Tóm tắt: Tiểu thuyết Nhất Linh với việc hiện thực hoá chủ trương canh tân văn hoá, văn học của Tự lực văn đoàn.

Tiểu thuyết Nhất Linh với việc hiện thực hoá chủ trương canh tân văn hoá, văn học của Tự lực văn đoàn.Tiểu thuyết Nhất Linh với việc hiện thực hoá chủ trương canh tân văn hoá, văn học của Tự lực văn đoàn.Tiểu thuyết Nhất Linh với việc hiện thực hoá chủ trương canh tân văn hoá, văn học của Tự lực văn đoàn.Tiểu thuyết Nhất Linh với việc hiện thực hoá chủ trương canh tân văn hoá, văn học của Tự lực văn đoàn.Tiểu thuyết Nhất Linh với việc hiện thực hoá chủ trương canh tân văn hoá, văn học của Tự lực văn đoàn.Tiểu thuyết Nhất Linh với việc hiện thực hoá chủ trương canh tân văn hoá, văn học của Tự lực văn đoàn.Tiểu thuyết Nhất Linh với việc hiện thực hoá chủ trương canh tân văn hoá, văn học của Tự lực văn đoàn.Tiểu thuyết Nhất Linh với việc hiện thực hoá chủ trương canh tân văn hoá, văn học của Tự lực văn đoàn.Tiểu thuyết Nhất Linh với việc hiện thực hoá chủ trương canh tân văn hoá, văn học của Tự lực văn đoàn.Tiểu thuyết Nhất Linh với việc hiện thực hoá chủ trương canh tân văn hoá, văn học của Tự lực văn đoàn.Tiểu thuyết Nhất Linh với việc hiện thực hoá chủ trương canh tân văn hoá, văn học của Tự lực văn đoàn.

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING VINH UNIVERSITY NGUYEN THI HOANG MAI NHAT LINH’S NOVELS WITH THE ACTUALIZATION OF THE SELF-RELIAN LITERARY GROUP’S REFORM POLICY OF THE CULTURE AND LITERARY Major: Vietnamese Literature Code: 9220121 SUMMARY OF DOCTORAL THESIS IN LITERATURE NGHE AN - 2022 The work has been completed at Vinh University Scientific instructors: Assoc Prof Dr Phan Huy Dung Opponent 1: Opponent 2: Opponent 3: The thesis is defended in front of University-level Thesis Examination Committee in: Vinh University At Thursday, 14 of July, 2022 The thesis can be referred at: - National Library of Vietnam, Hanoi - Nguyen Thuc Hao Information - library Center, Vinh University INTRODUCTION Reason for choosing the topic 1.1 In the history of Vietnamese literature, Self-Reliant Literary Group (hereafter written SRLG) is a professional literary group whose influence extends beyond the scope of literature, covering the fields of culture, politics, and society and actively contributing to the selection of the developmental direction of literature, especially novels in expressing pressing social issues 1.2 Positioning and re-evaluating of SRLG and its leader allows the reconstruction of Nhat Linh’s portrait as an intellectual pioneer who effectively awakened people and expanded their intelligence through not only social activities but also literature 1.3 In Nhat Linh's career, novels were the prominent figure positively positioning his contributions as a complex literary phenomenon that has far-reaching effects on Vietnamese culture, society, and politics He suggested a direction, predicting a development direction for modern Vietnamese novels His genre model deserves to be examined to illustrate its role in the context of literary modernization This is also the model that has many fulcrums for the later development of the Vietnamese novels The above reasons motivate us to study the topic of Nhat Linh’s novels with the actualization of the SRLG’s reform policy of the culture and literature Subject and scope of the research 2.1 Research subject The main research object of the thesis is Nhat Linh’s novels in the SRLG period, thereby clarifying the actualization of the SRLG’s policy of culture and literature reform through and in Nhat Linh’s novels 2.2 Research scope The thesis focuses on surveying six of Nhat Linh’s novels during the SRLG period: Nắng thu (Sunny Autumn), Đoạn tuyệt (Breaking With The Past), Đời mưa gió (A Rough And Tumble Life), Lạnh lùng (Glacial), Đôi bạn (The Two Friends), Bướm trắng (White Butterfly) (mainly published in the Văn xuôi lãng mạn Việt Nam 1930 - 1945 consisting of volumes, Social Science Publishing House, Hanoi, 1989 1990); Simultaneously, in order to fully visualize the novel process, we contrast them with the works of the pre-SRLG period, namely Nho Phong (Nho Phong) and Người quay tơ (The Spinner), as well as the post-SRLG period, namely Dịng sơng Thanh Thuỷ (Thanh Thuy River) and Xóm Cầu Mới (Cau Moi Hamlet) Besides, the Writing And Reading Novelsessay is also studied to see the writer's reflection and the change of the art of the novel, such as the contemplative journey of exploring, innovating, and modernizing literature Purposes and mission of the research 3.1 Research purposes - Affirming the role of novels in expressing the policies and actualizing the tasks of cultural and literary reform of the Self-Reliant Literary Group (SRLG) - Identifying the major problems of the mission of culture and literature reform presented in Nhat Linh’s novels - Comprehensively re-evaluating Nhat Linh’s contributions as a culturalist in formulating cultural reform plans and implementing them effectively on the basis of solving problems arising in the cultural exchange between the East and West in the early twentieth century 3.2 Research mission - Systematizing the implementation of SRLG’s policy of culture and literature reform, thereby recording the results and confirming a right path in determining that novels are the main "character" of the reform - Specifically analyzing the novel model of Nhat Linh: content, ideology, format, modernity, and suitability with the mission of social reform - Analyzing the innovations in Nhat Linh’s art of writing novels as an effective tool to realize the policy of cultural and literary reform: discovering new artistic conflicts; building new character images; forming a new novel language Research Methods Implementing the above-mentioned scientific tasks, the thesis uses a combination of research methods, especially the following ones: - Interdisciplinary method: helps to explain the relationship and impact between culture and literature, thereby expounding the policy of cultural reform through literature; Simultaneously, it helps to recognize the movement of history, the influence of political-cultural-social conditions to the writing process, thereby giving an overview and vision of socio-cultural development - The structural-systematic method: offers a systematic and comprehensive view on the innovative problems in practical activities and in literature, locates the role of Nhat Linh in the process of campaigning and developing novels - The poetics approach method: helps to analyze specific works, thereby drawing out the features of the novel genre and the writer's thought - The comparative method: helps to identify the similarities and differences between Nhat Linh and other contemporary writers, between his stages of production in suggesting and predicting a development direction in many possible ways of existence of modern Vietnamese novels Thesis contribution By systematizing, analyzing and interpreting important issues in the actualization of Nhat Linh’s and SRLG’s reform policy of culture and literature, the thesis shows the emergence of a modern novel "style" which met the requirements of the times, laid the foundation and fulcrum for the genre to develop in the future From that, it shows that literature is also a powerful weapon in enlightening people's knowledge and liberating people, and an effective way to win freedom