Area: SOUTHEAST ASIAN LANGUAGES AND LITERATURE

Module Title: Vietnamese Short Stories from the Đổi Mới Era: A Rainy Night in the City

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Instructor Name : Thaveeporn Vasavakul

Contact Hours : 12.5 hours

Language of Instruction : English and Languages of Southeast Asia

Schedule : 11 Feb 2027 - 31 Mar 2027

Details :

Vietnamese Short Stories from the Đổi Mới Era: A Rainy Night in the City is part of ilearnforum’s Southeast Asian Languages and Literature Series. This six-week online module explores Vietnamese literature from the post-war, post-central-planning period—commonly known as the đổi mới era—between 1986 and 2025. It centers on the bilingual collection A Rainy Night in the City, translated from Một đêm mưa trong thành phố and edited by Hồ Anh Thái and Paul Christiansen. The anthology features writers across generations, from pre-1945 authors such as Tô Hoài to Đổi Mới-era voices such as Nguyễn Huy Thiệp and Bảo Ninh, as well as early twenty-first-century writers such as Nguyễn Ngọc Thuần. The đổi mới era reshaped Vietnamese society, culture, and everyday life. It prompted new reflection on wartime experience and the challenges of reunification and transition, while also bringing the rise of a new wealthy class, a widening urban-rural divide, renewed cultural and spiritual practices, and the coming of age of a generation raised in peacetime. The opening of intellectual and literary space allowed Vietnamese thinkers to reconsider the nation’s wartime and socialist past. As the ideological rigidity of the immediate post-war years eased, new forms of intellectual and literary expression emerged. The đổi mới era also saw the rise of a first generation of Vietnamese writers and readers raised in peace and independence, whose interests reflect the shift from post-war austerity to today’s dynamic, consumer-driven society. This module introduces contemporary Vietnamese literature to readers beyond Vietnam and situates it within the đổi mới context. It explores literary style and shows how short stories reflect the country’s political, social, cultural, and economic transformations. The module is especially well suited to readers interested in contemporary Vietnamese writing and to those seeking to understand Vietnam’s broader changes through literature. Although it is not a language course, it will also benefit advanced learners of Vietnamese.

PDF File
Module Description- Doi Moi Short Stories.pdf

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