Dr Nathalie Huynh Chau Nguyen

The University of Newcastle, Australia

"Images of Postwar Vietnam in Phan Huy Duong's Un Amour métèque: nouvelles"

 

Modern fables can be interpreted as today's parables, renditions of an essential truth under the guise of fantasy or the phantasmagorical. When the truth portrayed relates to war and its aftermath, the use of fable can convey the devastation of this experience without confining it to specific geographical or cultural boundaries. Two short stories from Phan Huy Duong's Un Amour métèque: nouvelles (1944) fall into this category. The writer's adaptation of fable as the foundation for "Un Squelette d'un milliard de dollars" and "Vacance", is an effective way of conveying the impact of a conflict that extended well beyond Vietnam and marked so strongly both France and the United States. Both provide a compelling commentary on the Vietnam War and its enduring legacy.

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·        Nguyen, N.H.C. (2004 in press). Images of Postwar Vietnam in Phan Huy Duong's Un Amour métèque: nouvelles. The French Review. Special Issue on Le Monde francophone. 77:6. 1206-1216.

·        Nguyen, N.H.C. (2002). Images of Postwar Vietnam in Phan Huy Duong's A Foreign Love: Short Stories. Conflict and Culture Conference: War and Terror in the Modern Age. Research Group for War, Society and Culture. School of Liberal Arts. Newcastle: The University of Newcastle. (Invited speaker)

·        Nguyen, N. (1999). Fables and Bones: Images of Post-War Vietnam in Phan Huy Duong's Nouvelles, 1st International Conference on Indochinese Francophone Literature. Seattle, USA: University of Washington.

·        Nguyen, N. (1999). Fables and Bones: Images of Post-War Vietnam in Phan Huy Duong's Nouvelles. IVth Annual Conference on Inter-Cultural Studies. Newcastle: The University of Newcastle.