IR - One definition a day: Alliance

IR - One definition a day: Alliance

A formal agreement between two or more actors - usually states - to collaborate together on perceived mutual security issues. By allying themselves together it is anticipated that security will be increased in one, some or all of the following dimensions: by joining an alliance a system of deterrence will be established or strengthened, by joining an alliance a defence pact will operate in the event of a war, by joining an alliance some or all of the actors will be precluded from joining other alliances. 

Allies will stipulate in treaty form the conditions under which a military response will be required. At a minimum this collaboration will cover mutual obligations upon the outbreak of hostilities, but collaboration often extends beyond this. Joint military exercises, staff training and weapons procurement may all be regarded as proper activities under the rubric of 'being allies'. Allies may feel the need to support each other diplomatically in the conduct of their foreign policies. As with any diplomacy, alliances may be secret or open, bilateral or multilateral. It is not difficult to see why, under traditional concepts of state-centrism, alliance diplomacy was regarded as paradigm high politics.

The alliance was a key variable in the balance of power system. States were assumed to blance against a revisionist state or coalition to maintain stability. In this context alliances were contingent, issue-orientated. Waltz (1979) has suggested that an equally plausible dynamic in the balance of power would be for states to 'bandwagon' behind a putative victor rather than balance against it. In a bipolar system, bloc leaders and superpowers will engage in ally-seeking in order to counter perceived threats at the margin or periphery. Since military capabilities are unevenly distributed in bipolar alliances, serious conflicts can occur within the blocs over the scope and domain of bloc leadership and followership. This tendency is often referred to as polycentrism.

In a multipolar system, alliance dynamics are intrinsically more fluid and there may be greater uncertainty and less predictability about foreign policies and alliance dynamics.As Christensen and Snyder (1990) have suggested, under conditions of multipolarity states may either 'chain gang' (rush headlong into hostilities in support of their allies) of 'buck pass' (stand off from hostilities in the expectation or hope that others will not do so). This dilemna is built into multipolarity and - as the authors suggest - non-systemic, perceptual agent-centered considerations may ultimately decide the dilemna.

The twentieth century has seen ally-seeking and alliance construction as typical repertories of state behaviour. The examplaes of 1914 and 1939 have been widerly studies to extrapolate and validate theories about alliances and occurrence of war. The findings seem to be ambivalent as to whether alliances inhibit or encourage states to go to war. The outbreak of the Cold War confirmed many of the bipolar dynamics already referred to. Both the United States and the former Soviet Union found that bloc leadership could not presume bloc followership. 

Many saw nuclear weapons as exacerbating these tendencies to centrifugalism. Gaulism was perhaps the most explicit statement of these views. The end of the Cold War and the demise of the Soviet Union has left the system with 'morning after the night before' remnants of the old bipolar structure. Whilst the Warsaw Pact has now gone, NATO continues to re-invent itself although whether it is still an 'alliance' remains a moot point.

(Source: wikipedia)

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IR - One Definition A Day: NIC (Newly Industrialized/Industrializing Country)

 IR - One Definition A Day: NIC - Newly Industrialized/Industrializing Country (p. 372, réf 1)

NIC is an acronym for Newly Industrialized / Industrializing Country (both terms are found in the literature). 

There is some debate and discrepancy about the membership of this grouping but four unequivocal NICs can be identified in the region of East Asia: South Korea, Taiwan, Hongkong and Singapore. Other putative NICs in other regions of the system are referred to below. In passing it should also be noted that of the above four, Hongkong is sui generis. Its status was that of a dependent territory, not a state: it has now been repatriated to China. Nor does its undoubted economic prosperity make it typical of the NICs. Unlike the other three, Hongkong has developed as a key financial and business centre, playing an entrepôt role vis-à-vis China and East Asia in general.

Notwithstanding the Hongkong case, the NICs have been able to expand their manufacturing sectors because they have enjoyed advantegeous comparative costs vis-à-vis the market leaders, the advanced industrial countries (AICs). They have a high level of entrepreneurial skill amonst their populations, an open economy regarding foreign invesetment and stable, if undemocratic, potlitical regimes. 

The emergence of the NICs exemplifies a real shift in productive resources from the North to selected sites in the South. Typical examples of manufacturing growth can be cited in such fields as: cars and trucks, consumer electrical goods, shipbuilding, steels and textiles. Among Third World states the NICs stand out for their achievement of self-sustained, export-led economic growth. They have, moreover, avoided the kinds of debt problems associated with the recent economic performance of the putative NICs of Latin America. 

The evident success of these NICs has had two effects upon the relations in the field of political economy. First, their success has weakened the concept of Third World solidarity. Ideologically the NICs have achieved their impressive economic performance by applying the principles of economic liberalism and by following the example of Japan. They have been willing to see multinational companies (MNCs) investment in their economies and have often facilitated such capital flows by offering a permissive taxation regime to corporations. Their political systems, if stable, have poor human rights records and limited and restricted opportunities for participation. 

The second consequence of NIC success has been that it has provoked a backlash amongst the AICs. One form this has taken has been for increases in protectionism on the grounds that 'cheap' imports are flooding into home markets from these areas. A second response, particularly favoured in the United States, is to argue that the NICs have 'graduated' into the first division and that henceforth they should cease to regard themselves, or be regarded by others as Third World states requireing special consideration. Institutionally their appropirate destination would seem to be the Organisation for Econocomic Cooperation and Development (OECD) according to this perception.

Four unequivocal NICs were identifed earlier. Overlapping membership with the colloquial Asian Tigers is evident. 

