THE DESIRE FOR SURVIVAL IN NGUYEN THANH VIET’S SHORT STORY COLLECTION THE REFUGEES

THE ASPIRATION FOR SURVIVAL IN THE REFUGEES BY VIET THANH NGUYEN

Abstract

This article examines the desire for survival in Nguyen Thanh Viet’s short story collection The Refugees as a central driving force shaping the characters’ lives in contexts of displacement, war, and cultural integration. Drawing on a psychoanalytic approach, especially the relationship between the life drive and the death drive in Sigmund Freud’s theory and the ego’s defense mechanisms, the article argues that survival in Nguyen Thanh Viet’s narrative world is not merely an effort to preserve physical life but also a persistent struggle to uphold dignity, family bonds, and identity. Accordingly, The Refugees can be read as a profound humanistic discourse on psychological resilience and the human capacity to rebuild life under conditions of exile.

Keywords: Viet Thanh Nguyen, The Refugees, survival desire, psychoanalysis, diaspora literature, trauma, exile.