation so students should be aware not only of the transcultural nature of their readings, but also of the roles and the choices of translators as they work within their own specific contexts. By examining Vietnamese literature over the 20th century, students will be able to see how socio-political events taking place in and outside Vietnam have posed significant impacts on its development. At the same time, students will be able to recognize both the local and the universal characteristics of a number of social problems appearing in the works we read and the featured films assigned in response papers. Beyond the course, students will be able to foresee where modern Vietnamese literature is heading in the continuously changing socio-political life of Vietnam.

Textbooks: Can be checked out from the library or downloaded via course google drive. However, these are recommended to own:

●   Luminous Nights: Pioneering Vietnamese Short Stories, translated by Quan Manh Ha, Les Editions de La Fremillerie, 2021.

●       A Time Far Past, by Le Luu, translated by Ngo Vinh Hai, Nguyen Ba Chung, and Kevin Bowen, University of Massachusetts Press, 1997.

●       Love After War: Contemporary Fiction from Vietnam, translated by Ho Anh Thai and Wayne Karlin, Curbstone Press; 1st edition, 2003.

●       The Defiant Muse: Vietnamese Feminist Poems from Antiquity to the Present, The Feminist Press at CUNY, 2007.

Course grading and evaluation:

- Preparation, reading notes, and questions sent via class forum on Canvas       30%

- Student-selected short stories/poem discussion (group project)                       15%

- Student-led discussion of novels (group project)                                                15%

- Final response and analytical paper on any one module (individual project)     25%

- Participation                                                                                                     15%

Grade conversion chart for undergraduate students:

≥ 97% = 4.0

   96% = 3.9

   95% = 3.8

   94% = 3.7

   93% = 3.6

   92% = 3.5

   91% = 3.4

90% = 3.3

89% = 3.2

88% = 3.1

87% = 3.0

86% = 2.9

85% = 2.8

84% = 2.7

83% = 2.6

82% = 2.5

81% = 2.4

80% = 2.3

79% = 2.2

78% = 2.1

77% = 2.0

76% = 1.9

75% = 1.8

74% = 1.7

73% = 1.6

72% = 1.5

71% = 1.4

70% = 1.3

  69% = 1.2

  68% = 1.1

  67% = 1.0

  66% = 0.9

  65% = 0.8

  64% = 0.7

  ≤63%: Fail

For a grading system applied to graduate students, visit this site.

Instructions about graded assignments

1. Reading/screening notes and questions (3 points/wk x 10 = 30 pts): Students are expected to read the reading/screening assignments for discussion prior to class and send in their response, puzzling problems and questions (~150 words) at least 1.5 hours prior to class via class forum on Canvas. The notes should include any 4 of the following:

●       Summarize the texts in 3-4 sentences (required)

●   Express what you found interesting about the reading (optional)

●   Discuss something you learned from the reading about Vietnamese history, literature, or culture (optional)

●   Explain what the selection reminds you of (optional)

●   Discuss a character, event, or detail that intrigues or puzzles you (optional)

●   Raise a question about each reading/film or something that puzzles you that you hope to get answered during class (required)

2. Group project (30 points): There are five modules in Viet 486, each module is covered in 2 weeks. Students will work in groups of 2 students and each group will be in charge of leading the discussion of 3-4 short stories or poems, and a novel for one module (with the professor's guidance and advice). Students are not required to purchase the collections of short stories/poems but are expected to check them out from the library then provide a scanned version for the short stories or poems they select to share with the class prior to class discussion. See the course schedule in pp. 4-8 for specific assigned texts in each module.

3. Final research paper (25 points): This paper is a close reading and analysis of a novel by a Vietnamese writer and its relevant film in the same module. Their analysis should be based on a specific literary theoretical approach and from an interdisciplinary perspective. More importantly, students should incorporate their knowledge gained from the class discussions and the secondary source readings into the analysis of the selected works. It should be 12-15 pages in length, doubled-spaced, MLA style (~ 3,500-4,000 words). Note: The set of films and novels you choose for the final paper must be different from the one you have been assigned or selected for group presentation.

