Vietnamese literature INTRODUCTION TO VIETNAMESE LITERATURE LU THI THANH LE, MA Lecturer, Department of Literature USSH, VNU Hanoi 2016 Folk Literature • Myths • Epics • Legends • Fairy tales • Folk B[.]
INTRODUCTION TO VIETNAMESE LITERATURE LU THI THANH LE, MA Lecturer, Department of Literature USSH, VNU Hanoi 2016 Folk Literature • Myths • Epics • Legends • Fairy tales • Folk Ballads • Proverbs, sayings • Narrative verses • Folk theatre: puppet theatre, chèo, tuồng, chầu văn,… … Big treasure of folk literature of different ethnic groups in Vietnam Examples • Folk verse (ca dao): Ai bưng bát cơm đầy Dẻo thơm hạt, đắng cay muôn phần (Man, when you bring a bowl full of rice Each tasty seed equals to thousands of bitterness) • Sayings (tục ngữ): Ăn cỗ trước, lội nước theo sau (If you go to a banquet, go ahead, but if you go to muddy place, go after) • Folk ballads: see video Mời nước mời trầu (Greeting the guests coming to the house)– Quan họ singing • Epics: see video – Lễ hội đâm trâu người Bana (Buffalo Piercing Ceremony of Bana People) Medieval literature (10th-19th century) • Vietnamese medieval literature as “the separate flow of the same source” in the area which shared Sino script (“dòng riêng nguồn chung” – Trần Ngọc Vương 1997) • The influences of Buddhist, Confucianist, and Daoist thoughts in literature works • Role of Sino script and Nom script in literature Major authors of medieval literature • Lê Thánh Tơng: Hồng Đức Quốc âm thi tập (Hong Duc Nom poem collection), Quỳnh uyển cửu ca • Nguyễn Trãi: Bình Ngơ đại cáo (Great Proclamation upon the Pacification of the Wu) • Nguyễn Du: Truyện Kiều (The Tale of Kiều) • Hồ Xuân Hương: Xuân Hương thi tập (Collection of Xuan Huong’s poems) Nguyen Du (1766– 1820) and the Tale of Kieu The beginning part of The Tale of Kieu in original Nom script and translated to Quoc ngu script • The tale of Kieu (beginning part) In the hundred-year span of a human life, Talent and destiny are always apt to strife Through experience of a harrowing change, What we witnessed filled our hearts with tearing pain ‘Tis not a wonder that Heaven gives then takes, And with the fair sex He used to be jealous Modern literature (20th century – present) • Social background: + French colony: writing systems, education, printing and publishing industry,… + Nationalist movements against French, August 1945 Revolution + Vietnam War + Reform period + Internationalization, globalization period Changes of the society in general 10 The change of education system Traditional Confucian Education French- Vietnamese education 12 The development of printing and publishing industry 13 Vietnamese Literature under French Colony and before August 1945 Revolution • Modern short stories and novels (Hồng Ngọc Phách, Nhất Linh, Khái Hưng, Thạch Lam, Nguyễn Tuân, Tự lực văn đồn) • Thơ - New Poem literary movement (Xuân Diệu, Huy Cận, Thế Lữ, Chế Lan Viên) • Realism literature (Ngơ Tất Tố, Vũ Trọng Phụng) 14 Vietnamese Literature 1946-1975 • Indochina War, Vietnam War • Revolutionary literature under the influence of Communist Party: propaganda of the revolutionary movements (Tố Hữu, Nguyễn Khoa Điềm, Chế Lan Viên, Nguyễn Trung Thành; War diaries: Đặng Thùy Trâm’s diary, Nguyễn Văn Thạc’s diary • Literature in the South of Vietnam 15 Post-war & post-Reform literature • Memory of the war: Bao Ninh’s The Sorrow of War • Life in subsidiary period (Lê Lựu’s Thời xa vắng, Lưu • • • • • Quang Vũ’s plays and short stories) Reflections of changes of life under market economy: Nguyễn Huy Thiệp’s Tướng hưu Depictions of daily life in peace time: Nguyễn Ngọc Tư, Nguyễn Nhật Ánh Female writers and the expressions of gender and sexuality: Vi Thùy Linh, Đỗ Hoàng Diệu Writings of/ about ethnic minorities Internationalization and travel writings 16 Women writers 17 Writers of/ Writings about Ethnic Minority Groups • Ethnic identity expressions • Common issues of humanity 18 I am a Cham since the very first cry (And even more: months and 10 days before the first cry) When I am striking the root here Or when I am drifting to the end of the horizon I am still Cham even when I am burnt in my end-life fire (“The Purification in April” – Inrasara) 19 I was born there! … but I cannot chant ariya, cannot write a ka letter, as if I am stranger to Cham blood (“Self-expression”– Bá Minh Trí) 20 Because of the skin that we have to bathe until we get cold we have to make up our face with kinds of cosmetics because of the hair that we always cover the black turbans on our head we often come to the hairdresser’s to straighten our hair because of the voice that we turn away our faces from each other until the old age come and take us, then we ask why be cold or separated (“We are the poor people”- Tuệ Nguyên) Inrasara eds 2010, Tagalau 11, 21 Internationalization and the explosion of travel writings • Youngters living in Vietnam • Viet kieu (Vietnamese expatriates) returning to Vietnam • Students studying abroad • Spouses of foreigners 22 Writing of youngters in Vietnam Huyen Chip: Get the knapsack and go! (2012, volumes) 23 Writings of second/third generations abroad Tran Hung John’s John on the way to find Hung 24 Writings of students studying abroad Hiệu Constant’s Studying abroad life 25 Writings of spouses of foreigners Series of Being daughter in law of… – Women Publishing House