Putative membership for the next decade and the new century must include many - if not all- of the recently identified big emerging markets (BEMs).

(Source: Dict Penguin IR)

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Krishnamurti - One Definition A Day: On HAPPINESS

Krishnamurti - One Definition A Day
WHAT ARE WE SEEKING?   
Original Title in English
By Author: J. Krishnamurti


Abstract from 'The First and Last Freedom'

WHAT IS IT THAT most of us are seeking? What is it that each one of us wants? Especially in this restless world, where everybody is trying to find some kind of peace, some kind of happiness, a refuge, surely it is important to find out, isn’t it?, what is it that we are trying to seek, what is it that we are trying to discover. Probably most of us are seeking some kind of happiness, some kind of peace; in a world that is ridden with turmoil, wars, contention, strife, we want a refuge where there can be some peace. I think that is what most of us want. So we pursue, go from one leader to another, from one religious organization to another, from one teacher to another.
Now, is it that we are seeking happiness or is it that we are seeking gratification of some kind from which we hope to derive happiness? There is a difference between happiness and gratification.
Can you seek happiness? Perhaps you can find gratification but surely you cannot find happiness.

Happiness is derivative; it is a by-product of something else. So, before we give our minds and hearts to something which demands a great deal of earnestness, attention, thought, care, we must find out, must we not?, what it is that we are seeking; whether it is happiness, or gratification. I am afraid most of us are seeking gratification. We want to be gratified, we want to find a sense of fullness at the end of our search.
After all, if one is seeking peace one can find it very easily. One can devote oneself blindly to some kind of cause, to an idea, and take shelter there. Surely that does not solve the problem. Mere isolation in an enclosing idea is not a release from conflict. So we must find, must we not?, what it is, inwardly, as well as outwardly, that each one of us wants.
If we are clear on that matter, then we don’t have to go anywhere, to any teacher, to any church, to any organization. Therefore our difficulty is, to be clear in ourselves regarding our intention, is it not? Can we be clear? And does that clarity come through searching, through trying to find out what others say, from the highest teacher to the ordinary preacher in a church round the corner? Have you got to go to somebody to find out? Yet that is what we are doing, is it not? We read innumerable books, we attend many meetings and discuss, we join various organizations - trying thereby to find a remedy to the conflict, to the miseries in our lives. Or, if we don’t do all that, we think we have found; that is we say that a particular organization, a particular teacher, a particular book satisfies us; we have found everything we want in that; and we remain in that, crystallized and enclosed.
Do we not seek, through all this confusion, something permanent, something lasting, something which we call real, God, truth, what you like - the name doesn’t matter, the word is not the thing, surely. So don’t let us be caught in words. Leave that to the professional lecturers. There is a search for something permanent, is there not?, in most of us - something we can cling to, something which will give us assurance, a hope, a lasting enthusiasm, a lasting certainty, because in ourselves we are so uncertain. We do not know ourselves. We know a lot about facts, what the books have said; but we do not know for ourselves, we do not have a direct experience.
And what is it that we call permanent? What is it that we are seeking, which will, or which we hope will give us permanency? Are we not seeking lasting happiness, lasting gratification, lasting certainty?
We want something that will endure everlastingly, which will gratify us. If we strip ourselves of all the words and phrases, and actually look at it, this is what we want. We want permanent pleasure, permanent gratification - which we call truth, God or what you will.
Very well, we want pleasure. Perhaps that may be putting it very crudely, but that is actually what we want - knowledge that will give us pleasure, experience that will give us pleasure, a gratification that will not wither away by tomorrow. And we have experimented with various gratifications, and they have all faded away; and we hope now to find permanent gratification in reality, in God.
Surely, that is what we are all seeking - the clever ones and the stupid ones, the theorist and the factual person who is striving after something. And is there permanent gratification? Is there something which will endure?
Now, if you seek permanent gratification, calling it God, or truth, or what you will - the name does not matter - surely you must understand, must you not?, the thing you are seeking. When you say, ”I am seeking permanent happiness” - God, or truth, or what you like - must you not also understand the thing that is searching, the searcher, the seeker? Because there may be no such thing as permanent security, permanent happiness.
Truth may be something entirely different; and I think it is utterly different from what you can see, conceive, formulate. Therefore, before we seek something permanent, is it not obviously necessary to understand the seeker? Is the seeker different from the thing he seeks? When you say, ‘’I am seeking happiness”, is the seeker different from the object of his search? Is the thinker different from the thought? Are they not a joint phenomenon, rather than separate processes? Therefore it is essential, is it not?, to understand the seeker, before you try to find out what it is he is seeking.
So we have to come to the point when we ask ourselves, really earnestly and profoundly, if peace, happiness, reality, God, or what you will, can be given to us by someone else. Can this incessant search, this longing, give us that extraordinary sense of reality, that creative being, which comes when we really understand ourselves? Does self-knowledge come through search, through following someone else, through belonging to any particular organization, through reading books, and so on?
After all, that is the main issue, is it not?, that so long as I do not understand myself, I have no basis for thought, and all my search will be in vain. I can escape into illusions, I can run away from contention, strife, struggle; I can worship another; I can look for my salvation through somebody else. But so long as I am ignorant of myself, so long as I am unaware of the total process of myself I have no basis for thought, for affection, for action.
But that is the last thing we want: to know ourselves. Surely that is the only foundation on which we can build. But, before we can build, before we can transform, before we can condemn or destroy, we must know that which we are. To go out seeking, changing teachers, gurus, practicing yoga, breathing, performing rituals, following Masters and all the rest of it, is utterly useless, is it not? It has no meaning, even though the very people whom we follow may say: ”Study yourself”, because what we are, the world is. If we are petty, jealous, vain, greedy - that is what we create about us, that is the society in which we live.
It seems to me that before we set out on a journey to find reality, to find God, before we can act, before we can have any relationship with another, which is society, it is essential that we begin to understand ourselves first. I consider the earnest person to be one who is completely concerned with this, first, and not with how to arrive at a particular goal, because, if you and I do not understand ourselves, how can we, in action, bring about a transformation in society, in relationship, in anything that we do? And it does not mean, obviously, that self-knowledge is opposed to, or isolated from, relationship. It does not mean, obviously, emphasis on the individual, the me, as opposed to the mass, as opposed to another.
Now without knowing yourself, without knowing your own way of thinking and why you think certain things, without knowing the background of your conditioning and why you have certain beliefs about art and religion, about your country and your neighbour and about yourself how can you think truly about anything? Without knowing your background, without knowing the substance of your thought and whence it comes - surely your search is utterly futile, your action has no meaning, has it?
Whether you are an American or a Hindu or whatever your religion is has no meaning either.
Before we can find out what the end purpose of life is, what it all means - wars, national antagonisms, conflicts, the whole mess - we must begin with ourselves, must we not? It sounds so simple, but it is extremely difficult. To follow oneself to see how one’s thought operates, one has to be extraordinarily alert, so that as one begins to be more and more alert to the intricacies of one’s own thinking and responses and feelings, one begins to have a greater awareness, not only of oneself but of another with whom one is in relationship. To know oneself is to study oneself in action, which is relationship.
The difficulty is that we are so impatient; we want to get on, we want to reach an end, and so we have neither the time nor the occasion to give ourselves the opportunity to study, to observe. Alternatively we have committed ourselves to various activities - to earning a livelihood, to rearing children - or have taken on certain responsibilities of various organizations; we have so committed ourselves in different ways that we have hardly any time for self-reflection, to observe, to study. So really the responsibility of the reaction depends on oneself not on another. The pursuit, all the world over, of gurus and their systems, reading the latest book on this and that, and so on, seems to me so utterly empty, so utterly futile, for you may wander all over the earth but you have to come back to yourself.
And, as most of us are totally unaware of ourselves, it is extremely difficult to begin to see clearly the process of our thinking and feeling and acting. The more you know yourself the more clarity there is. Self-knowledge has no end - you don’t come to an achievement, you don’t come to a conclusion. It is an endless river. As one studies it, as one goes into it more and more, one finds peace. Only when the mind is tranquil - through selfknowledge and not through imposed self-discipline - only then, in that tranquillity, in that silence, can reality come into being. It is only then that there can be bliss, that there can be creative action.
And it seems to me that without this understanding, without this experience, merely to read books, to attend talks, to do propaganda, is so infantile - just an activity without much meaning; whereas if one is able to understand oneself, and thereby bring about that creative happiness, that experiencing of something that is not of the mind, then perhaps there can be a transformation in the immediate relationship about us and so in the world in which we live.


