From Monologues to Dialogues: How Young Creatives Reflect Women’s Voice

06 pm, Fri 21 July 2023
Goethe Institut
58 Nguyễn Thái Học, Ba Đình, Hà Nội
Registration link

From the organizer:

“Aren’t men obliged to propose women?”
“They told me that a girl like me should get married”
“It’s been over seven years since my uncle became my guarantor, all I’ve ever done is work at my uncle’s restaurant. Six days a week, everyday repeats itself.”

Those are extraits of three different materials “A France-Vietnam round trip” written by Line Papin, a second-generation Vietnamese writer in France, and “A dream of three lives” and “Vietnamese restaurant” respectively by Maik Cây (Nguyễn Phương Anh) and Lê Khải Việt, Vietnamese writers. Three materials that show a journey of how women’s role has been seen through the development process of our society as well as different contexts of their life: from the public connections at work to the private space in family and their own self as a child. All the past and Vietnamese identity are carried through the work of these young creatives.

In the material we experience different stories that all unite questions about the voice of Vietnamese women: A woman talks about her three lives respectively as a meritorious person, a dedicated wife and a child that always end up in the pagoda due to piled-up misunderstandings a woman suffers from.

A young girl whose boyfriend is a French negotiates for her trip to France with her mother who has the memories of the wars.

A young girl directs fairly a conversation with her boyfriend about their business, opening a Vietnamese restaurant in Victoria, Australia.

In Vietnam, the movement of equal rights for women dates back during the French colonial period. It has been reflected through different formats and by various actors. This time, the three materials build a bridge through generations that shows how the women’s voice is taken from monologues to dialogues; and what the underlying structure that motivates changes. Participating at the talk are the three authors and activist in the field, which enables open discussions focusing on the topic.

These are documents of MY VIETNAM, a project about Vietnamese identities across borders implemented by the Goethe-Institut in collaboration with local partners. The project got financial support from the Delegation of the European Union to Vietnam and other individuals. This event is one of three events being organized from May to July, 2023 to introduce project materials.

Moderator

Quyên Nguyễn (*1984)

Quyên Nguyễn is a Doctor of English literature and an independent researcher and critic. She is an English-Vietnamese translator. Her published translated works include What We Talk When We Talk Love by Raymond Carver (co-translator), Atonement by Ian McEwan, Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides. She is also the co-founder of a non-profit literary website Zzz Review in Vietnam.

Speaker

Maik Cây (Nguyễn Phương Anh) (*1988)

Maik Cây (Nguyễn Phương Anh) is an independent writer, playwright, and filmmaker from Hanoi, Viet Nam. They are the co-founder of Tiếng-Thét, a queer, feminist creative group that works to promote marginalized voices of unheard or often-silenced local artists and writers.

Lê Khải Việt (*1983)

Lê Khải Việt is a writer with one collection of short stories published in book form and numerous book reviews published in magazines. He also teaches business law at Troy University (Alabama) – STU campus. He works primarily as foreign rights manager of Phuong Nam Book, an established publisher.

Line Papin (*1995, Hà Nội)

Line Papin moved to France at the age of 10. She studied cinema and art history at the Sorbonne and at the film school La Fémis. Her first book was published in 2016.

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