Nguyễn Trung Cang’s song “Our Treasure” (“Kho tang của chúng ta,” 1971?) is an idealistic celebration of love and friendship that was composed in the Republic of Vietnam (RVN, or South Vietnam) in the early 1970s. The song’s narrator considers such sentiments to be the greatest treasure of all, compares them to priceless jewels, and […]
Nguyễn Trung Cang’s “A Cocky Song” (“Bài Ca Ngông”) is an anthem to individualism. The song was released in the Republic of Vietnam (RVN, or South Vietnam) sometime in the early 1970s. The narrator of the song is a cocky young man who insists on living his truth. He rejects all blandishments of wealth and
Saigon Rock & Soul: Classic Tracks 1968-1974 (2012) started a trend when it was released some ten years ago. The CD was the very first collection of remastered period recordings from the Republic of Vietnam (RVN, or South Vietnam) and heralded a wave of similar CDs that have appeared in the decade since. Saigon Rock
Nguyễn Thanh Trịnh’s What If We Were in Love (Ví dụ ta yêu nhau, 1974) is a clever frame narrative about romantic love set in the Republic of Vietnam (RVN, or South Vietnam). The book starts with a letter from an unnamed young man urging his love interest, Nhỏ, to imagine that they are in
This is my last post (at least for a while) drawn from my syllabus for my course on the Vietnam War. (See the full sample syllabus here and here for more detail.) Below is the journal prompt and readings about the opposition to Ngô Đình Diệm that I assign for week 6. Following that is
I wanted to follow up my earlier posts about teaching the Vietnam War with sample readings, including some original translations. (See the full sample syllabus here and here for more detail.) In the box below is the journal prompt and readings about the land reform that I assign for week 4 of the course as
TEACHING THE VIETNAM WAR – A READING AND A MOVIE ABOUT THE LAND REFORM IN NORTH VIETNAM Read More »
Happy New Year! Chúc mừng năm mới! One of the holiday songs I remember my family listening to at Tết when I was a teenager was Phạm Đình Chương’s “Springtime in Exile” (“Xuân tha hương,” 1956). Tết, or the lunar new year, is the most important holiday of the year for most ethnic Vietnamese, regardless
Nhã Ca’s At Night I Hear the Cannons (Đêm nghe tiếng đại bác, 1966) poignantly captures the moment when the Vietnam War began encroaching on civilian life in Saigon. Set in the mid-1960s, the novel centers on a northern Vietnamese family of modest means who emigrated to Saigon when the country was divided a decade
“Vietnamese people love Christmas!” That’s what I usually say when someone asks me whether I celebrate the holiday, and I try to explain why I am both a lifelong Buddhist and a Christmas enthusiast. But the real answer is a little more complicated. I was a baby when my family came to the US as
WHAT DOES CHRISTMAS MEAN TO A VIETNAMESE BUDDHIST REFUGEE? Read More »
Bình Nguyên Lộc’s Thoroughfare (Đò dọc, 1959) is a charming novel about migration and dislocation in southern Vietnam in the mid-1950s. Nam Thành and his wife are originally from a village in Bạc Liêu province in the Mekong delta, but they flee with their daughters to Saigon during the early years of the Resistance War
FUN READS: MIGRATION AND DISLOCATION IN BÌNH NGUYÊN LỘC’S THOROUGHFARE (ĐÒ DỌC) Read More »