A Graphic Novel Depicting the Wartime Memories of French-Vietnamese Women

The Kim Dong Publishing House, in collaboration with the French Institute in Vietnam, organized an event on March 12 in Hanoi to introduce a graphic novel called “Song” by Vietnamese-French author Tran Hai Anh and French illustrator Pauline Guitton, as reported by VNS.

In “Song”, a mother shares the story of her teenage years when she had to hide during the Vietnam War against the US. From 1969 to 1975, the mother, now a director, spent seven years in the forests with Vietnamese revolutionary soldiers, accompanied by her father, a scriptwriter. Her father introduced her to the national resistance and the world of film.

This story of a Vietnamese woman during a lesser-known part of history becomes a portrait of the complex relationship that Hai Anh has with her mother and her roots.

The cover of the graphic novel ‘Song’. Photo courtesy of Ankama Publishing

“Song is a word that came to my mind when my mother told me about her adventures during her teenage years,” said Hai Anh at the book launch ceremony at Kim Dong Publishing House.

“I decided to summarize each memory with a Vietnamese verb that helped me remember those moments. By reading a family story accompanied by vocabulary from our mother language, French readers can discover many other beautiful Vietnamese words,” added Hai Anh.

Hai Anh, a young filmmaker, was born and raised in France in a Vietnamese family. She spent more time with her father, Vietnamese filmmaker Viet Linh, known for her internationally acclaimed movies such as “Ganh xiec rong” (Mobile Circus Troupe), “Chung cu” (Apartment Building), and “Me Thao, thoi vang bong” (Me Thao, Glorious Time).

Currently, Viet Linh is still actively working and managing the Hong Hac Stage in Ho Chi Minh City.

Viet Linh shared that she was shocked when her daughter kept the manuscript a secret and did not let her read it before sending it for publication. Therefore, when she finally held the book in her hands, she read it very carefully.

“My daughter and I often exchange small stories every day, from memories of the past to the present. In 2016, she expressed her desire to write a family story like this, which surprised me. After reading this book, I learned three important lessons,” expressed director Viet Linh.

“Firstly, it is important to be friends with your child. Secondly, children remember everything we tell them. It’s both adorable and dangerous. Thirdly, we should live without anger and ignorance. Just imagine that you are about to separate from someone very dear to you, and immerse yourself in that feeling to learn to be more tolerant,” she continued.

Hai Anh holds a Master’s degree in economics, culture, and cinema and was recognized by Forbes magazine as one of the “Outstanding Young Faces Under 30 Years Old in Asia” in 2023.

Both Hai Anh and Pauline, despite their backgrounds in the film industry, envisioned “Song” as a comic book due to their shared love for reading comic books. The concept of time and chronology becomes blurred in the daily life of the jungle in the story, which led them to choose a thematic narrative instead of a strictly chronological one. This approach aligns well with the graphic novel format. Additionally, Hai Anh and Pauline believed that illustrations would convey a greater sense of tenderness and poetry, given the weightiness of the story.

French Ambassador Olivier Brochet expressed his joy when the book was launched in Vietnamese during the ceremony.

“This is a story of intergenerational communication between a mother and daughter,” said Ambassador Brochet. “It contributes to recreating the nation’s history from a rarely mentioned perspective and represents a young person’s desire to learn about their roots.”

Writer Do Bich Thuy also expressed her admiration for author Hai Anh and described the book as having “a cinematic quality and a graphic novel format”.

“I read this book three times. The author manages to convey a significant amount of information and emotions with restrained words. As a writer of long-form novels, I have learned many things from this experience. It turns out, we don’t need to write too much; we just need to condense,” commented writer Do Bich Thuy.

Tran Hai Anh (left) and Pauline Guitton, co-authors of “Song”. Photo courtesy of Tran Hai Anh/Olivier Clertant

Hai Anh co-wrote “Song” with her friend Pauline Guitton, who graduated with a Master’s degree in Character Animation and Animated Filmmaking in 2021. Pauline is now a storyboard artist, animator, and illustrator.

“Song” is their first graphic novel. It was initially released in France in early 2023 with an initial print run of 8,000 copies. The book was supported by the Publishing Support Fund for excellent French works (La Scam).

Earlier this year, “Song” won the Prix du Jury oecuménique de la BD 2024 (The Prize of the Ecumenical Jury for Comics) in France.

Hannah Nguyen

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