for a nation under feudal and colonial oppression Thesis structure In addition to the Introduction, Conclusion and References, the main content of the thesis is presented in chapters: Chapter Theoretical basis of the topic and overview of the research situation Chapter Overview of the SRLG’s reform policy of culture and literature Chapter Major issues of the mission of culture and literature reform reflected in Nhat Linh’s novels Chapter Effects of the actualization of the SRLG’s reform policy of culture and literature in Nhat Linh’s art of novel Chapter THEORETICAL BASIS OF THE TOPIC AND OVERVIEW OF THE RESEARCH PROBLEM 1.1 Theoretical premise and fundamental concepts of the thesis 1.1.1 Theories about novels At the beginning of the twentieth century, modern novels entered Vietnam from the West with different connotations from the previous understanding of novels, so the search for a unified concept of genre must also went through changes and additions to gradually lead to a more complete understanding The thesis examines some conceptions of novels at the beginning of the twentieth century, and finds that there is a consensus on a number of characteristics of the genre: fiction, "making a story out of one's own mind" (Tran Chanh Chieu), “a creation of the imagination” (Pham Quynh); narrative about the close reality "story in our country” (Ho Bieu Chanh), "describing people's feelings, social customs" (Pham Quynh); with Written vernacular Chinese "putting the common language, elegant, easy to understand" (Tran Chanh Chieu), and so on Nowadays, modern novels are understood as a literary genre with the following basic characteristics: In terms of form, it is a large-scale narrative work in prose; In terms of genre, it is a story of the world and individuals’ private lives in a large relationship with society; In terms of narrative, the narrator needs to keep an objective attitude and distance from the characters; In terms of language, it is close to everyday speech but ensures aesthetics In order to see the importance of novels as "the main character of the literary development process" (M Bakhtin), as well as its role in culture - literature reform, the thesis briefly summarizes the development process of literary genres, thereby coming to the affirmation that this genre always "reflects more deeply the transformation of reality itself", setting the basic milestones of the artistic process, of the modernization process of the world’s as well as each nation’s literature In Nhat Linh’s works, novels are the prominent genre that best demonstrates his progress in a period when novelists were given a great "mission" of reforming literature in association with national reform 1.1.2 Theory of the relationship between literature and culture - The concept of culture Culture is a concept with many different interpretations The thesis only uses a number of popular definitions, each of which emphasizes its own area of interest, whereby we see that culture is a product of human beings and then from culture, each person and community shows its own unique characteristics Literature is one of the highest cultural products; Through literature, one can understand the culture of a period and a community; Conversely, cultural values are expressed, affirmed, selected, handed down and preserved through literature From this understanding, we see the object of investigation, i.e Nhat Linh’s novels, as the transformation of aesthetic cultural values of the transitioning period, i.e when transitioning from Medieval to Modern era, there are inevitably major changes: reforming the nation following the West but continuing to maintain and protect the national identity at the same time - The relationship between culture and literature from theory to application The thesis outlines the literary approach in relation to culture in the world as well as in Vietnam, affirming that this is not a new direction, has achieved remarkable achievements in the research of Tran Trong Kim, Hoai Thanh, Đinh Gia Trinh, Phan Ngoc, Tran Ngoc Vuong, Tran Nho Thin, Huynh Nhu Phuong, Do Lai Thuy, Nguyen Dang Diep and so on Applying the concept of "base system" of the Russian theorists, Iu Tynianov and M Bakhtin, we view the object in three interconnected whole systems: the whole system of literary works, the whole system of literature and the whole system of culture; in which, culture is considered as the base system From that, the research subject has been developed on those three whole systems, from wider to narrower, i.e from the cultural system to the literary works, to be specific, from the whole system of culture in the accelerated period of the modernization process of Vietnamese literature in 1932 - 1945, to the whole system of SRLG’s literature, and finally to the whole system of Nhat Linh’s novels 1.1.3 Theory of literature reform Reform is an inevitable law of operation and development in all fields, to some extent, it is considered a revolution The reform of Vietnamese literature that took place from the late 19th century to early 20th century was essentially a paradigm shift The thesis examines this change in literature from the Middle Ages to the Early Modern and Modern periods and found that by the beginning of the 20th century, literature was gradually getting rid of all constraints of the old paradigm, looking for new ideas, values, aesthetics, and replacing community people with individual people In this paradigm shift, we pay special attention to the change of the genre system and the new conception of functions of literature Literature at the time oriented towards the issue of national independence and freedom by "educating people, awakening people’s mind, developing people’s livelihood" Thus, the need for literature reform lies right in the need for literature modernization and national independence This "dual need" was clearly identified by the SRLG and its leader, Nhat Linh 1.2 Research situation of Nhat Linh’s novels 1.2.1.Researching Nhat Linh’s concept of novels Nhat Linh’s concept of novels was formed and gradually accreted in the whole process from when he had not yet written a novel (before 1925) to the time he was writing novels (1925-1940) and the post-SRLG period (1949-1960) In his view, we note two essential requirements in novels: One is upholding an objective attitude towards reality, not blatantly interfering in the arrangement of the story It is a new perspective on the death of "writer - God" and democratic attitude respecting readers The other is promoting good writing, i.e the vividness in the description, not in twisty and thrilling plots, which is necessary to make "the characters on the page really have their own life" 1.2.2 General research on the position and characteristics of Nhat Linh’s novels - Before 1945 During this period, Nhat Linh was highly regarded as a new novelist and thesis novelist Two aspects that are highly appreciated are narrative techniques and psychoanalytic skills Although there are mixed opinions about the ideological content of Lạnh lùng (Glacial) or Đời mưa gió (A Rough And Tumble Life), very few people criticized his writing technique Simultaneously, critics also found that although using literature to convert, Nhat Linh’s thesis novels are not unemotional and dogmatic, but carries fresh colors and