French translation by Anh Tho Andres @YourVietnamExpert.com
Vietnamese translation by Cuong Phan, Kim Hoang, Bich Hong, Bao Han
German translation by Han Dang-Klein
Italian translation by Phan Cong Danh
Japanese translation by Hong Anh



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YourVietBooks is a collection of books on Vietnam for Readers who are interested in Vietnam's History, Culture, Language, Economy, or Business. Most titles are in English, but some are only available in French or Vietnamese. We can provide interested parties an accurate translation of some parts of the books for your research purposes. Translations are done by YourVietnamExpert's qualified and experienced translators. contact@yourvietnamexpert.com

Auteurs Vietnamiens: TTH, Dons - Thiên Phu'

Title in Vietnamese Thiên Phú

By Author: tth, Couvent des Oiseaux, Dalat, Vietnam

Publisher - Self

Proposed French Title: Dons

About the Author lives in Paris, practises Dentistry

Recueil de Poèmes

Thiên Phú

Em có giọng ca ngân tuyệt vời,

Âm thanh tỏa men nồng ngây ngất,

Say hồn tôi chợt trầm, chợt bổn,

Nâng tôi vào khung trời cung điệu,

Bên trong lời người tựa tiếng chim.

Em có giọng ca trời cho em đó,

Em muốn hát lời cảm tạ ơn không?

Tu chantes divinement,

De ta gorge coule une liqueur

Qui m'envivre à toute heure

Et m'enferme dans une mélodie

Où ta voix devients magie.

Tu as reçu un don inné,

Veux-tu chanter ta gaieté?

 

Anh có nét tay vẽ tuyệt vời,

Pha sơn phấn, tô tranh phớt lụa,

Mở ngõ dẫn đường kiếm thiên thai,

Đưa tôi đạt đến vườn tao ngộ,

Gặp hoa, gặp bướm, gặp nắng vàng.

Anh có nét tay trời cho anh đó,

Anh muốn họa lời cảm tạ ơn không?

Tu peins merveilleusement,

Tes couleurs effacent le gris,

Et ouvrent la porte du Paradis,

M'emmenant au jardin des anges,

Pour voir des enchantements.

Tu as reçu un don inné,

Veux-tu dessiner ta beauté?

Chị có phong phú viết tuyệt vời,

Mực xóa hư không ghi ảo vọng,

In đời tôi xanh trang huyền thoại,

Rồi đêm về ru lòng an nghỉ,

Trong mơ tôi sống điều tôi ước.

