Just finished reading Marguerite Duras’ autobiographical novel L’Amant de la Chine de Nord, and in the above video, I’m reading an excerpt from the end of the work.
The story takes place in French Indochina (modern Vietnam) in the 1920s, and so there are a lot of local words you’d have to look up if you’re not familiar with that region of the world. Here are some examples:
Thit-kho
Vietnamese caramelized pork belly and eggs, according to this website.
Piastre
Formally called “Piastre de commerce”, it was the currency of French Indochina between 1885 and 1952.
Choum-choum
Alcohol made from rice distillation, referenced here.
Jonque (“Junk”)
Chinese sailing vessel developed during the Han dynasty (Wikipedia entry)
Coolie
Asian manual laborer (Wikipedia entry)
Tussor (“Tussore”)
Silk woven from wild silkworms (Wikipedia)
Nem
Spring rolls, in North Vietnam. Check out this site.
Pousse-pousse
Asian “rickshaw” (人力車), from Wikipedia.