emotions, attracting people's hearts - From the August Revolution of 1945 to before 1985 Nhat Linh’s novels received different evaluations and receptions in the North and the South: the North rejected everything related to Nhat Linh, including novels; The South accepted and respected the his values, considering him as a leader who has both vision and talent for organizing, planning guidelines and plans for the whole group in carrying out the mission of culture - literature reform and reforming his novels at the same time From 1986 to the present Looking back and reviewing SRLG shows the turning point in repositioning Nhat Linh This is evidenced by a series of domestic and foreign seminars, releases of the writer's works, and studies on him His role as a novelist is increasingly being appreciated, especially from today's point of view, with many critics still noting the writer's novel techniques Nhat Linh’s novels have become a choice in the writing theses and dissertations in Vietnam as well as the world 1.2.3 Research on the actualization of the SRLG’s reform policy of culture and literature in Nhat Linh’s novels Researches on SRLG and Nhat Linh using the culture - literature interdisciplinary method includes Vu Gia’s works (Nhất Linh tiến trình đại hóa - 1995, "Tự lực văn đoàn số ý tưởng canh tân Nguyen Truong To” - 2014); Van Gia (“Cải cách thôn quê - chủ đề mang ý nghĩa khai sáng tiểu thuyết TLVĐ” - 2013); Doan Anh Duong and others, Phong Hố đại - Tự lực văn đồn tình thuộc địa Việt Nam đầu kỷ 20 - 2020) Compared with the above works, our thesis is more full-scale and systematic, and is implemented parallel at two levels At the first level, it covers a wide range of SRLG’s innovation, puts novels in the system of other genres, shows the literary effectiveness besides the effectiveness of journalism and social activities; At the second level, it provides an in-depth analysis of the novel by one of the most elite members of the group, showing how effectively the content, ideology and art of the novel are achieved when actualizing the reform policy of literature and culture for contemporary society as well as for the spiritual life of Vietnam in the future Sub-conclusion of chapter From the overview of related issues, we come to the conclusion: - Choosing novels as the main “characters” of SRLG is an active and wise choice and it conforms to the internal development laws of regional literature and culture and of Vietnam in the East-West culture integration in the first half of the 20th century, especially in the accelerated period of literature modernization of 1932-1945 - Choose the interdisciplinary method: Researching Nhat Linh’s novels as a means of actualizing the reform policies of culture and literature can only go in the direction of interdisciplinary research Chapter OVERVIEW OF THE SELF-RELIANT LITERARY GROUP’S REFORM POLICY OF CULTURE AND LITERATURE 2.1 The fundamental factors influencing the birth of the Self-Reliant Literary Group 2.1.1 The need to reform the country in the context of East-West cultural contact - The need to modernize culture and society Entering the 20th century, Vietnamese culture and society gradually parted ways with the Middle Eastern literary orbit of the pre-modern model to begin the transition to a modern model following the Western model, leading to a change in the conception of culture - literature, of creators and the public, and of the form of genre The thesis pays attention to the emergence of new cultural subjects: commoner intellectuals, urban poor people, students, salaried civil servants of the French government, merchants, bourgeois, etc forming an intellectual class who understood French and Western civilization and culture This is the most dynamic part of the cultural integration process with the world From the urban environment, with such new components, emerged an important element - individual consciousness - The need for modernization is closely linked with the need for national liberation Upon the failure of the armed struggle movements at the beginning of the century, a sense of a new way to gain independence was formed: the growth of the nation, first of all by expanding the people’s knowledge, that is, by growth in culture Thus, the need for national liberation is seen in the interaction between nationalism and modernity, as internal and external movements 2.1.2 The first achievements of the modernization process At the beginning of the twentieth century, Vietnamese literature entered a period of urgent modernization and has won a visible victory: - Effects of the national language script and the development of the press: Thanks to printers and the publishing system, the publications of books and newspapers quickly reached a large number of readers Newspapers written in the national language script played a great role in fostering knowledge and modern thinking for the community - Forming a more complete and modern genre system than before: short stories, novels, plays, literary studies Those are the fundamental factors that laid a solid foundation for SRLG to continue the unfinished culture - literature reform, which will complete the new conception of literature, reflecting a civil society with typical images as new cultural subjects 2.1.3 Nhat Linh’s talent in organization and desire to contribute to culture Nhat Linh himself identifies the importance of culture, writing that "culture has more lasting power to change than politics" As a person of clear direction and steadfast determination in the chosen path, Nhat Linh quickly realized the path that he would follow: Culture reform through social activities and literary creation, with the goal of emancipating individual people and aiming for a free and democratic life The organizational talent of the SRLG’s leader was reflected in the stages of principle formulating, planning, managing, publishing, assignin, etc - In terms of the principle: not to target a small number of intellectual readers like academic newspapers, but to "expand the people's knowledge" in a larger audience, with diverse and easy-to-understand topics - In terms of planning to modernize the country's culture: advocated creation instead of translation in order to raise the level of Vietnamese culture, affirm national qualities and individual talents That principle went alongside with choosing an appropriate style: satire is the main spirit of Phong Hoa and Ngay Nay This choice 11 The time when the SRLG appeared was when the novel was popular and sold very well In such a trend, writing novels is an inevitable choice for the writers in the group to attract common intellectual readers - the target audience of the "educating people” policy With such a choice, writing novels became both a goal and a mission Among the seven members, except Tu Mo, the three main pillars also three novelists Nhat Linh, Khai Hung, Hoang Dao and the remaining members had written novels before When talking about this style of literature, we are referring to the SRLG’s novels 2.3.2 The major contents which novels undertakes of the actualization of the SRLG’s culture - literature reform policy - Abolishing old-fashioned feudal ways of thinking, opposing authoritarian family values which crush the human’s rights and happiness - Building individual role models with high aspirations