Chị có phong phú trời cho chị đó,

Chị muốn gọt lời cảm tạ ơn không?

Tu écris magistralement,

Ton encre ensorcelle le sage,

Imprime ma vie en pages,

Et me berce la nuit venue,

Où je vis comme j'ai toujours voulu.

Tu as reçu un don inné,

Veux-tu écrire ta réalité?

Trời dành cho tôi trái tim bé nhỏ,

Không đủ để cất trọn cả kho tàng.

Kho tàng là gì tôi rung động, yêu thương, đắm đuối.

Nhưng đây vẫn xin dâng lời tạ,

Vì tôi tận hưởng

Những gì em, anh, chị, tặng riêng tôi.

Mon coeur n'a qu'une faille

Pour entasser mes trouvailles.

Emotions...

Passions...

Mais je dis merci,

Car ma vie est remplie

De vous...

Traduction vietnamienne par l'Auteur

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Auteurs Vietnamiens: Y Viet Hung, Mes Vers de Terre et de Nuit - Recueil de Poèmes Vietnamiens

Original Title in Vietnamese 'Những Vần Thơ Góp Nhặt'
By Author Y Việt Hưng
Publisher Editions du Collège La Croix, Suisse, 2001
Translation in French 'Mes Vers de Terre et de Nuit'
By Claude Martingay
About the Book
Un ami du Vietnam m'avait remis un jour un recueil de poèmes de Y Viet Hung, intitulé "Nhung van tho gop nhat" (traduction française par Claude Martingay, intitulée "Vers de Terre et de Nuit"). Voici l'histoire de ce poète meurtri par la guerre... 
About the Author :
Y Viet Hung est un poète Vietnamien qui vit encore à HCMC. Blessé par les éclats d'une explosion à Saigon en 1960, il est devenu aveugle. Y Viet Hung est arrivé en Suisse grâce à 'Terre des Hommes', une ONG humanitaire suisse. Accueilli par une famille suisse, 'le corps saisi par le froid de l'hiver, mais son petit coeur douloureux tout réchauffé par l'amour des Suisses'. C'est au milieu d'eux qu'il a passé tant de jours heureux de son enfance, dans l'humanité de l'humanité. Opéré à plusieurs reprises, en Allemagne et à Lausanne, HUNG retrouvera partiellement la vue, mais jamais que celle d'un oeil qui, aujourd'hui, ne voit plus qu'à 10%. Aujourd'hui, dans une pénible invalidité, il poursuit sa marche errante, isolée et triste... 
Notes de Anh Tho Andres @YourVietnamExpert.com
Merci pour tous ceux qui oeuvrent pour l'humanité et pour le bonheur des oubliés.


Titre du Poème

Mes Vers de Terre et de Nuit

Je les pose pour commencer sur les lèvres,
sans vous demander de m'aimer
ni de pleurer, ni de sourire, ni de vous fatiguer

A peine entré dans la vie, me voilà mort:
mon corps emporté jusqu'aux grèves de poésie
Pendant que mon âme errante
gémissant alors dans la brume glacée
reste attachée au ciel de rêverir.

Du jardin de cendres refroidies,
fanée est la rose que je vous offre

Accompagnez-moi jusqu'à la vaste mer des larmes
qui pleurent les oiseaux en cage
et les poissons derrière les parois de verre...

...Où l'oiseau chante encore joyeusement
où le poisson joliment remue sa queue multicolore
tandis que derrière les barreaux serrés de l'infirmité
je reste toujours à chanter la tristesse et les pleurs

Je ne suis plus que 'moi', le moi d'un arbre desséché
essouflé dans les vents qui brûlent les mots
Il nous reste la nuit pour marcher ensemble
pour retrouver les traces de la fée savante:
les cheveux du serment de *Kieu l'amoureuse, 
fidèle si belle infortunée.

C'est sur la guitare de *Kieu que je veux jouer
la plainte de l'amour inconsolable,
de l'amour inaccompli, de l'amour condamné.
Si vous avez l'amour, ne le lâchez pas,
enserrez-le de toutes parts.

Ouvrez avec moi tout grand le coeur douloureux
asséchez avec moi la mer de tristesse
Joignez-vous à moi, mes amis, pour énoncer à voix basse:

'Voici les vers de l'âme écartée'

Lisez-les, après quoi ne vous désolez pas
ne cherchez pas à retenir ce qui déjà n'est plus...

Y Viet Hung, Vers de Terre et de Nuit, (Nhung van tho gop nhat), Editions du Collège La Croix-sur-Lutry, Suisse, 2001. 

Original Vietnamese version availabe for sale.


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YourVietBooks is a collection of books on Vietnam for Readers who are interested in Vietnam's History, Culture, Language, Economy, or Business. Most titles are in English, but some are only available in French or Vietnamese. We can provide interested parties an accurate translation of some parts of the books for your research purposes. Translations are done by YourVietnamExpert's qualified and experienced translators. contact@yourvietnamexpert.com

Auteurs Vietnamiens: TTH - Illusions - Poème Vietnamien

Original Title in Vietnamese
By Author : tth, Couvent des Oiseaux Dalat, Vietnam
Publisher - Self
Translation in French by Author
About the Author: Née à Dalat,TTH a bénéficié d'une éducation bilingue. Passe son bac français en 1975 et quitte le Vietnam quelques années après. Elle est médecin-dentiste et vit à Paris depuis 1980. Son recueil, Tho' và Sô' m'est offert lors de mon voyage à Paris, après une séparation de 30 ans. Merci TTH, de m'avoir rappelé à la Vie et à l'Amour. Anh Tho.

