War and epidemic in Huynh Trong Khang's novels

Abstract

With three novels—“Mộ phần tuổi trẻ” (Grave of Youth), “Những vọng âm nằm ngủ” (Sleeping Echoes), and “Bể trăng côi” (The Lonely Moon Sea)—Huỳnh Trọng Khang has emerged as one of the few young Vietnamese writers to firmly establish his position in the literary landscape of early 21st-century Vietnam, achieving this recognition in his early thirties. By choosing themes of war and pandemics, Huỳnh Trọng Khang demonstrates remarkable courage in addressing and recognizing humanity's profound existential concerns and the tribulations of life. To affirm the contributions in terms of themes, genres, and to identify the style of this 1994-born writer within the overall achievements of contemporary Vietnamese literature, this article focuses on three prominent issues in Huỳnh Trọng Khang's novels: War and pandemics – the pain and disasters of humanity; Humans in war and pandemics – confronting and choosing in adversity; Narratives about war and pandemics – a discourse on human existence. Approaching from existential aesthetics, and using typological method, structural-systematic method, and comparative method, through these arguments this paper clarifies the artistic sensibility as well as the creative personality of Huỳnh Trọng Khang when he chooses war and pandemics as the background to explore the dimensions of human fate.