In this talk from the “Reading Truyện Kiều Anew” series, Dr. Bùi Trân Phượng offers a nuanced re-reading of the character Thúy Vân, often considered a minor or “bland” figure in Truyện Kiều. Contrary to traditional interpretations, Dr. Phượng emphasizes that Thúy Vân embodies a quiet depth and emotional intelligence that’s often overlooked. She addresses various misconceptions: that Thúy Vân is heartless for not weeping at Đạm Tiên’s grave, or that she passively accepts the arranged marriage with Kim Trọng. Instead, Dr. Phượng suggests that Thúy Vân simply reacts to life differently than Kiều—not with passionate displays, but with reserved compassion and a deep understanding of duty, familial ties, and emotional restraint.

In this rich conversation from the “Đọc lại Truyện Kiều” series, Dr. Bùi Trân Phượng and host Phan Đăng delve into two often-overlooked figures in Truyện Kiều: Đạm Tiên and Giác Duyên. Phượng analyzes Đạm Tiên as more than a ghostly symbol; she embodies both the fate of women and a psychological projection of Kiều’s inner anxieties. From a modern psychological lens, Kiều displays traits of an "anxious nervous system"—highly emotional and susceptible to anxiety disorders. Her early interaction with Đạm Tiên foreshadows her turbulent life and becomes a recurring symbol of inner turmoil and feminine vulnerability.

 “Poetic Structure & Genre in The Tale of Kiều” — by John D. Phan (with support from Asia for Educators) shows how Kiều is at once a story and a poem—a plotted narrative cast into Vietnamese verse—so its meaning unfolds through both plot and lyric form.

A lecture by Dr. Nguyễn Nam of Fulbright University Vietnam, presented at the conference commemorating the 200th anniversary of the death of great poet Nguyễn Du, focusing on the 1924 film adaptation of Kim Vân Kiều.

The Tale of Kiều — a lecture by John D. Phan (Associate Professor of Vietnamese Humanities, Columbia University), was presented with support from Asia for Educators. Drawing on textual, cultural, and visual sources, Dr. Phan traces the poem’s extraordinary impact in Vietnamese life, its origins in a Chinese prose narrative and transformation into a Vietnamese narrative poem in Chữ Nôm, and the work’s layered genres—from Neo-Confucian romance and moral drama to giang hồ adventure and Buddho-Confucian reflection on desire and suffering. Listeners will leave with a clear roadmap to reading Kiều in context and appreciating why this classic continues to move audiences across centuries.