Titre du poème:

Illusions
Je traverse la vie
Les yeux mi-clos.
Je confonds
Le soleil à l'orage,
Le château à la cabane,
Le nénuphar à l'araignée,
L'or à la poussière.

Je traverse la vie
Les yeux mi-clos.
Je confonds
La tendresse à la froideur,
Le toujours à l'adieu,
Le nectar à l'arsenic,
L'ange à l'humain.

Je traverse la vie
Les yeux mi-clos.
Mais que la vie
Me laisse ainsi... 


TTH, Recueil de poèmes ("Tho' và Sô'), Paris 2009. 


About YourVietbooks.com 
YourVietBooks is a collection of books on Vietnam for Readers who are interested in Vietnam's History, Culture, Language, Economy, or Business. Most titles are in English, but some are only available in French or Vietnamese. We can provide interested parties an accurate translation of some parts of the books for your research purposes. Translations are done by YourVietnamExpert's qualified and experienced translators. Contact us at yourvietnamexpert.com/quotes.htm.

Auteurs Vietnamiens: Les Vietnamiens en France - Vietnamese-born, French citizens

Người Pháp gốc Việt là nhóm người có tổ tiên xuất xứ từ Việt Nam nhưng sau định cư ở Pháp. Đây là một trong những cộng đồng người Việt hải ngoại lớn nhất thế giới. Vì Chính phủ Pháp không làm thống kê với dữ liệu về chủng tộc của công dân Pháp nên không có con số nào chính xác để biết về số người Pháp gốc Việt. Số người Việt tại Pháp được ước tính từ khoảng 200.000^[1] đến 250.000^[2] người. Read more

(Source: wikipedia)

Other references:

• NGƯỜI VIỆT TẠI PHÁP XƯA VÀ NAY 
• Bến Việt giữa trời Tây 
• Hậu quả chiến tranh Đông Dương còn vương vấn trên đất Pháp
• La communauté vietnamienne de France
• Association du Business des Vietnamiens de France
• Union des Anciens Étudiants Vietnamien en France [ UAFV ]

About YourVietbooks.com
YourVietBooks is a selection of books and articles on and about Vietnam. Categories include: Culture, History, Vietnam War, Politics, Biographies, Contemporary Vietnam, International Relations, Doing Business in Vietnam, Reference and Languages, Zen Buddhism, Philosophy, Art and Literature.
Some articles are available only in English, French, German or Vietnamese. Our qualified and experienced translators can provide translations of e-books or articles on demand. Read more...

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Auteurs Vietnamiens: Trinh Cong Son - Toi la ai, la ai - Tribute to the best songwriter, poet, artist of the Century...

Dear All,


Back from Vietnam, I would like to share with you a book on the best songwriter, poet, artist of the Century, Trịnh Công Sơn (1939-2001). I wish I had the talent to transcribe all the beautiful words about his life and contribution to the Vietnamese Literature and Music, a witness of Contemporary Vietnam during the war and post-war period, as a tribute to his talents and humanistic approach to life. Unfortunately, my capacity is limited to merely translating some of the best passages I found in this book. This is also the opportunity for us all to discover a whole world of talented Vietnamese musicians, artists, composers, poets, art lovers, etc. who made up his world and with whom he shared his great talent and love for peace and mankind. I hope this modest contribution will help our non-Vietnamese speaking friends get an insight into our Vietnamese soul  through music and literature. To those who know and miss him, this is another additional small flower on his tomb. With all my respect and love, Anh Tho Andres (Geneva, September 2011)


Original Title in Vietnamese: Trịnh Công Sơn, Tôi là ai, là ai, là ai mà yêu quá đời này...
Proposed English Translation: Trinh Cong Son, Who Am I...? To love this world so much...
Publisher: Nhà Xuất Bản Trẻ, April 2011
Edited by Nguyễn Duy, Nguyễn Trọng Chức and Trịnh Công Sơn's Family.
Authors: Various