and ideology - Building a modern literature in the pure and beautiful Vietnamese language: With that language, the SRLG’s literature successfully described the beauty of nature and the human soul - Creating a diverse style: Although SRLG mainly followed the romantic movement, they are not boring Each pen knows how to create his own style, making a literary group with various personalities - Acquiring new techniques to bring about modernity: bringing an end to the Eastern chapter novels The SRLG’s novels followed the psychological structure, not taking events as the main focus but paying attention to describing the "human soul" - Building a modern reading community: With a content that met social needs and an easy-to-understand language, their literature was well-received and reflected community life Sub-conclusion of chapter All of the writing, journalistic, and social activity fields of SRLG aimed at actualizing the reform policy of culture and literature in the direction of modernization and in the specific context of the East - West culture contact The SRLG’s novels became a "brand", as it gradually shaped itself into a style and color that later generations will develop, complete, and create Vietnamese modern novel literature Chapter THE MAJOR ISSUES OF THE CULTURE - LITERATURE REFORM MISSION EXPRESSED IN NHAT LINH’S NOVELS 3.1 The dissemination of positive elements of Western civilization 3.1.1 Affirmation of personal ego Manifestations of the affirmation of personal ego: - Claiming the right to self-determination of life: With the imposition of the feudal family, Nhat Linh’s characters voiced their right to decide on their own, free life, "living for oneself and following one’s will at first”, at least in terms of personal feelings: Loan (Breaking With The Past) declares that her marriage is her own 12 decision; Nhung (Glacial) told her mother “I have the right to get married”; Dung (Breaking With The Past) accepts to be rejected by his parents, leaves home, and embarks on a stormy life, etc All of those shows the self-control of an individual - Demanding respect: Affirming themselves as an independent individual, Nhat Linh’s characters not accept humiliation When dignity is violated, Tram, Loan, and Nhung all protest Forsaken by Phong, Tram (Sunny Autumn) does not bend down to beg, resolutely "stand up, fix the rim of the scarf, then slowly come out, two tearful eyes looking straight ahead as if looking at no one" When Loan (Breaking With The Past) finds her dignity is "not as equal to the dignity of an animal", she declares: "No one has the right to curse me, no one has the right to hit me", "You are a human, I am also a human No one is better than anyone else" - Claiming to live to one’s personality: the sense of personality is the highest sense of individual consciousness Dung (The Two Friends) and Tuyet (A Rough And Tumble Life) yearn to live following the call of a "distant realm" The intention to build personal ego as the need to fulfill the aspiration for culture and literature reform has combined the characteristic of novefl characters (people with lives and private aspirations) and Western methods (inner thought analysis) to create new characters of Nhat Linh’s novels 3.1.2 Respect of democracy This was shown in Nhat Linh’s works through the following expressions: - Dialogue between the “son” generation and the “father” generation: In the past, descendants followed the standard of the words “dutifulness” and “filial piety” Parents had the right to arrange their children's lives regardless of their agreement Dung's parents (Breaking With The Past and The Two Friends) insist that Dung will have to marry Tuan phu's daughter; Loan's parents (Breaking With The Past) set up a marriage for her and Than when she was a child; and Nhung (Glacial) apparently have to live a widow’s life to be worthy of the "A woman of virtues" title, etc Nhat Linh’s characters begin to break the game, conduct dialogues, set a new "standard", and require their opinions to be respected Then they start to win victory, for example, Phuong (Glacial) struggles with her parents and definitely refuses to have an arranged marriage because she "fell in love" with another man, etc - The desire of a woman to be equal to a man both mentally and physically In a society where only men have the right to leave home and build their dreams of life, Loan (Breaking With The Past) aspired to live and behave like Dung In Nhat Linh’s world, even a mute girl like Tram (Sunny Autumn) has the right to be literate like a normal person, "I will be like everyone else, I can also read books, I can also write letters." Another aspect of this aspiration is the demand for equality with men for the 13 right to love and enjoy sensual pleasures, such as Tuyet (A Rough And Tumble Life), Nhung (Glacial), etc 3.1.3 Building a sense of community From promoting the personal ego and the spirit of democracy, Nhat Linh, the intellectual activist, went to a higher step: building a sense of community That is each individual is aware of the common values, follows ethical standards, is responsible for complying with them, and aims for a just, philanthropic and civilized society With such policies, we can see that a series of characters of the SRLG express their concern about social ideals Duy (The light road), Dung (Breaking With The Past, The Two Friends), Canh, Hao, and Thanh Duc (Băn khoăn) always wonder about how they live, what their lives are useful for the social life Dung in The Two Friends and Breaking With The Past does not accept the languid lifestyle that only worries about personal happiness, and wonders about the greater reason of life They have the appearance of the time: "A family’s farewell, an indifference” showed us the need for a reflection on the sense of community, for a more humane society in the future Individual freedom - democratic spirit - sense of community are successive steps in Nhat Linh’s enlightenment credo These steps are all related to the word “awakening”: awakening to gain personal freedom; awakening to a spirit of selfgoverning, finding oneself as equal to everyone and everyone being equal to oneself, and voluntarily following social morality; awakening to live in the harmony between private and common interests, with a strong and prosperous community 3.2 Carrying out the cultural synthesis towards the modern spirit 3.2.1 Abolishing corrupt institutions and cherishing good traditional values - Abolishing the idea of respecting men yet disrespecting women Women like Loan and Nhung are victims of this conception They become housemaids, "baby machines" in the husband's house Their protest actions, whether successful or unsuccessful, show that the time has come for this ideology to cease to exist - Honoring the traditional qualities of the Vietnamese people: filial piety, ingenuity, courage and aspiration for a peaceful and warm family life of Vietnamese people In addition, in his works, Nhat Linh still showed respect for custom and rituals such as visiting graves and commemorating the dead, or New Year's greetings and sacred moments of New Year's Eve It promotes individuality and warns the consequences of radical rebellion 3.2.2 Sketching a model of civilized society organization 14 This civilized society model was formed in Nhat Linh’s ideas from