4. Participation (15 points): To achieve full benefit of participation, this course requires approximately 10 hours per week for completion of the assignments at home. Inability to meet this time requirement will reduce a participant's benefit from the course. Participation grade is given based on a) Timely submission of all class assignments on Canvas, or hard copy of  final paper (25%); b) Active presence and engagement in class seminars with constructive feedback and positive contribution to class discussions (50%) and c) Proper civil discourse (see explanation below), respect others’ rights to voice their opinions without fear of ridicule, neither dominant or disruptive nor passive or silent during class discussions (25%).

Institutional Policies & Class values

Academic honesty: Academic honesty demands that the pursuit of knowledge in the university community be carried out with sincerity and integrity. For additional academic policies and procedures refer to: https://www.washington.edu/cssc/facultystaff/academic-misconduct/

Accessibility and religious accommodation: Students with declared disability will be given 50% extra time on quizzes and accommodations for other class duties can be arranged where appropriate. They are also given priority in making appointments for consultation with the instructor. UW also follows Washington state law on a policy for accommodation of student absences or significant hardship due to reasons of faith or conscience, or for organized religious activities. The UW’s policy, including more information about how to request an accommodation, is available here. Accommodations must be requested within the first two weeks of this course using this form.  

Copyright: The Copyright Act requires that people who use or reference the work of others must follow a set of guidelines designed to protect author’s rights. The safest practice is to 1) Refrain from distributing works used in class (whether distributed by the instructor or used for research) that are copyrighted and protected; and 2) that any research or creative work should be cited according to the conventions of your discipline. These same rules apply to students’ use and dissemination of materials associated with the course. For more information and instruction, visit this site. All class reading and screening materials are downloadable in the course folder and they should be used strictly for the assignments in Viet 486 only. 

Civil Discourse: Students are expected to engage in social perspective-taking, a skill that requires both empathy and the ability to acknowledge multiple points of view. Any interaction online or offline should respect the rights of others by (1) allowing all classmates the right to voice their opinions without fear of ridicule, and (2) not using profanity or making objectionable (e.g., gendered, racial or ethnic) comments, especially comments directed at a classmate. Students should feel comfortable voicing their opinions, but they must also be prepared to assume responsibility for the impact that contributions may have on others.

Course modification and provision of reference letters: The instructor reserves the rights to make modifications to the syllabus should new situations occur to assure a smooth and effective operation of the course. Letters of recommendation are provided based on students' academic performance and the instructor's adequate opportunity to observe and assess students after at least two courses. 

Religious Accommodation: Washington state law requires that UW develop a policy for accommodation of student absences or significant hardship due to reasons of faith or conscience, or for organized religious activities. The UW’s policy, including more information about how to request an accommodation, is available at Religious Accommodations Policy. Accommodations must be requested within the first two weeks of this course using the Religious Accommodations Request form.

Course schedule and assigned materials

Module 1: Late colonial Vietnam -  Preservation and contestation of traditional cultures

Week 1:  The colonial setting, social and cultural shifts, and their impacts on writers

Tuesday Jan. 3: Course introduction, directions to course materials and assignments.

Readings for discussion:

●   Cong Huyen Ton Nu Nha Trang, “The Emergence of Modern Vietnamese Literature.” Lecture given at the Center for Southeast Asian Studies, UCLA, November 17, 1999. Access full text.

Thursday Jan. 5:

Readings for discussion:

●   Cao Thị Như Quỳnh and John C. Schafer, “From Verse Narrative to Novel: The Development of Prose Fiction in Vietnam,” The Journal of Asian Studies, Nov., 1988, Vol. 47, No. 4. pp. 756-777.

Primary texts for close reading:

The Light of the Capital: Three Modern Vietnamese Classics, translated by Greg and Monique Lockhart. Oxford, 1996 (choose any one of the three stories). Check out this book from the library.

Week 2: Language and literacy; debates on modernity and the purpose of arts and literature

Tuesday Jan. 10:

Reading for discussion:

●   Martina Thucnhi Nguyen, Part 1, chapter 1 “Becoming Self-Reliant” in On Our Own Strength: The Self-Reliant Literary Group and Cosmopolitan Nationalism in Late Colonial Vietnam, University of Hawai’i Press, 2021, pp. 15-44.

Primary texts for close reading:

Selected short stories written by Thach Lam or Nhat Linh in Luminous Nights: Pioneering Vietnamese Short Stories, translated by Quan Manh Ha, Les Editions de La Frémillerie, 2021 Check out this book from UW library.