Table of contents in Vietnamese


Tô Thùy Yên - Huyền Thoại về con người
Nguyễn Duy - Ngày sau sỏi đá
Đỗ Trung Quân - Nhìn lại mình đời có xanh rêu?
Nguyễn Quang Sáng - Paris- Tiếng hát Trịnh Công Sơn
Văn Cao - Tôi gọi Trịnh Công Sơn là người ca thơ
Sơn Nam - Điệu hát nam ai hiện đại
Thái Bá Vân - Em còn nhớ hay em đã quên
Hoàng Phủ Ngọc Tường - Chút Thiên Thu còn mãi
Hoàng Phủ Ngọc Tường - Hành tinh yêu thương của hoàng tử bé
Hoàng Phủ Ngọc Tường - Một cuộc rượu vô tiền khoáng hậu của NS. TCS
Hoàng Ngọc Hiếu - Một bài thơ hay của TCS
Khánh Ly - Xin đủ cho một đời...
Khánh Ly - Bên đời hiu quạnh
Khánh Ly - Nắng buồn hơn mưa...
Khánh Ly - Ông là của tất cả mọi người
Trần Văn Khê - Thương tiếc Trịnh Công Sơn
Sâm Thương - Những ngày cuối của Sơn ở cỏi tạm
Thanh Tùng - Anh đã vắt cạn tình yêu cho đời...
Trần Long Ẩn - Kỷ niệm về nhạc sĩ tài hoa TCS
Nguyễn Thế Thanh - Huyền thoại giữa nhân gian
Tôn Thất Lập - Như cánh chim bỏ đường bay
Đỗ Minh Tuấn - Một thiền sư du ca
Lưu Trọng Văn - Không có Sơn còn ai với ai?
Nam Dao - TCS, Như cánh vạc bay 
Hữu Bảo, Lời buồn của người yêu tiếng Việt
Bảo Phúc - Sự kết thúc phài chăng là bắt đầu?
Bửu Ý - Cám ơn và xin lỗi
Cao Huy Thuần - Buồn bã với những môi hôn
Thanh Hải - Anh TCS và Tôi
Bửu Chi - Tôi phát biểu về TCS và những ca khúc phản chiến của anh
Đinh Cường - Tình bạn, hồi sinh sau cơn mê
Văn Ngọc - TCS, Khánh Ly và những khúc tình ca một thời
Nguyễn Trọng Tạo - Có một nhà thơ tên là TCS
Ban Mai - TCS, Tiếng hát dã tràng
Hoài Nam - TCS, Người lắng âm vọng nhân sinh
Nguyễn Hoàn - Chiều kích con người trong nhạc TCS
Hoàng Tá Thích - Như những dòng sông nhỏ
Huỳnh Như Phương - Mùa xuân này, TCS 70 tuổi
Nguyệt Cầm - Tựa hồ những năm xưa...
Frank Gerke - Giữa hòa bình, tình yêu, con người và quê hương
Nguyễn Quang Thiều - Như đường chân trời
Bảo Ninh - Lần đầu và mãi mãi
Nguyễn Việt Hà - Bao giờ sỏi đá phôi pha
Bích Hạnh - TCS với cảm thức cỏ cây
Bùi Giáng, Nguyễn Duy, Lữ Quỳnh, Nguyễn Khoa Điềm, Trương Thìn, Đỗ Hồng Ngọc, Ngô Văn Tao, Ngô Minh, Đinh Cường, Thái Thăng Long - Thơ tặng TCS
Lê Chân Nhân - Đại sứ văn hóa trên xứ hoa anh đào
Kim Yến - Hội quán Hội Ngộ - thánh đường cho những người yêu nhạc Trịnh
Phạm Văn Đỉnh - Hội văn hóa TCS đôi dòng...


Proposed translation in English / French by Anh Tho Andres (corrections welcome).



Part II. Portrait of Trinh Cong Son (TCS) by artists, composers, poets, singers, song lovers as a tribute to the man who went on his last journey to eternity on 30 March 2001.




Trịnh Công Sơn, Tôi là ai, là ai... Trinh Cong Son, Who Am I?  TCS, Who are you? - Trinh Cong Son, Qui suis-Je? - TCS Qui es-tu?
----------------------------------------------------


