Longings: Contemporary Fiction by Vietnamese Women Writers
Translated by Quan Manh Ha and Quynh H. Vo
Published by: Texas Tech University Press: 2024
Paperback: New
9781682832066
While mainstream Vietnamese history chronicles a few woman warriors of the past and some contemporary female activists, Vietnamese women always have performed their roles in the quiet shadows of men. To illuminate those shadows, Quan Manh Ha and Quynh H. Vo have brought into English the first anthology of its kind, featuring twenty-two contemporary stories written by Vietnamese women whose narratives make visible the multitudinous lives of Vietnamese women over the last two decades.
All the stories in Longings appear in English for the first time, inviting new readers to appreciate the "Longings" or aspirations of Vietnamese women as they have had to face suffering and struggle, hope and despair, sorrow and joy, while navigating an uncharted course through the social and economic waves that have lifted or lowered their lives since the US-Vietnam normalization in the mid-1990s.
The wife in Da Ngan's "The Innermost Feelings of White Pillows" suppresses sexual frustration at her husband's impotence by stuffing her pillows with new fibers. The rural women in Tran Thuy Mai's "Green Plums" have no choice but to become prostitutes to earn a living. The mother in Pham Thi Phong Diep's "Mother and Son" demonstrates an unconditional sacrifice and ineffable love for her adopted son despite his insolence and ingratitude. A woman in Nguyen Thi Chau Giang's "Late Moon" violates all prescribed gender norms in order to live freely.
Longings brings together stories by both well-established and emerging Vietnamese writers, those who come from various regions in Vietnam and represent the diversity and richness in Vietnamese short fiction. This anthology expands the audience for deserving authors and broadens perspective on the heterogeneous voices, narrative styles, and thematic interests of women who contribute to the growing corpus of contemporary Vietnamese short fiction.
Contributor Bios:
Quan Manh Ha is a professor of American Literature & Ethnic Studies at the University of Montana. His research interests include multiethnic US literature, Vietnam War literature, and literary translation. He is translator of Other Moons: Vietnamese Stories of the American War and Its Aftermath, Luminous Nights: Pioneering Vietnamese Short Stories, and, with Cab Tran, has translated Bảo Ninh's Hanoi at Midnight: Stories (Texas Tech UP, 2023).
Quynh H. Vo is a professorial lecturer of Asia, Pacific, and Diaspora Studies at American University in Washington, DC, where she teaches and researches transnational Asian and Asian American literature and culture. As a bilingual writer and educator, Dr. Vo has published work in Vietnamese and English languages.