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 well as my notes. Following that are two items: a clip from the movie We Want to Live (Chúng tôi muốn sống), an anticommunist movie about the land reform that was produced in the Republic of Vietnam (RVN, or South Vietnam), with my translated subtitles; and the full text of my translation of the dialogue in the clip. The timing of the subtitles on the clip isn’t perfect because I don’t have the necessary software. I usually show this clip at the end lecture on the first class of the week and have my students read my translation for the second class of the week, which is also included in this post. I have not included Christine Pelzer White’s translation of Nguyễn Văn Bổng’s “Planting Stakes in Cau Field” or Dương Thu Hương’s Paradise of the Blind in this post due to copyright issues.
4. Building Socialism in the Democratic Republic of Vietnam
*Excerpt from We Want to Live [my original translation]
*Video clip We Want to Live [my original translation added as subtitles]
*Nguyễn Văn Bổng, “Planting Stakes in Cau Field,” trans. Christine Pelzer White, in White, “Agrarian Reform and National Liberation in the Vietnamese Revolution, 1920-1957” (Phd diss, Cornell University, 1981), selected pages
*Dương Thu Hương, Paradise of the Blind, trans. Phan Huy Dương and Nina McPherson (New York: William Morrow, 2002), 16-34, 40-42, 47-52, 60-67, 69-81
Journal prompt: Based on We Want to Live, how did Vietnamese anticommunists in the RVN depict the land reform and what were they trying to say about the DRV through this portrayal? Based on “Planting Stakes in Cau Field,” how did communist writers in the DRV depict the land reform and what were they trying to say about the regime through this portrayal? How does Paradise of the Blind depict the land reform and how would you describe the politics of that book?
My notes: The readings for week 3 constitute a sort of debate on the land reform and, by extension, the legitimacy of the DRV and the communist party. In class, we discuss how the different fictional accounts portray landlords, villagers, and local leaders of the campaign. This discussion builds on the theme of political division from weeks 2 and 3 to examine the polarization of Vietnamese politics between communists and anticommunists. Paradise of the Blind is also useful as a foreshadow of economic renovation (đổi mới) and the reinterpretation of the war by communist dissidents after the war, which is covered in week 12.
CLIP FROM WE WANT TO LIVE WITH SUBTITLES BY NU-ANH TRAN
TRANSLATION OF FULL TEXT OF DIALOGUE FROM CLIP OF WE WANT TO LIVE
We Want to Live (Chúng tôi muốn sống, 1956)
Directed by Vĩnh Noãn
Produced in the Republic of Vietnam, 1956
Translation: Nu-Anh Tran
Characters:
VINH, main character who does not appear in this excerpt
MR. NGUYỄN VĂN LONG, landlord, Vinh’s father
MRS. NGUYỄN VĂN LONG, Mr. Long’s wife and Vinh’s mother
LỊCH, Mr. and Mrs. Long’s adopted son
LAN, schoolteacher, secretary of the local people’s committee, and Vinh’s beloved
CHAIRMAN, Chairman of the Land Reform Team
CADRES, members of the Land Reform Team
POLICEMAN
PROSECUTOR
CU TÍ, formerly a buffalo herder for Mr. Long
CHỊ HÒE, Mr. and Mrs. Long’s next door neighbor
OLD VILLAGER
VILLAGERS
Scene and summary:
A land reform team has established a people’s court in front of the village temple in Vinh’s village. The team is led by the CHAIRMAN, assisted by the PROSECUTOR, while the other CADRES on the team watch. The POLICEMAN guides the crowd of VILLAGERS, including CU TÍ, CHỊ HÒE, the OLD VILLAGER, and LỊCH, as they watch the trial. LAN is the secretary for the court proceedings. The court is trying MR. NGUYỄN VĂN LONG and MRS. NGUYỄN VĂN LONG.