Tô Thùy Yên - Huyền Thoại về con người - TCS, the Legend about the Man - L'homme et sa légende.
Nguyễn Duy - Ngày sau sỏi đá - Stones and rocks will ever be  - les pierres et les rochers dans mille ans.
Đỗ Trung Quân - Nhìn lại mình đời có xanh rêu? - Looking back to my past life, was it full of hope of youth? - Un regard vers le passé,  ma vie était elle pleine d'espoir?
Nguyễn Quang Sáng - Paris, Tiếng hát Trịnh Công Sơn -TCS the singer in Paris -  Paris, Les mélodies de TCS.
Văn Cao - Tôi gọi Trịnh Công Sơn là người ca thơ - For me TCS is the signing poet - Pour moi, TCS s'appelle le Chantre.
Sơn Nam - Điệu hát nam ai hiện đại - Contemporary 'Nam ai Widow' melody - La mélodie contemporaine de 'la Veuve de Nam Ai'
Thái Bá Vân - Em còn nhớ hay em đã quên -  Do you still remember or have you forgotten? - Te souviens tu ou l'aurais-tu oublié?
Hoàng Phủ Ngọc Tường - Chút Thiên Thu còn mãi - A Rest of Eternity - Un peu de l'éternité qui reste.
Hoàng Phủ Ngọc Tường - Hành tinh yêu thương của hoàng tử bé -  The Little Prince Planet of Love - La planète d'amour du Petti Prince.
Hoàng Ngọc Hiếu - Một bài thơ hay của TCS - A beautiful poem by TCS - Un joli poème de TCS.
Khánh Ly - Xin đủ cho một đời... - Give me enough for a lifetime... - Donnes-moi assez pour une vie.
Khánh Ly - Bên đời hiu quạnh - During a lonely life - Dans la solitude d'une vie.
Khánh Ly - Nắng buồn hơn mưa...- The Sun brings more sadness than the Rain... - Le soleil est plus triste que la pluie ...
Khánh Ly - Ông là của tất cả mọi người - You belong to everybody - Tu appartiens à tout le monde.
Trần Văn Khê - Thương tiếc Trịnh Công Sơn - Mourning TCS -Des larmes pour TCS.
Sâm Thương - Những ngày cuối của Sơn ở cỏi tạm - Les derniers jours de son passage sur cette terre - TCS's last days on this transit planet.
Thanh Tùng - Anh đã vắt cạn tình yêu cho đời... - You dried up your love for this life... - Tu as donné tout ton amour pour cette vie...
Trần Long Ẩn - Kỷ niệm về nhạc sĩ tài hoa TCS - Souvenir d'un artiste plein de talents, TCS - Memories of a talented artist, TCS.
Nguyễn Thế Thanh - Huyền thoại giữa nhân gian - A lifetime legend - La légende de la vie.
Tôn Thất Lập - Như cánh chim bỏ đường bay - As with birds leaving their flying path - Comme l'oiseau qui se détourne de sa trajectoire.
Đỗ Minh Tuấn - Một thiền sư du ca - a Zen monk Singing nomad - un bonze chanteur nomade.
Lưu Trọng Văn - Không có Sơn còn ai với ai? - You are no more, whoelse can share with me this life? _Sans toi,  me reste-t-il quelqu'un d'autre pour la partager? - 
Nam Dao - TCS, Như cánh vạc bay - TCS, tel le vol de l'albatros - TCS, like a flying albatross
Hữu Bảo, Lời buồn của người yêu tiếng Việt - Triste parole d'un amoureux de la langue Vietnamienne - Requiem by a Vietnamese language lover.
Bảo Phúc - Sự kết thúc phài chăng là bắt đầu? Is the end not the beginning of another cycle? La fin n'est-elle pas un commencement? 
Bửu Ý - Cám ơn và xin lỗi - My thanks and apologies - Merci et pardonnez-moi.
Cao Huy Thuần - Buồn bã với những môi hôn - Sad kisses - Baisers tristes 
Thanh Hải - Anh TCS và Tôi -  TCS and me - TCS et moi.
Bửu Chi - Tôi phát biểu về TCS và những ca khúc phản chiến của anh - My speech on TCS and his anti-war songs - Mon discours sur TCS et ses chansons pacifistes.
Đinh Cường - Tình bạn, hồi sinh sau cơn mê - Renaissance de notre amitié après un long rêve - Friendship renewal after a long dream.
Văn Ngọc - TCS, Khánh Ly và những khúc tình ca một thời - TCS and Khanh Ly, love songs of a time - TCS et Khanh ly, les chansons d'amour d'une époque.
Nguyễn Trọng Tạo - Có một nhà thơ tên là TCS - There was a time a poet named TCS - Il était une fois un poète nommé TCS.
Ban Mai - TCS, Tiếng hát dã tràng - TCS, the song of Sisyphus - TCS, le chant de Sisyphe.
Hoài Nam - TCS, Người lắng âm vọng nhân sinh - TCS, the singer with a humanist echo  - TCS, le chanteur porteur du message humaniste.
Nguyễn Hoàn - Chiều kích con người trong nhạc TCS  - The human dimension in TCS's music - La dimension humaine dans la musique de TCS.
Hoàng Tá Thích - Như những dòng sông nhỏ -  Like small rivers flowing from a source - Tels des petites ruisseaux qui s'écoulent d'une source.
Huỳnh Như Phương - Mùa xuân này, TCS 70 tuổi - TCS would have been 70 years old this spring - TCS aurait 70 ans ce printemps.
Nguyệt Cầm - Tựa hồ những năm xưa... - As in the old days - Comme dans les années d'antan.
Frank Gerke - Giữa hòa bình, tình yêu, con người và quê hương - Between Peace, Love, Mankind and Homeland - Entre la paix, l'amour, l'homme et la patrie.
Nguyễn Quang Thiều - Như đường chân trời - Skyline - La fin de l'horizon.
Bảo Ninh - Lần đầu và mãi mãi - The First time and ever - Pour la première fois et à jamais.
Nguyễn Việt Hà - Bao giờ sỏi đá phôi pha - Quand les pierres et rochers ne seront plus là - When stones and rocks will be no more.
Bích Hạnh - TCS với cảm thức cỏ cây - TCS in harmony with nature - TCS en harmonie avec  la nature.
Bùi Giáng, Nguyễn Duy, Lữ Quỳnh, Nguyễn Khoa Điềm, Trương Thìn, Đỗ Hồng Ngọc, Ngô Văn Tao, Ngô Minh, Đinh Cường, Thái Thăng Long - Thơ tặng TCS - Poems for TCS -  Poèmes pour TCS.
Lê Chân Nhân - Đại sứ văn hóa trên xứ hoa anh đào - L'ambassadeur de la culture (vietnamienne) dans le pays du lever du soleil - The Ambassador for (Vietnamese) culture in the land of the rising sun.
Kim Yến - Hội quán Hội Ngộ - thánh đường cho những người yêu nhạc Trịnh - Encounter's Inn, the cathedral for Trinh's song lovers - La Taverne des Rencontres, cathédrale pour les amoureux de la musique de Trinh.
Phạm Văn Đỉnh - Hội văn hóa TCS đôi dòng... - A short introduction on TCS Cultural Centre - Quelques lignes sur le centre culturel TCS.


Abstracts coming up.

Further readings: Nhung tinh khuc trinh cong son: http://vnthuquan.net/truyen/truyen.aspx?tid=2qtqv3m3237n3n2nvnnn31n343tq83a3q3m3237nvn




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Vietnamese Classical Literature - 19th Century

Vietnam Classical Literature is not known to the outside world as Chinese Literature. For the younger generation, the study of Vietnamese literature seem to fade away, leaving place to contemporary authors on topics on modern existentialism. In my attempt to "come back to source", I have started a collection of books on Vietnam, and classify them under various topics such as Culture, History, Vietnam War, Politics, Biographies, Contemporary Vietnam, International Relations, Doing Business in Vietnam, Reference and Languages, Zen Buddhism, Philosophy, Art and Literature. 

Here is a short picture of the literary world under the last dynasty of Vietnam: the Nguyen. 

Indeed, the 19th Century was a flourishing century for literature and the arts in Vietnam. It opened up with the Kim Vân Kiều  by Nguyễn Du (1765-1820) and closed with the anonymous Song of True Patriotism (Chính Khí Ca :1900). 