Thursday Jan. 12:

Screening for discussion:

Film: Mê Thảo – Thời vang bóng (Glorious Time in Mê Thảo Hamlet) by Việt Linh, 2002.

Group project presentation: Share your perspectives and present an analytical narrative about:

Novel: Số Đỏ (Dumb Luck) by Vũ Trọng Phụng, translated by Nguyễn Nguyệt Cầm and Peter Zinoman. University of Michigan Press, 2005. Downloadable in google drive.

Module 2: Before the Revolution

Week 3: The Rise of Popular Front in France and Critical Realism in Vietnamese literature

Tuesday Jan. 17:

Readings for discussion:

●       M. Kathryn Edwards, “An Indochinese Dominion: L’Effort indochinois and Autonomy in a Global Context, 1936–1939,” French Politics, Culture & Society, Vol. 38, No. 2, Summer 2020, pp. 9-34.

Primary texts for close reading:

Selected short stories written by Nguyen Cong Hoan, Nguyen Tuan, or Vu Trong Phung in Luminous Nights: Pioneering Vietnamese Short Stories, translated by Quan Manh Ha, Les Editions de La Frémillerie, 2021. Check out this book from UW library.

Thursday Jan. 19:

Reading for discussion:

●   Various authors, “Society and Culture” in Sources of Vietnamese Tradition, edited by George E. Dutton, Jayne S. Werner, and John K. Whitmore. New York: Columbia University Press, 2012, pp. 402-429.

Primary texts for close reading:

“New Poetry” in Sources of Vietnamese Tradition, edited by George E. Dutton, Jayne S. Werner, and John K. Whitmore. New York: Columbia University Press, 2012, pp. 409-413. Downloadable in google drive.

Week 4:  Vietnamese intellectuals and their postcolonial visions as seen in literature

Tuesday Jan. 24:

Readings for discussion:

●       Montira Rato, “Class, Nation, and Text: The Representation of Peasants in Vietnamese Literature” in Social Inequality in Vietnam and the Challenges to Reform, edited by Philip Taylor, Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 2004.

Primary texts for close reading:

Selected short stories written by To Hoai, Nam Cao, and Kim Lan in Luminous Nights: Pioneering Vietnamese Short Stories, translated by Quan Manh Ha, Les Editions de La Frémillerie, 2021. Check out this book from UW library.

Thursday Jan. 26:

Screening for discussion:

Film: Mùa Len Trâu (Buffalo Boy) by Nghiem Minh Nguyen Vo, 2004.

Group project presentation: Share your perspectives and analytical points about the film, and present an analytical narrative about:

Novel: Bước Đường Cùng (Impasse) by Nguyen Cong Hoan, Hanoi Foreign Publishing House, 1963. Downloadable in google drive.  

Module 3: Divergence and Division – The Civil War

Week 5: A Fledgling Nation: Independence and Socialist Realism

Tuesday Jan. 31:

Readings for discussion:

●       Hue Tam Ho-Tai, “Literature for the People: From Soviet Policies to Vietnamese Polemics” in Borrowings and Adaptations in Vietnamese Culture, Center for Southeast Asian Studies, School of Hawaiian, Asian, and Pacific Studies, University of Hawaii at Manoa, 1987, pp. 63-83.

Primary texts for close reading:

Tran Dan, “Ta Phải Thắng” (We must win) in Sources of Vietnamese Tradition, edited by George E. Dutton, Jayne S. Werner, and John K. Whitmore. New York: Columbia University Press, 2012, pp. 529-535.

Thursday Feb. 2:

Readings for discussion:

●       Peter Zinoman, "Nhan Van-Giai Pham and Vietnamese "Reform Communism" in the 1950s: A Revisionist Interpretation," Journal of Cold War Studies, Vol. 13, No. 1, Winter 2011, pp. 60-100.

Primary texts for close reading:

Mai Hoang, Trần Dần: Selected Poetry Translations, The Columbia Journal of Asia, 2022, Vol.1 (1), p.15-33. Also, see an excerpted translation of Tran Dan’s novel “Crossroads and Lampposts” (1966) here.