pre-SRLG period in the short story Giấc mộng Từ Lâm (Dream of Tu Lam) Perhaps from that "dream" he established the House of Light program, established the SRLG to build the society as he wished In the novel, perhaps because of the dispersion, Nhat Linh did not fully show the process of forming a civilized social model through a novel character like Hoang Dao in the Con đường sáng (The Light road) If he did, Nhat Linh just stopped at sketching out a happy family model For him, a happy family must first of all be a family where marriage must be made by love More importantly, to build and maintain happiness, each family member must be respected and have equal rights If family is the basic unit to form a society, then perhaps Nhat Linh wanted to create a civilized society from civilized families It can be seen that in the Principles of SRLG, there was a hidden direction for a theory, a model: the combination between East and West, nation and world, aiming for a modern Western-style society, yet imbued with Vietnamese identity 3.3 Building a model of modern fiction and standard literary language 3.3.1 Modern fiction format and the unraveling of its requirements As an organizer of a literary group that takes novels as the main force in modern literature, aiming to reform culture and literature, Nhat Linh of course had to envision a model of fiction that met the demand Based on novels written before 1945 and the Writing And Reading Novels essay, based on the principles of SRLG, it is possible to propose a model of modern fiction according to Nhat Linh’s understanding as follows: - In terms of scale, it may not be too large, from 100 to 200 pages more or less, but the novel can show all the limits of space and time, reflect the fate of many lives, that is enough for the plot, conflict and characters to develop The Two Friends begins with a flashback, showing the story lasting from more than two years ago to then and unfolding forward - Regarding the plot, most of the works are romantic love stories with open endings Couples share the same soul but face difficulties because of the difference in their background (wealth - poverty, freedom - loss of freedom or because of some great call of the society) It is a love between a man and a woman, but all are almost "pure", not going beyond the limit (except for the couple Nhung - Nghia), yet the "beyond the limit" details are not clearly described) - Regarding topics and ideology, the story must be new, updated to the social life: the oppression of feudal families, the right to an individual's private life, the right to freely choose one's own path, the aspiration and idealism for a better society Such things can be found in Sunny Autumn, Breaking With The Past, Glacial, and The Two 15 Friends - Regarding the specific characteristics of the main character, it must be a modern character in Western conception: having personality and their own voice The character does not appear as someone fixed in a frame of personalities and fate It has to interfere with relationships, communication, dialogues, drawing everyone into its conflict, whether publicly (in Breaking With The Past, Sunny Autumn) or privately (in Glacial), even arousing the dialogue with readers, bringing readers to reflections on life and the times - In terms of structure: classically harmonious, usually contrasting or symmetrical In Breaking With The Past, there is a contrast between the two views, new and old, the symmetry between Loan's shameful daughter-in-law fate and her beautiful love affair with Dung In The Two Friends, there is a contrast of closed and open space: the "dark and heavy" atmosphere in the father's family (Mr Tuan) and the boundless open windy space of the son (Dung) Besides, there is a symmetry between the desire for love and idealism In White Butterfly, there is a balanced and harmonious structure to the perfection: the correspondence between the beginning and the end, the dialogue between life and death, the inner and outer journey, between East and West 3.2.2 Establishing the objectivity of the narrator The character of Nhat Linh’s novel has his own voice The narrator stands aside, acting as an objective narrator, connecting events in space and time so that the characters appear naturally and logically, highlighting their own personality As a result, the character begins to live his life, defining his own voice, his own personality For example, in order to portray the character of a tyrannical, overbearing woman who wants to humiliate and hurt her daughter-in-law, Nhat Linh let Ms Phán to address Loan as người, mợ, cô, chị, nó, mày, kia, tơi, tao, bà which are clearly visible Or, the character of Loan's husband will also reveal himself as an uneducated, mediocre, patriarchally minded person through language and tone: "Shut up, shut up now", "You mustn't lie", "loser" Loan in Breaking With The Past is active, brisk and ready to argue clearly when needed, while Loan in The Two Friends is more sensitive, less expressed in language, she communicates with eyes, smiles and even silence The two Dung are both mysterious in their behaviors, noble in their characters, but the contemplative quality of the one in The Two Friends is full of poetry and more philosophical In contrast with medieval literature, objectivity is also expressed through the creation of space and time, first of all related to nature Sunny Autumn has 18 over 80 pages describing nature These scenes are arranged in a vertical direction, so that the 16 horizontal direction is where the main events of the story intertwine 3.3.3 Developing principles of language application in literary creation Nhat Linh is interested in commner readers - also the subject that needs education from SRLG The language of Nhat Linh’s novel shows the following compatibility with this subject: - Regarding vocabulary: minimize the use of Sino-Vietnamese language, maximum use of pure Vietnamese words Nhat Linh’s characters are all expressed in simple and elegant words, even when expressing her bitterness and anger, Ms Phan and Ms An not use obscene words, and when her grievances are revealed, Loan and Tuyet also not utter the words of "lower class" - Regarding syntax and cohesion: Overall, it can be seen that the use of syntax in Nhat Linh’s works is quite clear even when expressing inner problems, the text is cohesively organized The sentences are smooth and rhythmic, natural and simple However, that does not make the text boring as the sentence structure is always changing Sub-conclusion of chapter In Nhat Linh, the novelist's qualities converge with that of the culturist, and both are revolutionary in ideology, policy planning and implementation The urgent demand for a modern novel met the need to enlighten people's knowledge at the most crucial points: abolishing corrupt institutions, awakening the individuality, and attaching importance to the spirit of democracy That is both the thought of the times and the feature of the modern novel As a revolutionist in literature and culture, Nhat Linh initially succeeded in the above plans and shaped a modern novel style, to promptly meet the needs of the existing situations Chapter EFFECTS OF THE ACTUALIZATION OF THE SELF-RELIANT LITERARY GROUP’S REFORM POLICY IN CULTURE - LITERATURE EXPRESSED IN NHAT LINH’S ART OF NOVEL 4.1 