Excerpt:
CHAIRMAN: Comrades and compatriots, today’s task marks a big stride in our country’s great revolution and takes us closer to socialism. Comrades and compatriots, today the poor peasant class will unmask the landlord class and local tyrants. To do that, my fellow poor peasants must be fierce in opposing the landlords and local tyrants! Down with the landlords!
POLICEMAN, VILLAGERS: Down with the landlords! Down with the landlords!
OLD VILLAGER: Silent.
POLICEMAN: (To Old Villager) Comrade, do you belong the landlord class? Why don’t you say “Down with the landlords”!
OLD VILLAGER: Down with the landlords! Down with the landlords!
VILLAGERS: Down with the landlords! Down with the landlords!
CHAIRMAN: On behalf of the people, the party, and the government, I am officially convening the people’s court today.
Two soldiers drag Mr. and Mrs. Long to the front of the yard.
POLICEMAN: Compatriots, say “Down with the landlords!”
VILLAGERS: Down with the landlords! Down with the landlords!
CHAIRMAN: (To Villagers) Compatriots, please calm down and await the decision of the people’s court. (To Mr. Long) Hey, you! Answer me! What is your name?
MR. LONG: Comrade, sir…
CHAIRMAN: You are a landlord, how dare you call me comrade?
POLICEMAN: (To Mr. Long) You landlord, you speak up! I can’t hear a thing!
MR. LONG: Chairman, sir, my name is Nguyễn Văn Long…
CHAIRMAN: Comrade Lan, please take notes on his confession.
MRS. LONG: (To Lan) Miss Lan, please save us!
CHAIRMAN: (To Mr. Long) How old are you?
MR. LONG: Sir, I am 56 years old.
CHAIRMAN: What is your occupation?
MR. LONG: Sir, I am a landlord.
CHAIRMAN: According to the report of the village committee, you are a notoriously rich landlord in this area. You already owned so much land yet you were still greedy. Do you think you’ll really be able to explain to the people why that is?
MR. LONG: Chairman, sir, I have been wealthy for several generations. It wasn’t just recently that I acquired land and riches. Moreover, my forefathers had to work hard their entire lives in order to achieve and leave behind this wealth.
CHAIRMAN: You say you had to work hard to get rich. Then, I ask you, did you have to suffer more than the peasants who worked for you?
MR. LONG: Sir…
CHAIRMAN: You better answer clearly!
POLICEMAN: You people exploited our compatriots! You exploited the poor peasants! The entire people are against you. Down with the landlords!
VILLAGERS: Down with the landlords! Down with the landlords!
CHAIRMAN: Exploitation! That’s what it is. Today, the people have become conscious of their interests. Before the court imposes a sentence, I request all those who are present, if you know about the crimes of this wicked, dishonest landlord, then you must denounce them. If you don’t denounce such crimes, then you are an accomplice of the wicked, dishonest landlords! To denounce is to serve the interests of the people. The court will base its decision on the denunciations.
POLICEMAN: Brother Tí, what are you waiting for? Why don’t you denounce him?
CU TÍ shakes his head.
POLICEMAN: (Whispers to Cu Tí) If you don’t denounce him, there’ll be trouble! Go denounce him! (Pushes Cu Tí in front of the court. To the Chairman) Comrade Chairman, Brother Tí wants to denounce! (Looks at CU TÍ and strokes his gun)
CHAIRMAN: Please come forward!
CU TÍ: (To Mr. Long) You! Do you know who I am?
MR. LONG: Yes, you are you are Cu Tí.
CU TÍ: Not bad! So you do remember me. Do you remember how many years I’ve tended your water buffaloes? Only once did the buffaloes accidentally graze on someone else’s land, but you beat and curse me… you wicked, dishonest landlord!
MR. LONG: I never dared to hit you. You have to remember that, on that day, you left and went with Miss Chít from the neighboring village and let the water buffaloes graze on someone’s else’s rice fields. I had to pay them back lots of money.
CU TÍ: You exploited me, and now not only do you deny it, you bring up my private life! Treacherous landlords!
