Ngô Thế Vinh’s Anthology II - Portraits of Literature, Art, and Culture

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Ngô Thế Vinh’s Anthology II - Portraits of Literature, Art, and Culture

Nguyễn Văn Tuấn

Ngô Thế Vinh’s Anthology II - Portraits of Literature, Art, and Culture is a masterful act of reclamation, a radiant arras woven from the lives and legacies of eighteenliterary, artistic, and cultural figures who defined South Vietnam’s vibrant intellectual scene before the cataclysm of April 30, 1975. This collection is not merely a gallery of portraits but a resolute stand against oblivion, preserving the humane, dynamic, and innovative spirit of the Republic of Vietnam (RVN). With a physician’s precision and an exile’s longing, Vinh crafts a narrative that resurrects a cultural heritage nearly erased by decades of suppression, offering readers a window into an era that was as fleeting as it was profound.

The RVN, spanning just two decades from 1954 to 1975, left an indelible mark on Vietnam’s cultural and educational landscape. Its schools, built on the pillars of Humanism, Nationalism, and Liberalism, nurtured minds with a philosophy that celebrated the individual, cherished national traditions, and embraced global currents of thought. Humanism placed the person at the heart of progress, not as a tool of ideology but as an end in themselves. Nationalism preserved Vietnam’s rich cultural heritage, while Liberalism opened doors to democratic ideals, scientific advancements, and universal values, positioning the RVN as a bridge between East and West. In this fertile ground, literature and the arts flourished, animated by a spirit that was humane, vibrant, dynamic, and innovative. The Bách Khoa journal, a cornerstone of this era, captivated a generation with its eclectic blend of culture, politics, and ideas, while poets and musicians gave voice to a youth brimming with hope and creativity. As writer Võ Phiến once observed, the period from1954 to 1975 was a singular moment in Vietnam’s history, where literature bloomed with a freedom and openness unmatched before or since.

Yet, this golden age was abruptly silenced. After 1975, the new regime’s proletarian dictatorship launched a systemic assault on the RVN’s legacy. Southern authors were branded as 'cultural commandos', 'reactionary and decadent', or 'servants of the American puppet regime'. Books and journals were confiscated and destroyed, and prominent writers were imprisoned in re-education camps to 'reform' their ideology. This organized erasure left a generation either ignorant of or misinformed about the RVN’s contributions, distorted by propagandistic narratives that dismissed its works as 'neo-colonial' or 'bourgeois'. For two decades, the RVN’s cultural heritage was relegated to the shadows, its vibrancy reduced to whispers among exiles.

Time, however, has a way of softening even the harshest decrees. Over the past decade, Vietnam has begun to rediscover the RVN’s legacy. Works once banned have been republished, and musical compositions from the era have been permitted to circulate. Approximately 160 authors from the RVN period have been “rehabilitated,” their voices restored to the nation’s cultural narrative. This shift is not merely a correction of historical prejudice but an acknowledgment of the RVN’s prescience. Its educational philosophy—grounded in respect for individual dignity and openness to the world—sharply contrasts with the ideological rigidity that emerged after 1975. The ongoing search for a coherent educational philosophy in modern Vietnam only underscores the RVN’s forward-thinking vision.

Against this backdrop, Anthology II emerges as a vital contribution, a bridge between a suppressed past and a rediscovering present. The collection introduces eighteen figures: Nguyễn Tường Bách and Hứa Bảo Liên, Hoàng Tiến Bảo, Trần Ngọc Ninh, Lê Ngộ Châu, Nguyễn Văn Trung, Tạ Tỵ, Lê Ngọc Huệ, Mai Chửng, Trần Mộng Tú, Trần Hoài Thư and Ngọc Yến, Phan Nhật Nam, Nghiêm Sỹ Tuấn, Đoàn Văn Bá, Vũ Xuân Thông, Võ Tòng Xuân, and John Steinbeck, alongside the Cham scholar Dohamide (Đỗ Hải Minh). Each portrait unfolds as a finely crafted interplay of life story, milieu, and the aspirations that gave form to their art. Unlike traditional anthologies that prioritize texts, Vinh centers the creators themselves, rendering them as vivid as the art they produced.

Lê Ngộ Châu, the soul of Bách Khoa, stands as a quiet giant. Less celebrated than luminaries like Mai Thảo or Thanh Tâm Tuyền, he was the architect of a platform that projected over 100 authors into prominence across 426 issues from 1957 to 1975. His editorial vision made Bách Khoa a preeminent forum for ideas, spanning culture, arts, society, economics, and politics. Northern intellectuals praised its dignified language and incisive commentary, which offered a window into the South’s complexities. Vinh’s portrait reveals Châu as the steward of this legacy, a figure whose influence was foundational yet often overlooked.