Week 6: Writing from Divided Vietnam

Tuesday Feb. 7:

Readings for discussion:

●       Various authors, “Society and Culture” in Sources of Vietnamese Tradition, edited by George E. Dutton, Jayne S. Werner, and John K. Whitmore. New York: Columbia University Press, 2012, pp. 522-553.

Primary texts for close reading:

Various authors, “Northern and Southern Poetry and Song during the Vietnam War” and Nguyen Thi Thap's “Returning to my home village"  in Sources of Vietnamese Tradition, edited by George E. Dutton, Jayne S. Werner, and John K. Whitmore. New York: Columbia University Press, 2012, pp. 542-554.

Thursday Feb. 9:

Screening for discussion:

Film: Bao Giờ Cho Đến Tháng 10 (When the Tenth Month Comes), by Dang Nhat Minh, 1984.

Group project presentation: Share your perspectives and analytical points about the film, and present an analytical narrative about:

Novel: Giải Khăn Sô Cho Huế (Mourning Headband for Hue), by Nha Ca. Translated by Olga Dror. Indiana University Press, 2016. Downloadable in google drive.

Module 4: Love and Losses after Wars

Week 7: Literature of Post-1975 Vietnam

Tuesday Feb. 14:

Readings for discussion:

●       Nguyên Ngọc, “An Exciting Period for Vietnamese Prose.” Journal of Vietnamese Studies, Vol. 3, No. 1 (Winter 2008), pp. 197-219.

Primary texts for close reading:

Selected short stories in Love After War: Contemporary Fiction from Vietnam, translated by Ho Anh Thai and Wayne Karlin, Curbstone Press; 1st edition, 2003 (sections 1, 2, 3)

Thursday Feb. 16:

Reading for discussion:

●   Rebekah Linh Collins, “Vietnamese Literature After War and Renovation: The Extraordinary Everyday,” Journal of Vietnamese Studies, Vol. 10, No. 4 (FALL 2015), pp. 82-124.

Primary texts for close reading:

Selected short stories in Love After War: Contemporary Fiction from Vietnam, translated by Ho Anh Thai and Wayne Karlin, Curbstone Press; 1st edition, 2003 (sections 1, 2, 3)

Week 8: The Reform Era and Intellectual Dissent

Tuesday Feb. 21:

Readings for discussion:

●   Dana Haley, “Literature in Transition: An Overview of Vietnamese Writing of the Renovation Period,” in Canon in Southeast Asian Literature​​, edited by David Smyth, Taylor & Francis, 2016.

Primary texts for close reading:

Selected short stories in Love After War: Contemporary Fiction from Vietnam, translated by Ho Anh Thai and Wayne Karlin, Curbstone Press; 1st edition, 2003 (sections 4, 5)

Thursday Feb. 23:

Screening for discussion:

Film: Trở Về (Return), directed by Dang Nhat Minh, Vietnamese Film Studio, 1994.

Group project presentation: Share your perspectives and analytical points about the film, and present an analytical narrative about:

Novel: Thời Xa Vắng (A Time Far Past) by Le Luu, translated by Ngo Vinh Hai, Nguyen Ba Chung, and Kevin Bowen, University of Massachusetts Press, 1997. Check out this book from UW library.

Module 5: Women of post-socialist Vietnam

Week 9: Vietnamese Women Artists and Authors: On Being Heard and Seen

Tuesday Feb. 28:

Readings for discussion:

●       Pham Thi Hoai, “The Machinery of Vietnamese Art and Literature in the Post-Renovation, Post-Communist (and Post-Modern) Period,” Public Lecture at UCLA, Center for Southeast Asian Studies, 2004. Access full text.

Primary texts for close reading:

Selected short stories in Love After War: Contemporary Fiction from Vietnam, translated by Ho Anh Thai and Wayne Karlin, Curbstone Press; 1st edition, 2003 (choose those written by female authors since the 1980s)

Thursday March 2:

Reading for discussion:

●       Phan Thi Vang Anh and Pham Thu Thuy, “Let’s Talk about Love: Depictions of love and marriage in contemporary Vietnamese short fiction” in Consuming Urban Culture in Contemporary Vietnam. pp. 202-218.

