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Frances An

Nostalgia and Delirium in 'Qua Cơn Mê'

Nostalgia and Delirium in 'Qua Cơn Mê'

Frances An, BLARB, February 2021

'These verses culminate in the hallucination referenced in the cover image of the hut, when Duy sings "cùng theo lũ em học hành như xưa" ("accompanying the kids to school as before"). The listener would understand this to be an impossibility, given that either: 1) his children or child-relatives have grown past school age during the protagonist’s army service; or, 2) his family and home town have been destroyed either physically or economically.'

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