Phạm Xuân Nguyên (born 15 May 1958), better known by his

pen name A pen name, also called a ''nom de plume'' or a literary double, is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen na ...

Ngân Xuyên, is a Vietnamese writer and

literary translator Translation is the communication of the Meaning (linguistic), meaning of a #Source and target languages, source-language text by means of an Dynamic and formal equivalence, equivalent #Source and target languages, target-language text. The ...

Personal life and career

Phạm Xuân Nguyên was born in Nghệ An Province. He did his early education in neighbouring

Hà Tĩnh Province Hà is a Vietnamese surname. The name is transliterated as He in Chinese and Ha in Korean. Ha is the anglicized variation of the surname Hà. It is also the anglicized variation of Hạ. Notable people with the surname Hà * Hà Kiều Anh, ...

, where in grade 6 and again in grade 10 he won district and provincial awards for writing. He studied

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

as his foreign language in high school, and continued learning it as a student in the literature department of the

University of Hanoi Vietnam National University, Hanoi (VNU; vi, Đại học Quốc gia Hà Nội, ĐHQGHN) is a public research university in Vietnam. The university has 10 member colleges (called "universities") and faculties. VNU is one of two Vietnam's nationa ...

('' Trường Đại học Tổng hợp Hà Nội'', now part of the

Vietnam National University, Hanoi Vietnam National University, Hanoi (VNU; vi, Đại học Quốc gia Hà Nội, ĐHQGHN) is a public research university in Vietnam. The university has 10 member colleges (called "universities") and faculties. VNU is one of two Vietnam's nationa ...

). He interrupted his university studies to serve in the

People's Army of Vietnam The People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN; vi, Quân đội nhân dân Việt Nam, QĐNDVN), also recognized as the Vietnam People's Army (VPA) or the Vietnamese Army (), is the military force of the Vietnam, Socialist Republic of Vietnam and the ...

from 1978 to 1982, and was stationed in

Ho Chi Minh City , population_density_km2 = 4,292 , population_density_metro_km2 = 697.2 , population_demonym = Saigonese , blank_name = GRP (Nominal) , blank_info = 2019 , blank1_name = – Total , blank1_ ...

. During that period, he began teaching himself French, and had his first translations of

French poetry French poetry () is a category of French literature. It may include Francophone poetry composed outside France and poetry written in other languages of France. French prosody and poetics The modern French language does not have a significant st ...

published in the newspaper '' Tiền Phong''. He went on to become chairman of the Hanoi Writers' Association ''(Hội Nhà văn Hà Nội)''.

Works

Phạm Xuân Nguyên speaks Russian, French, and English, and has translated works from all of those languages into Vietnamese. He was first exposed to the works of

Milan Kundera Milan Kundera (, ; born 1 April 1929) is a Czech writer who went into exile in France in 1975, becoming a naturalised French citizen in 1981. Kundera's Czechoslovak citizenship was revoked in 1979, then conferred again in 2019. He "sees himself ...

in their Russian translations in the

Union of Russian Writers The Union of Russian Writers (russian: Союз российских писателей, translit=Soyuz rossiyskikh pisateley) is a non-governmental organization uniting Russian and writers (novelists, poets, essayists, etc.). It was established i ...

journal ''Foreign Literature'' (« Иностранная литература»), and himself translated ''

Immortality Immortality is the concept of eternal life. Some modern species may possess biological immortality. Some scientists, futurists, and philosophers have theorized about the immortality of the human body, with some suggesting that human immorta ...

'' (which was originally in

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places * Czech, ...

) into Vietnamese from the Russian version. After he spent more than thirty years translating the works of others under his pen name, his first book of his own under his real name, ''Nhà văn như Thị Nở'' (meaning "A Writer like Thị Nở"), was published in 2014. The title is a reference to the character Thị Nở in Nam Cao's 1941 short story '' Chí Phèo'', a woman who is well known for her unattractive appearance. ''Nhà văn như Thị Nở'' is a collection of essays of

literary criticism Literary criticism (or literary studies) is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often influenced by literary theory, which is the philosophical discussion of literature's goals and methods. Th ...

, discussing fifty-one Vietnamese writers including Nam Trân, Thế Lữ, Hải Triều, Hoài Thanh, Nguyễn Tuân, Trương Tửu, Bích Khê, Xuân Diệu,

Tố Hữu Tố Hữu (4 October 1920 – 9 December 2002) was a Vietnamese revolutionary poet and politician. He published seven collections of poems, the first of which was the 1946 collection entitled ''Từ ấy'' (Thenceforth), which included many of his ...

Nguyễn Huy Tưởng Nguyễn Huy Tưởng (làng Dục Tú, Từ Sơn, Bắc Ninh, 6 May 1912 – 25 July 1960) was a Vietnamese revolutionary, writer and playwright. He joined the independence movement at a young age and held positions in the cultural apparatus of t ...