Primary texts for close reading:

Selected poems in The Defiant Muse: Vietnamese Feminist Poems from Antiquity to the Present, The Feminist Press at CUNY, 2007 (Choose those written between the 1980s-1990s). Check out from the UW library.

Week 10: Vietnamese Women Authors: Memoirs, Aspirations, and Liberation

Tuesday March 7:

Readings for discussion:

●       John C Schafer, “Le Van and the Notions of Vietnamese Womanhood,” Journal of Vietnamese Studies, Vol. 5, Issue 3, pp. 129–191.

Primary texts for close reading:

Selected poems in The Defiant Muse: Vietnamese Feminist Poems from Antiquity to the Present, The Feminist Press at CUNY, 2007 (choose those written between the 1990s to 2010s). Check out from the UW library.

Thursday March 9:

Screening for discussion:

Film: Thung Lũng Hoang Vắng (The Deserted Valley), directed by Pham Nhue Giang, Fafilm Vietnam, 2001.

Group project presentation: Share your perspectives and analytical points about the film, and present an analytical narrative about:

Novel: Thiên sứ (The Crystal Messenger) by Pham Thi Hoai, translated by Ton That Quynh Du., Dunedin, N.Z. : University of Otago Press, 1997. Downloadable in google driv

From: Hao Phan via Vsg <vsg@u.washington.edu>
Sent: Tuesday, April 23, 2024 8:07 AM
To: John Phan <jdp49@cornell.edu>; Francois Guillemot <francois.guillemot@ens-lyon.fr>
Cc: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
Subject: Re: [Vsg] English translations of Vietnamese literature

"Light Out" and Modern Vietnamese Stories, 1930–1954. Translated by Quan Manh Ha and Paul Christiansen.

https://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501778032/light-out-and-modern-vietnamese-stories-19301954/#bookTabs=1

Hao Phan
NIU Libraries

From: Hue-Tam Tai via Vsg <vsg@u.washington.edu>
Sent: Tuesday, April 23, 2024 8:01 AM
To: jdp49@cornell.edu; francois.guillemot@ens-lyon.fr
Cc: vsg@u.washington.edu
Subject: Re: [Vsg] English translations of Vietnamese literature

Dear John:
Interestingly, Pham Quynh did much to encourage the production of fiction. He took his cue from Liang Qichao who claimed that fiction served a higher purpose than mere entertainment (see Nguyen Du, "mua vui mot vai trong canh" in Truyen Kieu).
Luc Van Tien is not a work of 20th century fiction. It was composed in Nom in the 19th century by Nguyen Dinh Chieu.
As a child, I recall singing  a parody (forgive the lack of diacritics):
Van Tien ngoi dua goc dua
Trai dua rot xuong lo dau Van Tien

Van Tien sat leaning against a coconut tree.
A coconut dropped on his head and broke it.

EFEO produced a lavishly illustrated book on Luc Van Tien about ten years ago. I believe the original was in the Maurice Durand collection at Yale.
Best wishes creating your syllabus.

Hue-Tam Ho Tai
Harvard University emerita

From: John Phan via Vsg <vsg@u.washington.edu>
Sent: Tuesday, April 23, 2024 7:21 AM
To: Francois Guillemot <francois.guillemot@ens-lyon.fr>
Cc: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
Subject: Re: [Vsg] English translations of Vietnamese literature

Dear all,

What an amazing, rich, and generous response!! Thanks to everyone for these wonderful suggestions!! Now if only we had an English translation of Lục vân tiên, I could put this syllabus to rest.

With warmest thanks to everyone, John

From: Francois Guillemot via Vsg <vsg@u.washington.edu>
Sent: Monday, April 22, 2024 1:51 AM
To: Nguyen-Vo, Thu-Huong <nguyenvo@humnet.ucla.edu>; Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>; Jack Sidnell <jack.sidnell@utoronto.ca>
Subject: Re: [Vsg] English translations of Vietnamese literature

 Dear all, to complete:

War and Exile: A Vietnamese Anthology

https://vietnamlit.org/wiki/index.php?title=War_and_Exile:_A_Vietnamese_Anthology

Best

F

Francois Guillemot

ENS de Lyon

From: Francois Guillemot via Vsg <vsg@u.washington.edu>
Sent: Monday, April 22, 2024 1:36 AM
To: Nguyen-Vo, Thu-Huong <nguyenvo@humnet.ucla.edu>; Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>; Jack Sidnell <jack.sidnell@utoronto.ca>
Subject: Re: [Vsg] English translations of Vietnamese literature

