Printemps inachevé

by LY-THU-HÔ

Les romans de Ly-Thu-Hô présentent les effets de plus de trois décennies de guerre sur la famille vietnamienne. Dans un monde où la société était basée sur le principe confucéen de la piété filiale et où la structure hiérarchique familiale se répétait à tous les niveaux sociaux, la famille, telle que Ly Thu Hô la peint, symbolise toute la société vietnamienne déchirée par les forces extérieures et vouée à son autodestruction dans une guerre « fratricide ». En incorporant des références historiques, Ly Thu Hô ancre ses narrations dans un contexte spécifique bien connu en Occident. Printemps inachevé (1962) est centré sur la deuxième guerre mondiale et la guerre contre les Français jusqu’aux accords de Genève.Dans ses personnages, Ly-Thu-Hô humanise un destin qui semble écrasant et incompréhensible pour ces mêmes individus et a fortiori lointain et étranger pour les lecteurs. Elle crée en particulier des personnages féminins courageux et indépendants, en l’absence d’hommes morts ou partis à la guerre. Ces femmes seules assureront la survie de la culture vietnamienne face à l’incertitude de l’avenir. D'un souffle quasi épique, Ly-Thu-Hô conte la tragédie et le courage de son peuple.

163 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 23, 2016

Reviews

[Helynne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first in a trilogy of novels by Vietnamese woman Ly Thu Ho, who died in 1989. All three novels Printemps inachevé (1962), Au milieu du carrefour (1969), and Le mirage de la paix, (1986)— are astutely ethnic and a politically expedient contribution to the increasing realm of literature from non-Caucasian francophone women. They also include a valuable focus on Vietnamese women that is lacking in most other literature and media productions from the era. Ly's novels focus on female characters and in the language that influenced this country for nearly a century. The French language stems from the author's (and heroines') education in French-run schools in Vietnam in the 1930s and 1940s, but the backdrop and mind-set of the three stories are delicately, poignantly Vietnamese. Early in the pages of Printemps inachevé, in addition to the description of the Têt (Buddhist new year observance), Ly provides details of a Buddhist funeral, and numerous other references to local folklore and superstitions. References to the French colonial rule are vague, but the general feeling is one of subdued resentment toward government run by outsiders with a vastly different cultural imperative. The novel follows a family lead by the father M. Thai, who expects total obedience. His wife never complains of this attitude, walks behind him in the streets and does not sit at the same table as he when company comes “. . . sa mère ne se plaignait jamais de ce pouvoir absolu.” Such customs bother the young daughters, however, and it becomes evident that the aging values of old-world Vietnam are changing as Tuoi, her mother, and her grandmother express differing opinions on a woman's role. The grandmother despairs of the practice of sending Vietnamese children to French schools. ("La grand-mère de Tuoi disait souvent que les Blancs faisaient peur.” Furthermore, the older people believed that young women belonged in the home rather than classes—"Les jeunes filles sont faites pour garder la maison, cuire le riz, raccommoder les vieux vêtements, et, plus tard, pour servir leur mari et lui donner de nombreux enfants qui perpétueront la race" (35)—an attitude ignored by the bright Tuoi, who loves history and literature. The story follows Tuoi to Saigon, where she studies in a French-run school, becomes a secretary, eventually marries a man who is part-Vietnamese, part-French, and has two children. The Japanese occupation during World War II comes and goes with less effect on the Vietnamese society than the events soon to come. By the end of the first part of the book, the reader learns that the violent and chaotic events that occurred in the country's civil war in the latter half of the 1940s have taken a serious toll on the family: Tuoi has been widowed, her husband the victim of a random shooting by the Vietminh. Tran, who was engaged to be married, has become a Catholic nun. Their brother Ba, a truck driver, is suffering from tuberculosis, a complication from weeks of torture by the Vietminh and a stay in their "centre de rééducation politique" (P.I. 155). The second section of the book is told uniquely through the journal of and letters to the younger sister Tran, who emerges as a tragic figure during the turnabout years when the spirit of Vietnamese nationalism cannot seem to follow any path but that of sorrow, death and destruction. Tran falls in love and becomes engaged to Châu, the dashing nephew of one of her customers, against the backdrop of seething revolution in 1945 Saigon. Châu's letters to Tran tell of the turbulent, bloody path that the revolution has taken. He describes how dangerous the situation has become for anyone who is French. "On pouvait rencontrer des fanatiques qui, à la moindre lettre ou objet rappelant, si peu que ce fût, les Français, au moindre mouchoir ou foulard composant les couleurs tricolores, n'hésitaient pas à déclencher un massacre" (119). As the novel concludes, Vietnam has been divided into the French-controlled South and the Vietminh-controlled North. American dollars are aiding an influx of northerners to the South. The trajectory of the characters has been sad and some are lost, but others will carry on through the next two novels.

[kat]

j'ai lu ça pour ma classe

[nhi · Rating 4 out of 5]

lwk 3.7 just because timelines be goofy (they really don’t correspond) and the vietnamese has no diacritics… my brain hurt trying to understand the words because vietnamese without the right diacritics have a completely different meaning…

my brain hurts from reading so much french ngl (for class) but i really enjoyed the diff familial elements (reminds me a lot of my own big family back in vietnam) and discussions/perspectives about the war, as well as the focus on the women in the novel!! one day i will be able to reread this with ease i hope!! also the ending is just so so sad and too real

[Sarena · Rating 2 out of 5]

While Printemps inachevé offers important insight into French colonization as well as the Vietnam War, the book is all telling and no showing. Frankly, I just ended up skimming it to be done as quickly as possible. There are, however, some good quotes that address the condition/status of women in Vietnam during the 40s and how the West is romanticized by the East.