Three outstanding talents, Nguyen Du, Mdm Ho Xuan Huong and Nguyen Dinh Chieu contributed to the Vietnamese Classical Literature with the greatest masterpieces: The Tale of Kieu, and Luc Van Tien, two epics and selected poems.

• Nguyen Du (1766-1820): It is necessary to keep in mind his historical and social background in order to understand both Nguyễn Du and his main work, The Tale of Kieu (Vietnamese Truyện Kiều), which was based on an earlier Chinese work known as Kim Vân Kiều and was originally titled Đoạn Trường Tân Thanh (lit. new accents of a heart-rending song).  Nguyen Du's main work is Kim Vân Kiều, (English title:The Tale of Kieu). The Tale of Kieu was written under a pen-name as the story was quite critical of the basic tenets of Confucian morality. It is a tragic tale of two lovers forced apart by the girl's loyalty to her family honor. Nguyễn added his own pain and guilt over the self-betrayal of his own code of honor, and the result is one of the greatest masterpieces of Vietnamese literature. What made the Story of Kiều a masterpiece is the refined, subtle, and yet simple way the author arranged his verses in a popular and genuinely Vietnamese cadence of six upon eight syllables that renders the recitation harmoniously rhythmic and the excerpts easily committed to memory. More Literature on Kieu

• Mdm Ho Xuan Huong (1772–1822) Mdm Hồ Xuân Hương must have lived under three different dynasties, --the Lê, Tây Sơn and Nguyễn-- and must have owed her fame to her poems composed almost exclusively in nôm.  In between husbands, Hồ Xuân Hương managed a kind of salon frequented by writers and poets, where her talent shone in polished, elegant, but also daring, and  sexually evocative poems and retorts. To view Online selected readings in Vietnamese by Mdm Ho Xuan Huong, click here. More on Ho Xuan Huong on vnthuquan.net

• Nguyen Dinh Chieu (1822-1888) Nguyen Dinh Chieu was a Vietnamese poet who was known for his nationalist and anti-colonial writings against the French colonization of Cochinchina, the European name for the southern part of Vietnam. He was the best known opponent of collaboration in the south of Vietnam and was regarded as the poet laureate of the southerners who continued to defy the Treaty of Saigon which ceded southern Vietnam to France, disobeying the royal orders of Emperor Tự Đức to continue harassing the French forces. His epic poem, remains one of the most celebrated works in Vietnamese literature. While Nguyễn Du's style was elegant, sophisticated, Nguyễn Đình Chiểu's words were easily understood by the common people and many of his verses sound just like a chat between two people in the streets. Nguyen Dinh Chieu main work is Lục Vân Tiên, perhaps one of the two most recognizable and influential epic poems in Vietnamese history. The poem praises the power of true love, applauds bravery and fair justice. Lục Vân Tiên, named after the main character, was written in nôm in 2080 six-upon-eight verses.While Nguyễn Du discoursed about the dichotomy between talent and fate, about the sufferings every human being had to endure, Nguyễn Đình Chiểu warns his readers to scrutinize the past so as not to make mistakes in the future. Young men should put loyalty and filial piety on top of all values, whereas young women should make chastity and faithfulness their ideals.
  To view the Online Vietnamese version: Click here. More on Nguyen Dinh Chieu on vnthuquan.net

• Other classical Authors: Chinh phụ ngâm khúc - The Complaint of the Warrior’s Wife, by Authors: Ðoàn Thị Ðiểm (1705-1748) /  Ðặng Trần Côn (1715?-1745). view You Tube 
• Cung oán ngâm khúc -  The Complaints of an Odalisk, By Author: Nguyen Gia Thieu (1741-1798), view article under buddhist view by Ven. Thích Pháp Như

• Famous Selected classical works by Bà Huyện Thanh Quan (1805-1848), Nguyễn Khuyến (1835-1909), and Tran Te Xuong (1870-1907) can be found under the source indicated hereafter: wikipedia, maxreading.com, youtube, daophatngaynay.com.

(Compiled by Anh Tho Andres)

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Auteurs français_l'Indochine dans la sphère de coprospérité japonaise de 1940 à 1945

Original Titles in French:

by Author: René J. Poujade
Publisher: L'Harmattan (15 novembre 2007)
Collection : Mémoires asiatiques
ISBN-13: 978-2296043497

About the Books:

• Le premier volet « Cours martiales d’Indochine 1940-1945 » était consacré à la répression de la résistance par les autorités à Vichy en Indochine. Publié par les éditions La Bruyère, il a été lauréat du Prix Littéraire de la Résistance (mention spéciale).
• Le second volet « L’Indochine dans la sphère de coprospérité Japonaise 1940-1945 », témoigne documents à l’appui d’une situation souvent déformée ou ignorée.
• Le troisième volet « A l’ombre du soleil levant 1940-1945 » est fait de récits de situations vécues du sud du Pacifique à l’Indochine au cours de la Deuxième Guerre mondiale. Des récits parfois étonnants mais toujours d’une plume alerte que connaissent ces lecteurs de la presse spécialisée. Ecrits sans passion et avec humour, René J. Poujade signe ici le troisième volet de sa trilogie.

About the Author:

René Poujade est secrétaire général de la Fédération des réseaux de la résistance en Indochine FFL-FFC 1940-1945). Ses ouvrages forme la trilogie indochinoise consacrée à l’évocation de l’Indochine française occupée par le Japon au cours de la Seconde Guerre mondiale.

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