Equally compelling is Trần Hoài Thư, a soldier-turned-scholar who, with his wife Nguyễn Ngọc Yến, has devoted decades to preserving the RVN’s literary heritage from exile in America. Despite the challenging demands of life as refugees, they meticulously collected, systematized, and digitized pre-1975 works, creating an invaluable archive. Their narrative, deepened by haunting images of a life diminished by failing health, bears witness to literature’s capacity to outlast the wounds of displacement. As Thư once reflected, “Through literature, we transcend our humiliated condition; through literature, we stand taller than ever.” Their dedication is a quiet heroism, a refusal to let a culture fade into obscurity.

Nguyễn Văn Trung, a leftist intellectual, emerges as another towering figure. In the 1960s and 1970s, he was a dynamic force, co-founding the influential Đại Học journal at the University of Huế and later establishing Hành Trình (later Đất Nước) and Trình Bầy. His publications, advocating a “non-communist social revolution,” bore a progressive hue, navigating Vietnam’s turbulent currents with intellectual courage. His journey, fraught with challenges, offers lessons for a nation still grappling with its identity.

The inclusion of John Steinbeck, the 1962 Nobel laureate, adds a global perspective. A staunch supporter of U.S involvement in Vietnam, Steinbeck traveled to the country in 1966, skeptical of leftist media narratives. His Dispatches from the War (2012) remains a powerful reflection on the conflict, urging readers to question prevailing assumptions. Tạ Tỵ, a painter, soldier, and prisoner, captivates with his multifaceted life. His works, from Phạm Duy Still Carries That Sorrow to the harrowing memoir The Depths of Hell, offer a soldier’s and exile’s perspective on loss and resilience. Dohamide, a Cham scholar, illuminates another dimension, dedicating his life to restoring Champa’s cultural identity. His contributions to Bách Khoa and his advocacy for ethnic unity bridge divides in a fractured community, offering a model of reconciliation.

Other portraits—Nguyễn Tường Bách, a resilient revolutionary; Hứa Bảo Liên, a Chinese-born writer with a Vietnamese soul; Hoàng Tiến Bảo, a study in integrity; and Phan Nhật Nam, bearing “wounds that do not bleed”—are rich with previously unpublished insights. Each figure is brought to life through Vinh’s meticulous research, accompanied by historical artifacts, photographs, and manuscripts that serve as primary sources for future generations. When a Vietnamese official recently lamented the lack of great works, Anthology II stands as a resounding counterpoint, a testament to a legacy that was not only great but visionary.

Ngô Thế Vinh’s Anthology II - Portraits of Literature, Art, and Culture is a radiant mosaic of the Republic of Vietnam’s intellectual spirit, vividly portraying eighteen literary, artistic, and cultural figures whose legacies were nearly lost after 1975. A physician by training, Vinh writes with crystalline precision, his prose a steady guide through the intricate history of a vibrant yet fleeting era. Beneath this disciplined clarity lies a profound reverence for the South Vietnam's cultural heritage, shaped by his dual role as participant in its golden age and chronicler in exile. More than a chronicle, his work stands as a major contribution to Vietnamese letters: an act of intellectual preservation that secures a contested cultural legacy for present and future generations.

The anthology, brought into English by Dr. Eric Henry, stands as a distinguished contribution to the preservation of cultural memory. His translation is not merely a linguistic rendering but an inspired act of revival, casting renewed light on the rich heritage of South Vietnam for readers around the world. A Vietnam War veteran and former keyboard musician, now a scholar of Chinese and Vietnamese literature at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Henry approaches the task with a rare confluence of lived experience and scholarly rigor. Marked by elegance and fidelity, his work captures both the lucid precision and the quiet reverence of Vinh’s prose, while skillfully bridging linguistic, historical, and cultural divides. Through this nuanced artistry, Henry restores to resonance the vibrant voices of a silenced era, offering readers a vital conduit to a legacy once nearly effaced but now illuminated anew.

NGUYỄN VĂN TUẤN

Sydney, September 11, 2025

The author, Nguyễn Văn Tuấn, himself a Boat Person who resettled in Australia in 1982, is currently Professor at the Faculty of Medicine at the University of New South Wales, Professor at the School of Medicine, University of Notre Dame Australia, and Distinguished Professor in Predictive Medicine at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS). He is internationally recognized as a leading expert in the field of osteoporosis, elected Fellow of the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research, elected Fellow of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences, elected Fellow of the Royal Society of New South Wales, and awarded the Order of Australia by Queen Elizabeth II for his significant contributions to medical research and higher education. Beyond science, he is also a passionate lover of literature and culture, having authored hundreds of book reviews over the past fifty years.