NGUYỄN MẠNH TƯỜNG * AN EXCOMMUNICATED I

 AN EXCOMMUNICATED

NGUYỄN MẠNH TƯỜNG 

A FEW NOTES FROM THE EDITORIAL BOARD

It is, indeed, a great privilege for us at BichHop Publishings to
have the opportunity of making available this English version of
Professor Nguyen Manh Tuong’s book An Excommunicated,
written and published in French more than fifteen years ago under
the title Un Excommunié. The foremost reason for this challenging
task is our wish to promote a greater knowledge and
understanding of Professor Nguyen Manh Tuong, not only among
his fellow countrymen but also to other literary circles outside Viet
Nam. The English language is now an international vehicle of
communication, and it is our hope that this effort of providing an
English version of Professor Nguyen Manh Tuong’s book will
surely help people throughout the world know and appreciate the
kind of life and ideas he lived through.
Nguyen Manh Tuong is an outstanding witness of his time with
an exceptional intellect which goes well beyond the borders of his
native land. With two doctorate degrees in Law and Letters from
the Université de Montpellier at the age of 22, his case is quite
unique for a Vietnamese and even rare for French nationals!
Nguyen Manh Tuong’s fight for what he believed to be his
country’s independence and sovereignty against foreign presence
is an interesting lesson for explaining the fratricidal conflict
between Vietnamese from the 1950s to the 1970s, then followed
by his intellectually unyielding struggle in the 1980s and 1990s for
human rights, dignity, freedom and democracy against political
oppression and social discrimination, together with extreme
physical hardship, is an extraordinary, tragic but enlightening
experience which is worth sharing with others. To read the book
“An Excommunicated” is quite an exciting adventure of the mind
when one tries to understand Nguyen Manh Tuong’s thoughts and
feelings but it is equally an enriching, beneficial and most
entertaining journey.
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* 4 *
To translate is always to betray a little and we do not have the
ambition of escaping from this inherent difficulty when dealing with
languages, especially with Professor Nguyen Manh Tuong’s
tremendously emphatic manner of expression, almost a kind of
speaking language to a friend but with its touch of elegance from
La Belle Epoque and its fashionable style of writing so rich in
reminiscence of words and terms from the French literature of the
“entre les deux guerres,” the between-war years of the 1920s and
1930s, a remarkable period with highly distinguished French
writers and thinkers, with Nguyen Manh Tuong among them. The
only way to do justice to the numerous writings of Professor
Nguyen Manh Tuong is for us to encourage and welcome
comments from his former colleagues, students, friends,
acquaintances and readers who might have known him well, are
more familiar with his works, and possess a deeper
comprehension and surely a better knowledge of his inner
thoughts and sentiments.
There is always an endless quest for improvement and,
therefore, we wish to express hereby our profound appreciation for
any assistance, suggestion and advice which may help make this
first English version of Professor Nguyen Manh Tuong’s book “An
Excommunicated” more meaningful and useful to the public at
large.
BichHop Publishings is totally free of any affiliation to any
trends of thinking, whether political, social or literary. Its sole
purpose is to create opportunities for ideas and thoughts to flow
and interact freely among all the people of goodwill in the world.
BICHHOP PUBLISHINGS
June, 2008
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* 5 *
An
Excommunicated
by
NGUYEN MANH TUONG
Author’s opening remarks:
“The conditions for the drafting and typing of this manuscript
took place clandestinely and in isolation. Consequently, with
regard to the mistakes and errors therein, I humbly present
my apologies to all those who are interested in my thoughts
and writings, and wish to undertake their publications in
France.”
N. M. T.
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* 6 *
PHOTO OF LATE PROFESSOR
NGUYEN MANH TUONG
(Circa 1995)
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* 7 *
FIRST PART
THE RISE