Dear John, dear all,

To add to this list, we can also mention translations of Vietnamese short stories (mostly about War) in collections bringing together several authors, for example :

• Love after war : contemporary fiction from Viet Nam

https://search.worldcat.org/fr/title/51511268

• Other Moons : Vietnamese Short Stories of the American War and Its Aftermath

https://search.worldcat.org/fr/title/1220915023

• The other side of heaven : postwar fiction by Vietnamese and American writers

https://search.worldcat.org/fr/title/32704960

And short fictions by Le Minh Khue:

• The stars, the earth, the river : short fiction by Le Minh Khue

https://search.worldcat.org/fr/title/The-stars-the-earth-the-river-:-short-fiction-by-Le-Minh-Khue/oclc/645867553

• and Distant Stars (Hanoi, 1976).

https://search.worldcat.org/fr/title/3315338

I also remember another one published in the US about War and Exil with Vo Phien and Others...

Best

F

Francois Guillemot

ENS de Lyon

From: Nguyen-Vo, Thu-Huong via Vsg <vsg@u.washington.edu>
Sent: Sunday, April 21, 2024 7:54 PM
To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>; Jack Sidnell <jack.sidnell@utoronto.ca>
Subject: Re: [Vsg] English translations of Vietnamese literature

Just a couple more contributions to this great exchange: 

• Greg Lockhart's translation, "A Dream of Tu Lam," from Nhất Linh's Giấc Mộng Từ Lâm

• Olga Dror's translation, Mourning Headband for Huế, from Nhã Ca's Giải Khăn Xô cho Huế.

Thu-huong

From: Jack Sidnell via Vsg <vsg@u.washington.edu>
Sent: Sunday, April 21, 2024 9:54 AM
To: Vietnam Studies Group <Vsg@u.washington.edu>
Subject: Re: [Vsg] English translations of Vietnamese literature

Hi John and all, 

Some short stories by Nam Cao, including Chí Phèo and Đôi Mắt, are available in translation here:

https://vietmessenger.com/books/?title=chi pheo and other stories

Jack

--

Jack Sidnell

Anthropology

U. Toronto

From: John Hutnyk via Vsg <vsg@u.washington.edu>
Sent: Sunday, April 21, 2024 8:28 AM
To: Vietnam Studies Group <Vsg@u.washington.edu>
Subject: Re: [Vsg] English translations of Vietnamese literature

Hi

I think no-one has yet mentioned Da Ngan's "An Insignificant Family"

https://nupress.northwestern.edu/9781931896481/an-insignificant-family/

I liked this a lot.

and of course Nguyễn Ngọc Tư's "Cánh đồng bất tận" appeared as An Endless field - available widely in Vietnam in one version, but for a while I had a different copy published in the US and thought maybe it was a different English title, and maybe some additional stories, so longer (I unfortunately lent it to someone and it was not returned). Not sure it was Neb Uni press, but it was a uni press of some sort. Would like to see.

Looking forward to the compiled list... Sorry I am away from my books so cannot mention a bunch more.

JH

From: Yen Vu via Vsg <vsg@u.washington.edu>
Sent: Sunday, April 21, 2024 7:39 AM
To: harry aveling <haveling@hotmail.com>
Cc: vsg@u.washington.edu
Subject: Re: [Vsg] English translations of Vietnamese literature

Hi John,

I'm sharing a few new titles that I've considered as well for a Vietnamese literature course. I haven't read all so can't speak to their quality, but I do think they've been interesting to demonstrate the breadth of things available.

Chronicles of a Village, by Nguyen Thanh Hien trans. Quyen Nguyen-Hoang - the original is not as well known, but in my perusal and discussion with the translator, I'm quite optimistic.

The Termite Queen, by Ta Duy Anh, trans. Quan Manh Ha does a kafkaesque story on corruption.

Revenge of Gaia: Contemporary Vietnamese Ecofiction, trans. by Chi Pham and Chitra Sankaran - I wouldn't recommend all the stories, but there is one in there about the subsidy period (by Y Ban) that we don't get anywhere else. 

