Motherhood/Children
From cfirpo@msn.com Fri Jun 18 17:31:50 2004
Date: Fri, 11 Jun 2004 00:33:20 -0700
From: Christina Firpo <cfirpo@msn.com>
Reply-To: vsg@u.washington.edu
To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
Subject: motherhood/children
Dear list,
Can anyone recommend any colonial era fiction or non fiction work on motherhood and adoption (both putting the child for adoption and adopting a child) by either male or female authors please?
Thanks!
Christina Firpo
Christina Firpo
Doctoral Candidate
Southeast Asian History
University of California-- Los Angeles
From mchale@gwu.edu Fri Jun 18 17:32:40 2004
Date: Fri, 11 Jun 2004 13:47:59 -0100
From: Shawn McHale <mchale@gwu.edu>
Reply-To: vsg@u.washington.edu
To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
Subject: Re: motherhood/children
Christina,
In reference to your query about fiction with orphans and adoptees in it:
In French, Marguerite, L'amant de la Chine du nord ( North China lover) is populated with a variety of adoptees. It's an enticing work -- about poor whites on the margins of French colonial society. Today, we'd call Duras's family "dysfunctional"; let's just say that the picture she paints of Saigon and the delta is filled with nostalgia, some hope, but an undercurrent of despair.
I might also mention, as a film, "Indochine," in which the impossibly beautiful Catherine Deneuve ends up as a plantation owner (!!!!) and adopts, if I remember right, a Vietnamese princess. The symbolism in this film runs amok but as Pierre Brocheux once pointed out to me, the historical details are usually accurate.
What about Vu Trong Phung's So do/ Dumb luck -- is the main protagonist an orphan? I think so, but I forget. He's a great operator and the book is worth reading anyhow as it is filled with deliciously funny scenes.
Shawn McHale