Discovering new art conflicts 4.1.1 Predominant art conflicts in novels in the previous period In the feudal era, with the conception of upholding functional and moral people, literature mainly focused on conflicts over moral qualities Through that conflict, literature performed the function of "teaching" The literature of the early twentieth century still followed the Medieval era in preserving the imprints of the old kind of conflicts: one side is reason and duty, the other is emotion and aspiration; one side is the public interest (the common one) and 17 the other is the personal interest (the private one) - the victory is always won by the former side In the 20s and 30s, there was a more complicated tension between these two sides Le Nuong in Nguyen Tuong Tam's Nho Phong is an example: she is the image of a woman at the transition between tradition and modernity: she is doomed and tolerant but daring to resist an arranged marriage; she looks forward to a golden parasol of returning home to pay thanks to ancestors after achieving honors but takes responsibility in life like a modern woman Besides the above basic conflicts, although it is uncommon, it foreshadowed the potential for innovation of literature that is the appearance of more and more "non-normative" elements besides the "normative" ones , causing the irregularity that is on the "periphery" to gradually move into the "central" position of literary life, for example gender issues, change in the conception of class struggle, wealth - poverty, etc., which Nhat Linh would promptly target, transform into the fundamental conflicts of his time, showing his acumen to grasp the development trend of new relationships and newly arisen problems in the process of cultural history - literature of the nation 4.1.2 Family conflict - the conflict marking the turning of the times As a culturist, Nhat Linh is sensitive to the shift in social conceptions of conflict, specifically: - The hindsight for class conflict, between the rich and the poor, between the ruling class and the ruled class These contradictions were still existing and the subject of literature at that time However, Nhat Linh’s pen points navigated towards another conflict which was more practical: the conflict between the individual person and the community, between the free personality and the draconian institution, between the female and the male gender, etc Obviously, in the development process of national literature history, this was a different and new way of posing the problem, which deserves to be recognized as an important effect of the actualization of the culture and literature reform policy - Attention to gender issues: Women in traditional literature used to appear as the main, thematic characters of the work (Chinh phu ngam, Truyen Kieu, etc.) but always regarded the “victim” when we viewed them in the old-fashioned conflict The heroine of Nhat Linh took off the "victim" portrait and decided to build their own image thanks to their Western education background, proactively faced their fate, and dreamed of building a new life with men They were different and new figures than at that time and until today, when the gender issue is being stirred up in recent social life and literature This effect shows Nhat Linh’s vision in reforming the country's literature and culture 18 - Focusing on family conflicts: By looking back at old conflicts in a new light, Nhat Linh had transformed all their manifestations into a new conflict, the kind of conflict that marked the turning point of the times - family conflict Therefore, it could be said that this conflict was also the result of a new thought in the process of realizing culture and literature reform Nhat Linh considers it as the central conflict And once a conflict was considered as being at the center, social crisis that needed to be addressed strategically would also be evaluated Considering family conflict as the central conflict, we realized a turning point of modern thought: transforming a functional person in moral ethics into a personality person with private aspirations; transform the cosmic man, the superior man, the duty man with "universe mission" into an ordinary man with personal concerns for himself, for life's happiness as he conceived All of Nhat Linh’s spearheads during the war were focused on family conflicts, whether it was a thesis novel or a psychological novel Writing about family, Nhat Linh has seen it in many layers when placing the traditional Vietnamese family in the context of collisions with Western culture to explain the cause of the disintegration of the extended family which existed for thousands of years before conflicts and struggles could not be neutralized In the works of Sunny Autumn, Breaking With The Past, Glacial, The Two Friends, Nhat Linh did not build a family model with good traditions, but showed that the family model was rickety with barriers that hinder children's happiness, causing conflicts among members and leading to the breakup of a "happy home" The results of these conflicts created new people, who were no longer resigned to the harsh restrictions, broke through the old moral bonds, sought new moral values, and lived a new life, dreaming of a more democratic and civilized society model Obviously, with the policy of culture and literature reform, Nhat Linh discovered an extremely important internal contradiction of society at that time, a kind of turning-point conflict when the old one died and on the background of the old that nail gave birth to new characters Reading the pages of these books written on this issue, as a result, readers seem to be enlightened, more passionate about their human life, and wish to contribute to building a civilized, democratic and charitable community 4.1.3 Personal - social conflicts and inner conflicts which were not coincided with themselves When focusing all the spearhead on family conflict, Nhat Linh’s novel was forced to deal with a fundamental arising problem: the conflict of the individual with society and the conflict within people that did not coincide with themselves These 19 two conflicts exist side-by-side and each had its own intrinsic value, and at the same time, was interconnected and transformed each other, showing the complexity of contemporary contradictions that can only be found in the new type of novel Personal conflict with society was an external conflict, when people faced and struggled directly with the old and barbaric remnants of feudalism Considered as a tool to enlighten people’s mind, the novel must be innovative, compatible with the complex and multi-dimensional problems of the new age, and compatible with the kind of readers who increasingly demand a "spiritual reality", a higher kind of "copied reality" Therefore, in an effort to renew the novel, Nhat Linh has come to discover a new kind of conflict - a conflict between people that did not coincide with themselves, a kind of inner conflict, when people faced themselves and self discovered themselves It was clear that the presence of this kind of conflict is the result of the renovation and renewal of a new tool of cultural propaganda - the genre of the novel The thesis spends a few pages analyzing these symbols, through the works The Two Friends, Glacial, White Butterfly In short, in order to renew