MRS. LONG: Brother Tí, Brother Tí…
CU TÍ looks at Mrs. Long and leaves. POLICEMAN drags Lịch out from a crowd and whispers in his ear.
POLICEMAN: (To Chairman) Comrade Chairman! Another person wants to denounce the landlord.
CHAIRMAN gestures for Lịch to come forward. LỊCH helps Mr. Long sit up.
MR. LONG: Ah, son…
LỊCH: Father…
MRS. LONG: Thank you, son…
LỊCH: (Glances at the Policeman, and then backs away from Mr. Long. To Mr. Long) How dare you call me your son! I’m only your adopted child, but from now on I won’t acknowledge you as my father anymore! I was foolish and accepted a landlord as my adoptive father. Thanks to the government and the party, I now realize that I was born of the poor peasant class and can never have ties with you!
MR. LONG: My child, in all these years, have I ever mistreated you in any way that now you.
LỊCH: You were clever to adopt me so you wouldn’t have to pay me a salary. You were treacherous to make me work for free for you all these years.
MRS. LONG: My child, how can you be so ungrateful and unfaithful? Have you forgotten those times when you were sick and I tried every possible medicine to make you better?
LỊCH: Shut up, woman! (Shoves Mrs. Long to the ground.) Father, mother… (Lịch exits.)
POLICEMAN whispers in Chị Hòe’s ear, and she shakes her head. He whispers again, and she nods.
POLICEMAN: Comrade Chairman, Sister Hòe wants to denounce!
CHAIRMAN gestures for Chị Hòe to come forward.
CHỊ HÒE: (To Mrs. Long) Do you remember me?
MRS. LONG: Yes, you are Sister Hòe, who lives next door to me.
CHỊ HÒE: I thought landlords like you were forgetful! Do you know it was because of you that my child died? She killed my child and pretends that she doesn’t know it. Let me remind you. Ten years ago, my child and I were sick. I was poor and asked you to lend me money to buy medicine. You were cruel and wouldn’t lend it to me, so my child had to die.
MRS. LONG: Your child died the year there was a smallpox epidemic in the village. I, myself, lost a son that year. You wanted to borrow money when I was worried about my child’s illness. I didn’t… I was sharp with you, so you got angry and left, but I never refused to lend you money.
CHỊ HÒE: She killed my son, and now she’s still mouthy!
POLICEMAN: The people say that a life must be paid with a life!
MRS. LONG: (To Chị Hòe) How can you treat me so badly? How can you?
CHỊ HÒE: (Quietly) Please forgive me, ma’am…
POLICEMAN: We request an execution!
VILLAGERS: Execute! Execute the landlord!
PROSECUTOR: (To all present) Comrade Chairman, comrade jurors, the entire people, this Nguyễn Văn Long was born of an old mandarin family. His parents have sucked the blood of poor peasants for generations now. Thanks to that, he studied at the provincial school from a young age and learned the colonialists’ wicked, dishonest tricks. All the people in this area know full well his cruel, exploitative ways. When the resistance movement began, he cleverly donated rice and supported the movement. Brothers and sisters, do you know why he did that? It wasn’t out of patriotism but to conceal his crimes…
MR. LONG: Unjust! I sincerely supported the resistance government. I paid my workers higher wages than elsewhere.
PROSECUTOR: (To Mr. Long) Shut up! You are here to be judged by the people. You are only allowed to speak when asked to. (To all present) The evidence is right there, but he still says it’s unjust. I ask, if he says it’s unjust, then are the people here all slandering him? That just goes to shows how stubborn he is. And he dares to say that the people are mistaken!
POLICEMAN: Libel! Down with landlords! Down with landlords! VILLAGERS: Down with the landlords! Down with the landlords!
THE TECHNICAL STUFF
Image credit: The image linked to this post can be found here: https://www.rfa.org/vietnamese/in_depth/InterviewExActressMaiTram_HKPhong-20060521.html