Dear Joseph,
I read your posting on PoetryEtc regarding Magical Realism in Viet Nam with
great interest. I was particularly intrigued with what you wrote about the
Vietnamese being unscientific people. I am sure that to many of us in the
West, this must seem a counter-intuitive or even a primitive mindset. Yet,
just as learning a different language can teach a new way of thinking, the
Vietnamese outlook must create a fresh perspective on modern life.
Would it be possible for you to post some examples of the manifestations of
this Vietnamese unscientific outlook? Perhaps these examples may open the
way for others to look at the world in a new way too.
Thanks
pHIL
----- Original Message -----
From: "Joseph Duemer" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Tuesday, June 05, 2001 9:49 AM
Subject: Re: Possum Pouch
> I've just been reading Linh Dinh's "Magic Realist Country" & am not sure
> what it is supposed to add up to, though it suggests that to Linh the
> Vietnamese (except for him) are a silly & unscientific bunch. But having
> lived in Viet Nam about a quarter of the time since 1997, I can tell you
> that all the things he says are literally true. The Vietnamese, with a
> few exceptions, are deeply unscientific & what you might think of as
> magic is simply the facts here. It's a sweet relief, I can tell you,
> after New York.
>
> The 21st c. is an odd phenomenon in VN--the country was busy resisting
> the French & then the Americans during the West's period of High
> Modernism & has perhaps skipped irony entirely & moved into something
> that doesn't feel quite like "post-modernism," but which can
> nevertheless absorb & transform Taoist magic, television & the
> teleological myths of Marxism. Go figure.
>
> jd
> ________________________
> Joseph Duemer
> School of Liberal Arts-5750
> Clarkson University
> (On leave 2000 - 2001)
> Doan Thi Hanh Guesthouse
> 172 Pho Ngoc Ha So cu 4
> Ba Dinh - Hanoi, Viet Nam
> [log in to unmask]
> ________________________
>
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