the novel as an effective tool for culture and literature reform, Nhat Linh discovered a series of new conflicts, creating a turning point in the genre's development history This is the writer's contribution to the process of modernizing Vietnamese literature 4.2 Building the image of new characters 4.2.1 Rebellious character figure The world of Nhat Linh’s rebellious characters, first of all, are ordinary people, their rebellious behavior is not the heroic type, using violence to overthrow a certain force to take their place Second, they are all young, educated, and knowledgeable, so their rebellious behavior is not a temporary damage, but comes from the awareness of the reality of being disenfranchised Their fighting was to reason with arguments, step by step to persuade the other party, if not, they are willing to leave their narrow family to go into a larger and free world Third, this character world includes both men and women, and even the women seem to be more dominant The inclusion of women in the ranks of "rebellious characters" is a great value of Nhat Linh’s novel 4.2.2 The image of a person serving the ideal In this type of character of Nhat Linh, we see two prominent stages: the stage of "The redundant person" and the stage "the committed person" Nhat Linh’s character meets the conditions (youth, education, wealth, social position, etc.) to be happy but still dissatisfied They push themselves to the edge of society, living indifferently and depressedly Pham Dai in Làm mà khoăn thế, Tran 20 Luu in Dream of Tu Lam, Dung in The Two Friends are such people, always sad and miserable because they find their life is not useful, life is boring and monotonous and condensate The "committed man" has many similarities with the type of "Confucian scholar practicing religion" in Vietnamese literature and the character “Con người tìm lý tưởng'' in Russian literature Being aware of the emptiness of the soul when life is to "only think about myself, it is always sad" (The Two Friends), they anxiously searched for a way out Men characters such as Dung, Thai, Can, Tao, Truc, etc were well-educated to become a master, he said, but they all shook off their clothes with the wish "a career needed, not a position and fame" (Điều tâm niệm thứ tám - Hoang Dao) They are still "on the way", still "looking" for something new The journey has not ended, making the image of "Con người phụng lý tưởng" bring a romantic beauty, continuing to beckon young readers, share with them reflections on the reason for life, and urge them to "go” and to “find” 4.2.3 The image of "The failed person" The image of the "failed person" in Nhat Linh’s novel can be identified through two typical cases: "The-failed-rebellious-man" and "The man-servant-idealfailure-" In Nhat Linh’s series of novels about family conflict, we see a series of "rebellious children", and it can be said that the victory belongs to them, when traditional morality is defeated by the desire to live and self-determination of the younger generation Only one character failed in that rebellion - Nhung The last voice in “Glacial” belongs to the feudal cult - a delicate and cunning gold bracelet The character's failure gives readers a taste of the fierceness of the struggle for the right to life, it reflects the eternal aspirations of human freedom The second "failed man" image in Nhat Linh’s novel belongs to those who set out to find the truth This type of character is not trivial, in them they exude antiimperialism, anti-imperialism and a desire to find a future social model 4.3 Forming a new novel language 4.3.1 Diversify language groups Nhat Linh creates different language groups, showing the social and cultural background of the speaker: the language of the housemaids and the language of the owners, the language of the passionate talker Ideals and language of those who give up their lives, the language of representing the old institution and the language of representing the new one, etc These languages both contradict each other and support each other, showing a vivid, diverse, complex world - the real world in real life Loan's language shows a modern, powerful, astute bride-in-law - expressed in words, 21 syntax, and reasoning, and very consistent, no matter what she said with anyone, under any circumstances As a child who argues with her parents, we find that Nhung (Glacial) has a different language from Loan: it is an explanation, a plea, not a request, a claim like Loan Because it is an explanation, the argument is a little bit roundabout, not as blunt and logical as in Loan’s This not only creates "conflict rafts", but moreover, "symmetric rafts", showing that family conflict is viewed from different angles, both intense and complex in the way of each family Similarly, the linguistic groups are both "contradictory" and "symmetric" in Ms Phán (Loan's mother-in-law) and Ms Án (Nhung's mother-in-law) The diversity of languages has reflected the policy of openness, mutual listening, mutual feedback, accepting Western-style diversity rather than accepting one style and one direction It is also the point of view of respecting individual people, upholding democracy, and accepting the diversity set forth by the Principles of the SRLG 4.3.2 Visual language - Visual language through describing nature and surrounding creatures: Firstly, nature is no longer a shadow of reality used to speak of the mind, expressing the concept of the personality and morality of "pine - chrysanthemum - bamboo apricot" in ancient literature; secondly, it is no longer constant but always reasonably changes according to the circumstances and in the eyes of the "subject" observer towards an "objective world", showing the "subjective view" of the artist For example, the same description of the sun, but in each work, each segment in the same work are different tones of life - Visual language through describing human portraits: Nhat Linh draws less men than women, and only uses modern female characters: Loan, Thu, Nhung, Tram He used both brush strokes: the narrator's direct brush and the male character's pen who is falling in love, so the girls appeared both with a gentle, seductive look, and a synthesis of the characters taste of love, perceived by sight and smell (fragrance) Thus, Nhat Linh’s portrait pen is like a sketch on the outside, just trying to convey something inside, very unique to each subject 4.3.3 The language of inner expression That inner world is expressed by Nhat Linh in many different language forms - Nature as a special “language” to describe the inner feelings Many times he presents nature as an object of observation and then that nature quickly dissolves into the character's feeling, rather than the narrator's external vision - Character language as a method of inner description Through two forms of 22 inner monologue, Nhat Linh has built highly personalized characters with unique personalities and a rich inner world In the dialogue language of the characters there is monologue and vice versa, in the monologue there is dialogue With this uniqueness, Nhat Linh has deeply expressed the inner world of the characters and the most subtle states, which exist not only in the conscious form but also subconsciously and unconsciously Sub-conclusion of chapter When determining the need to renew novels as an