Also it might be worth considering titles that are less new, but not often taught, including:

Chinatown by Thuan if you're interested in stream of consciousness, Soviet-France-China- Vietnam relationships

Crystal Messenger and Sunday Menu by Pham Thi Hoai, both trans. Ton That Quynh Du.

I'd love to compare notes or discuss more if you'd like off list!

Cheers,

Yen

From: harry aveling via Vsg <vsg@u.washington.edu>
Sent: Saturday, April 20, 2024 3:44 PM
To: dutton@humnet.ucla.edu; jdp49@cornell.edu; Hue-Tam Tai <huetamtai@gmail.com>
Cc: vsg@u.washington.edu
Subject: Re: [Vsg] English translations of Vietnamese literature

Teri Yamada's VIRTUAL LOTUS (Univ of Michigan Press 2001) includes "Tu Ben the Actor"; by Nguyen Cong Huan; "You Must Live" by Khai Hung; "Unsettled" by Vo Phien; and "The Story of an Actress" by Duong Thu Huong.

Pham Duy Khiem's LEGENDS FROM SERENE LANDS is  available in English from The Gioi, HN, though it was originally in French.

Harry Aveling

Monash University

From: Hue-Tam Tai via Vsg <vsg@u.washington.edu>
Sent: Saturday, April 20, 2024 8:44 AM
To: dutton@humnet.ucla.edu; jdp49@cornell.edu
Cc: vsg@u.washington.edu
Subject: Re: [Vsg] English translations of Vietnamese literature

Thanks to George Dutton for pointing out Banerian's Vietnamese Short Stories which I did not know before. Several authors-- Nhat Linh, Thach Lam, Khai Hung--were from the Tu Luc Van Doan group (see Martina Nguyen's book on the group) and were excoriated by pro-ICP authors as peddling bourgeois sentimental romantic stories. I grew up reading them, but Ngo Nhu Binh,  the Vietnamese language insturctor at Harvard, once told me that growing up in Hanoi, he was not exposed to Tu Luc Van Doan novels. He borrowed my copies and said they were a revelation.  Several years later, these novels were readily available in Hanoi bookstores.
Vu Trong Phung's Dumb Luck is a very interesting counter to the Tu Luc Van Doan novels, more in line with the
"tieu thuyet xa hoi" category.
Both types offer interesting contrasts to postwar novels and short stories by "northern" authors that have been translated, from Duong Thu Huong's Paradise of the Blind, Nguyen Huy Thiep's The General Retires, Bao Ninh's The Sorrow of War and other works of fiction.
I put "northern " in quotation marks because all the pre-war authors that were translated were also northern.

Hue-Tam Ho Tai
Harvard University emerita

From: Dutton, George via Vsg <vsg@u.washington.edu>
Sent: Saturday, April 20, 2024 7:43 AM
To: John Phan <jdp49@cornell.edu>
Cc: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
Subject: Re: [Vsg] English translations of Vietnamese literature

Hi John,

Great to hear that you’re developing a Vietnamese lit undergraduate course. Just a few titles for those earlier periods that come to mind and that I have on my shelf. First is John Banerian’s Vietnamese. Short Stories: An Introduction (Sphinx, 1986), which is a very nice collection of 1930s-1960s short stories. Includes stories by Khan Hung, Nhat Linh, Thach Lam, Vo Phien, and others. Then, as an alternative (perhaps) to Dumb Luck, there is Banerian’s translation of Nhat Linh’s 1935 Doan Tuyet, which I think might the self-published. I can share PDFs if you need them.

Best,

George Dutton

Professor,

UCLA

From: John Phan via Vsg <vsg@u.washington.edu>
Sent: Friday, April 19, 2024 1:33 PM
To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
Subject: [Vsg] English translations of Vietnamese literature

Dear VSG colleagues,

I am preparing a new syllabus on Vietnamese literature for undergraduates, and I am looking for an updated list of classic, good, and/or new translations of Vietnamese literature into English. They can be from any era, but I am particularly hoping for mid-20th century, Early Modern, and/or otherwise Premodern examples.  If you have any strong examples you like and would recommend I'd be so grateful.

With warm wishes, John

--

John D. Phan, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor

Department of East Asian Languages & Cultures

Columbia University

New York, New York 10027