Abstract

In works belonging to the existentialist tradition, cultural substrata and the semantic dynamism of symbols have long been exploited to depict the ambiguous yet universal dimensions of Dasein–human existence. This tendency is evident in the religious and cultural symbols that permeate the philosophical reflections of Søren Kierkegaard and Friedrich Nietzsche. This article concentrates on examining and analyzing groups of artistic symbols that embody existential dynamism in Ngu ngon cua nguoi dang tri (Allegory of an Absent-Minded), a surreal epic poem by Ngo Kha. Specifically, it explores three principal symbolic clusters: fire and its variants, freezing, and knowledge. The meanings embedded in cultural history, and the “organizing, dynamic forces” acting upon them, are interpreted through the lens of existential philosophy as fields of Being imbued with existential kinetic energy, whether manifested in movement between existential states, symbolic transformation, or subject–world interaction, thereby evoking impulses, resistance, and the subject’s failure in the process of meaning-making. These symbols are simultaneously the consequences of external pressures and manifestations of inner impulses. From this perspective, this article argues that Ngo Kha’s poetry engages with both social concerns and literary experimentation.