effective tool for spreading new culture, Nhat Linh built a new type of novel in the direction of modernization in all aspects of content and form, specifically - A novel with new themes and conflicts - A type of novel with new characters who have perceived a new culture - A kind of novel with a modern literary language - A novel that is both imbued with national identity and rich in humanity and modernity - A type of novel that meets the needs of predilection, aesthetic needs and the need to "enlighten the people's knowledge" for new readers, a type of audience that SRLG is targeting as the object of culture and literature reform 23 CONCLUSION The level and bravery of SRLG in intercultural dialogue allowed them to carry out culture - literature reform: Appearing in the 1930s and operating in roughly ten years, SRLG proved to be the first and only socio-cultural reform group of Vietnamese literature ever Nhat Linh and his associates proved themselves as qualified and brave culturists to confidently enter the East-West, traditional-modern intercultural dialogue and direct the cultural flow of Vietnam Therefore, they were fully qualified to receive the spiritual heritage of their predecessors to legitimately carry out Vietnamese culture - literature reform in the accelerated modernization period of 1930-1945 and determine long-term plans for the national spiritual life, i.e cultural synthesis towards modern spirit The intercultural approach is an effective method for studying Nhat Linh’s novels with the actualization of the Self-Reliant Literary Group’s reform policy of the culture and literature: Choosing to survey literary works in connection with culture and placing the subject in the context of current globalization has shown that Nhat Linh’s novels have great value as an artistic tool to reform social reality Researching the subject from this perspective is not only considering the content and art aspects of the work, but also seeing their close relationship with the urgent requirements of the times and the thought of enlightening society To achieve the above meanings, approaching the topic by interculturalism is a valid and effective way, affirming that literature is an effective weapon in liberating human spirit towards a more civilized, progressive and humane society Nhat Linh’s novels successfully planned and actualized the SRLG’s policy of culture - literature reform in all aspects related to the principle of educating people: abolish the old, promote the new, affirm individuality and diversity, appreciate democracy, develop community sense, carry out cultural synthesis towards the modern spirit, and build models of modern novels Those are both the thoughts of the times and the theme of new literature With the above meanings, Nhat Linh’s novels discover new major conflicts, showing the development of artistic thinking in parallel with the course of history (family conflict, individual - society conflicts, and conflict with oneself), new characters with social imprints, spiritual faces, worldview, and human outlook of the times (rebellious characters, social characters, failed character) This shows that literature is not only a means of artistic communication but also a tool to fight, construct social spiritual life, and discover great values that are still meaningful until today, in which the spirit of freedom, personal ego and gender issues are prominent 24 ones These are the same principles that contribute to universal humanistic values towards the search for a more progressive and reasonable model of social organization Nhat Linh’s novels are a genre model with a modern shape, laying the foundation and fulcrum for Vietnamese novels to develop in the future In order to meet the new readers’ needs of trends, aesthetics, and "educate people", Nhat Linh’s novels have constantly sought to innovate, from thesis novels to psychological novels, from worries about the world to worries of a metaphysical nature The latter work is always more advanced and modern than the former, far surpassing the conventional descriptions of pre-novelists in both narrative structure, artistic thinking and language structure: Western syntax, Vietnamese expressive vocabulary, language diversity, persuasiveness, aesthetics to readers, new reflections and receptions It is this type of novel that allows people to understand the structural, relational, and operational properties of Vietnamese society in an important period, i.e it has both artistic value and historical value After nearly a century, this novel format is still close to us, in both technique and art, and not too foreign to today's literary discourse Development potential of the topic: Although Nhat Linh’s novels have been exploited a lot but has not been exhausted, especially research in the direction of interculturality, when the author himself left many ambiguities about ideas and big dreams that need to be deeply examined in the perspective of historical developments and human life Research can be continued at the following levels: 1) Expanding the research from the basis of the "educating people" characteristics of Nhat Linh’s novels to his other genres; 2) Researching on the culture - literature reform in Nhat Linh’s novels with the works of other representatives inside or outside SRLG within the scope of literature or treatise; 3) Studying the characteristics of culture - literature reform in Nhat Linh’s works in relation to the works of a particular foreign enlighteners LIST OF PUBLISHED WORKS Nguyễn Thị Hoàng Mai (2016), “Những cách tân nghệ thuật tiểu thuyết Nhat Linh”, Science Journal of Vinh University, vol 45, issue 2B/2016, pp.34-39 Nguyễn Thị Hoàng Mai (2021), “Khát vọng canh tân đất nước lực tổ chức hoạt động văn hoá - xã hội Nhat Linh”, Journal of Science of Ho Chi Minh City University of Education, vol 18, issue (2021), pp.21-29 Nguyễn Thị Hồng Mai (2021), “Hình tượng “Nhân vật nữ loạn” tiểu thuyết Nhat Linh (Thời kỳ Tự lực văn đoàn)”, Science Journal of Ho Chi Minh City University of Education, vol 18, issue (2021), pp.1191-1199 Nguyễn Thị Hoàng Mai (2021), “Tiểu thuyết Nhat Linh nhìn từ tiến trình thể loại”, Theory and Criticism of Literature and Arts Magazine, issue 5/2021, pp 69-78 Nguyễn Thị Hoàng Mai (2021), “Những nhân tố thúc đẩy đời Tự lực văn đoàn”, Science Journal of Vinh University, vol 50, issue 3B/2021, pp.99 - 105 Nguyễn Thị Hoàng Mai (2021), “Nhat Linh với việc xây dựng mơ hình tiểu thuyết đại”, Literary Studies Magazine, issue (594) 2021, pp.47-59 Nguyễn Thị Hoàng Mai (2021), “Văn chương Tự lực văn đồn chương trình giáo dục phổ thơng miền Nam (1955 - 1975)”, Science & Technology Development Magazine - Social Sciences and Humanities - VNUHCM, Vol 5, N03/2021, pp 1166-1171 ... in Ms Phán (Loan's mother-in-law) and Ms Án (Nhung's mother-in-law) The diversity of languages has reflected the policy of openness, mutual listening, mutual feedback, accepting Western-style... Nhat Linh’s novel can be identified through two typical cases: "The-failed-rebellious-man" and "The man-servant-idealfailure-" In Nhat Linh’s series of novels about family conflict, we see a... (“Cải cách thôn quê - chủ đề mang ý nghĩa khai sáng tiểu thuyết TLVĐ” - 2013); Doan Anh Duong and others, Phong Hoá đại - Tự lực văn đồn tình thuộc địa Việt Nam đầu kỷ 20 - 2020) Compared with