, Nguyễn Hữu Đang, Hoàng Cầm,

Trần Dần Trần Dần (1926–1997) was a Vietnamese poet and novelist noted for his radical works. He is the father of the painter Trần Trọng Vũ. Life Dần was best known to be one of the active participators in the Nhân Văn–Giai Phẩm ...

, Lê Đạt, Phùng Quán, Bùi Ngọc Tấn, Nguyễn Xuân Khánh, Dương Tường,

Bảo Ninh Hoàng Ấu Phương, also known by the pen name Bảo Ninh (born 18 October 1952), is a Vietnamese novelist, essayist and writer of short stories, best known for his first novel, published in English as ''The Sorrow of War''. Vietnam war Ninh r ...

, Nguyễn Quang Lập, and Vi Thùy Linh. Nguyên stated that it took him so long to come out with the book because he was too lazy to collect his previous essays and edit them into a coherent whole; in particular, he mentioned the World Cup season as one of the various reasons for his delays in submitting the final version to the publisher Nhã Nam for printing. Editor Diệu Thủy stated that the whole process took more than four years, and that at one time she even jokingly threatened to burn down Nguyên's house in an effort to get him to submit a draft.

List of translations

*1999: ''

'', '' Slowness'', and ''

Identity Identity may refer to: * Identity document * Identity (philosophy) * Identity (social science) * Identity (mathematics) Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Identity'' (1987 film), an Iranian film * ''Identity'' (2003 film), ...

'' (

) *2000: ''Nerves and Senses'' ( Steve Parker) *2001: ''Testaments Betrayed'' (, Milan Kundera) *2001: ''An Idea for Seven Million'' (, ) *2002: ''Dinosaur'' ( David B. Norman and Angela Milner) *2004: ''

The Fifth Mountain ''The Fifth Mountain'' ( pt, O Monte Cinco) is the work of Brazilian author Paulo Coelho published in Brazil in 1996. The book is author's interpretation of the story of Elijah, the old testament prophet and the tale of his trials, tribulations, ...

'' (

Paulo Coelho Paulo Coelho de Souza (, ; born 24 August 1947) is a Brazilian lyricist and novelist and a member of the Brazilian Academy of Letters since 2002. His novel ''The Alchemist'' became an international best-seller and he has published 28 more books ...

) *2004: ''

Interpreter of Maladies ''Interpreter of Maladies'' is a book collection of nine short stories by American author of Indian origin Jhumpa Lahiri published in 1999. It won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the Hemingway Foundation/PEN Award in the year 2000 and has sold ...

'' (

Jhumpa Lahiri Nilanjana Sudeshna "Jhumpa" LahiriMinzesheimer, Bob ''USA Today'', August 19, 2003. Retrieved on 2008-04-13. (born July 11, 1967) is an American author known for her short stories, novels and essays in English, and, more recently, in Italia ...

) *2006: ''Introducing Kierkegaard'' ( Oscar Zárate and Dave Robinson) *2008: ''

Sputnik Sweetheart is a novel by Haruki Murakami, published in Japan, by Kodansha, in 1999. An English translation by Philip Gabriel was then published in 2001. Plot summary Sumire is an aspiring writer who survives on a family stipend and the creative input of ...

'' (

Haruki Murakami is a Japanese writer. His novels, essays, and short stories have been bestsellers in Japan and internationally, with his work translated into 50 languages and having sold millions of copies outside Japan. He has received numerous awards for his ...

) *2008: ''

The Postmodern Condition ''The Postmodern Condition: A Report on Knowledge'' (french: La condition postmoderne: rapport sur le savoir) is a 1979 book by the philosopher Jean-François Lyotard, in which the author analyzes the notion of knowledge in postmodern society as ...

'' (

Jean-François Lyotard Jean-François Lyotard (; ; ; 10 August 1924 – 21 April 1998) was a French philosopher, sociologist, and literary theorist. His interdisciplinary discourse spans such topics as epistemology and communication, the human body, modern art and ...

) *2012: '' The Lady, or the Tiger?'' (

Frank Stockton Frank Richard Stockton (April 5, 1834 – April 20, 1902) was an American writer and humorist, best known today for a series of innovative children's fairy tales that were widely popular during the last decades of the 19th century. Life Born i ...

) *2013: ''Literature and Evil'' ('' La Littérature et le Mal'',

Georges Bataille Georges Albert Maurice Victor Bataille (; ; 10 September 1897 – 9 July 1962) was a French philosopher and intellectual working in philosophy, literature, sociology, anthropology, and history of art. His writing, which included essays, novels, ...

)

References

Full citations of translated works:

External links

Personal blog
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pham, Xuan Nguyen Vietnamese essayists Vietnamese translators Vietnamese non-fiction writers 1956 births Living people Literary translators Translators of philosophy French–Vietnamese translators Russian–Vietnamese translators Translators from English People from Nghệ An province Vietnamese male writers 20th-century male writers 21st-century male writers 20th-century essayists 21st-century essayists 20th-century translators 21st-century translators 20th-century Vietnamese writers 21st-century Vietnamese writers Male non-fiction writers