Dang Than

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Đặng Thân is a notable Vietnamese contemporary bilingual poet, fiction writer and essayist.
Dang Than.jpg

Born in North Vietnam, he has taught American and English literature at several universities in Hanoi since 1990, and has also worked as a translator and interpreter. Currently, he is the Training Director at the IVN Institute for Research and Support of Education Development, as well as being in charge of Futurology Studies at the I-Ching Research & Development Center in Hanoi. He also writes and publishes in English, and is working on 2 books, Post Po-Mo Literary Dictionary and Tao’s Poetry – or the Poetic Pursuit of the Truest-self.

In the feature article "Demilitarized Zone: Report From Literary Vietnam" on the internationally prestigious New York-based Poets & Writers - Sep/Oct 2009, American writer/journalist Stephen Morison Jr. writes of Dang Than that:

'In Vietnam, many of the writers belong to [the school of] realism, specifically, socialist realism,' Dang says. 'Some literary critics say I belong to nonrealism, to multidimensionality. So it has been very difficult for me to find a publisher.'

and that:

In the literary circles he runs in, Dang is praised for his idiosyncratic prose and 'rebellious' style.

American senior writer and editor of Asia Times and The Washington Times James W. Borton stated:

Dang Than's srories are most impressive and extremely well written.

Australian scholar/sculptor Stavros Carapetis cited:

Dang Than has the knack of taking simple, everyday events and actions and presenting them in a way that demonstrates his philosophical, sensitive and perceptive mindset. He reflects on some of the most fundamental and yet basic features of man's existence and relationships; he searches out and expresses their value, depth and importance to our lives in language that is, at the same time, easy to read and yet, deep and emotional.


Dang Than is special and idiosyncratic in many literary genres: short story, poetry, essay and novel. He is praised for a 'rebellious' style with 'non-linear' and post-modernist techniques in short stories and allegorical novels. In poetry, he is the promoter of the Vietnamese alliteration and uni-verse style (with Từ điển thi x/x loại [chúng sinh]).

In 2005, he won an award for a short story in the Poetry & Short Stories Contest on the Deep Love for 1000-year-old Thang Long.

In December 2008, he published his first short stories collection named Ma Net (Cyber Ghost), and it was immediately greeted by ardent reviewers and readers both at home and abroad with raptuous applause and controversy as well. Hundreds of literature bibliophiles attended his book launch, an incredible event of that kind in Vietnam these days, but, this book is said to be prevented from reprinting by the government department of publication.

In January 2009, a 23-metre-long roll of calligraphy named Avant-garde Alliteration (by Trinh Tuan & Pham Long Ha) depicting his seven unique poetic works of alliteration came to the public and shocked the media.

He is, of course, highly appreciated by the Vietnamese elite. Consider, say, critic Do Lai Thuy regards him "the typical figure of Post-Doi Moi Literature". He is considered "the best humourist ever" and even an "awesomely brilliant genius". Unfortunately, it has been repeatedly said that leading governmental departments in Vietnam instructed the "state-controlled" literary circle that his works were "harmful". From 2008 up to 2011, publishing houses there had not been allowed to print any book of his for no righteous reason, and official state-run newspapers had been ordered to leave him in the dark.

In November 2011, however, after a long period of being secretly deterred by Vietnamese governmental publishing offices, a controversial hetero-novel of his, 3.3.3.9 [những mảnh hồn trần] (3.3.3.9 [Fragments of Earthy/Naked Souls]) came to the public. On 7 Jan 2012, the French Institute of Hanoi (Institut Français de Hanoï - L'Espace - Centre Culturel Français) held a significant seminar on this book, and many Vietnamese critics and authors had gathered there to heatedly discuss its exceptional originality.

Dang Than is now the author of a number of unprinted works in Vietnamese:

- [phô] phố, a poetry anthology

- Từ điển thi x/x loại [chúng sinh], an "all-genred" anthology

- Phụ âm [ân đạo hệ...], an alliteration anthology

- Những kênh bão người/ Channels of the Homo Storms, a novel

- Factum [a] Cave, an "a-genre" novel


Uni-verse started and expanded this entry. Linh Dinh edited it.


Publication of Dị-nghị-luận|Đồng-chân-dung (Hetero-Reasonings|Homo-Portraits) - (Jan '13)


SEMINAR ON "DỊ-NGHỊ-LUẬN|ĐỒNG-CHÂN-DUNG" AT L'ESPACE - HANOI (9 JAN '13):


Publication of 3.3.3.9 [Những Mảnh Hồn Trần] (3.3.3.9 [Fragments of Earthy/Naked Souls]) - (Nov '11)


SEMINAR ON "3.3.3.9 [NHỮNG MẢNH HỒN TRẦN]" AT L'ESPACE - HANOI (7 JAN '12):



POLYSYMPHONY ON "3.3.3.9 [NHỮNG MẢNH HỒN TRẦN]" AT GOETHE-INSTITUT VIETNAM (18 Oct '12)


SEMINAR ON "MARGINAL/CENTRAL LITERATURE" AT HANOI NATIONAL UNIVERSITY (26 DEC '12):


SEMINAR ON POSTMODERNISM AT HANOI NATIONAL UNIVERSITY (15 JAN '13):


Tiền vệ Phụ âm Thư Calligraphy (Jan '09)

Publication of Ma Net (Cyber Ghost) - (Dec '08)



Key References

Author Pages & Interviews

Novels

  • 3.3.3.9 [những mảnh hồn trần]] - See: Chapter 1, Chapter 16, Chapter 29, Chapter 29, Chapter 33, Chapter 53 on Da Màu
  • Những kênh bão người / Channels of the Homo Storms - See "Sử thi Ba Bựa/Tam Tài xứ Xích Đạo Thổ" on Da Màu
  • Factum [a] Cave - See i, ii, iii on Tiền Vệ

Poetry

Short Stories

Essays

Đặng Thân online in English, French, Portuguese & Spanish

Related Articles (2005-2007)

Related Articles (2008-2009)

Related Articles (2010-2011)

Related Articles (2012)

Related Articles (2013)

Related Articles (2014)

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