Vietnamese literature
Encyclopedia
Vietnamese literature is literature
, both oral and written, created largely by Vietnamese-speaking
people, although Francophone Vietnamese and English-speaking Vietnamese authors in Australia
and the United States
are counted by many critics as part of the national tradition. For a millennium before the 11th century, Vietnam
was dominated by China
and as a result much of the written work during this period was in Classical Chinese
. Chữ nôm, created around the 10th century, allowed writers to compose in Vietnamese using modified Chinese characters. Although regarded as inferior to Chinese, it gradually grew in prestige. It flourished in the 18th century when many notable Vietnamese writers and poets composed their works in chữ nôm and when it briefly became the official written script. While the quốc ngữ
script was created in the 17th century, it did not become popular outside of missionary groups until the early 20th century, when the French
colonial administration mandated its use in French Indochina
. By the mid-20th century, virtually all Vietnamese works of literature were composed in quốc ngữ.
. Not only is the Chinese script foreign to modern Vietnamese speakers, these works are mostly unintelligible even when directly transliterated into the modern quốc ngữ script due to their Chinese syntax and vocabulary. As a result, these works must be translated into colloquial Vietnamese in order to be understood by the general public. These works include official proclamations by Vietnamese kings, royal histories, and declarations of independence from China, as well as Vietnamese Poetry
.
, Đoàn Thị Điểm's chữ nôm translation of the poem Chinh Phụ Ngâm Khúc (征婦吟曲 - Lament of a Warrior Wife) from the Classical Chinese poem composed by her friend Đặng Trần Côn (famous in its own right), and poems by the renowned poet Hồ Xuân Hương.
. During the early years of the twentieth century, many periodicals in quốc ngữ flourished and their popularity helped popularize quốc ngữ. While some leaders resisted the popularity of quốc ngữ as an imposition from the French, others embraced it as a convenient tool to boost literacy. After declaring independence from the French in 1945, Ho Chi Minh
's Viet Minh
provisional government adopted a policy of increasing literacy with quốc ngữ. Their efforts were hugely successful, as the literacy rate jumped overnight.
In those early years, there were many variations in orthography
and there was no consensus on how to write certain words. After some conferences, the issues were mostly settled, but some still linger to this day. By the mid-20th century, all Vietnamese works of literature are written in quốc ngữ, while works written in earlier scripts are transliterated into quốc ngữ for accessibility to modern Vietnamese speakers. The use of the earlier scripts is now limited to historical references.
Literature
Literature is the art of written works, and is not bound to published sources...
, both oral and written, created largely by Vietnamese-speaking
Vietnamese language
Vietnamese is the national and official language of Vietnam. It is the mother tongue of 86% of Vietnam's population, and of about three million overseas Vietnamese. It is also spoken as a second language by many ethnic minorities of Vietnam...
people, although Francophone Vietnamese and English-speaking Vietnamese authors in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
are counted by many critics as part of the national tradition. For a millennium before the 11th century, Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
was dominated by China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
and as a result much of the written work during this period was in Classical Chinese
Classical Chinese
Classical Chinese or Literary Chinese is a traditional style of written Chinese based on the grammar and vocabulary of ancient Chinese, making it different from any modern spoken form of Chinese...
. Chữ nôm, created around the 10th century, allowed writers to compose in Vietnamese using modified Chinese characters. Although regarded as inferior to Chinese, it gradually grew in prestige. It flourished in the 18th century when many notable Vietnamese writers and poets composed their works in chữ nôm and when it briefly became the official written script. While the quốc ngữ
Vietnamese alphabet
The Vietnamese alphabet, called Chữ Quốc Ngữ , usually shortened to Quốc Ngữ , is the modern writing system for the Vietnamese language...
script was created in the 17th century, it did not become popular outside of missionary groups until the early 20th century, when the French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
colonial administration mandated its use in French Indochina
French Indochina
French Indochina was part of the French colonial empire in southeast Asia. A federation of the three Vietnamese regions, Tonkin , Annam , and Cochinchina , as well as Cambodia, was formed in 1887....
. By the mid-20th century, virtually all Vietnamese works of literature were composed in quốc ngữ.
Classical Chinese/Hán Văn (漢文)
Many of the official documents in Vietnamese history were written in Classical ChineseClassical Chinese
Classical Chinese or Literary Chinese is a traditional style of written Chinese based on the grammar and vocabulary of ancient Chinese, making it different from any modern spoken form of Chinese...
. Not only is the Chinese script foreign to modern Vietnamese speakers, these works are mostly unintelligible even when directly transliterated into the modern quốc ngữ script due to their Chinese syntax and vocabulary. As a result, these works must be translated into colloquial Vietnamese in order to be understood by the general public. These works include official proclamations by Vietnamese kings, royal histories, and declarations of independence from China, as well as Vietnamese Poetry
Vietnamese poetry
Vietnamese poetry originated in the form of folk poetry and proverbs. Vietnamese poetic structures include six-eight, couplet of seven sextuplet of eight, and various styles shared with Classical Chinese poetry forms, such as are found in Tang poetry; examples include verse forms with "seven words ...
.
Chữ nôm (字喃)
Works written in chữ nôm don't suffer the understandability problems that those in Classical Chinese are susceptible to. For the most part, they can be directly transliterated into the modern quốc ngữ script and be readily understood by modern Vietnamese speakers. However, since chữ nôm was never standardized, there are ambiguities as to which words are meant when a writer used certain characters. This resulted in many variations when transliterating works in chữ nôm into quốc ngữ. Some highly regarded works in Vietnamese literature were written in chữ nôm, including Nguyễn Du's Truyện KiềuThe Tale of Kieu
The Tale of Kiều is an epic poem in Vietnamese written by Nguyễn Du , and is widely regarded as the most significant work of Vietnamese literature. It is even used as a source for bibliomancy. The original title in Vietnamese is Đoạn Trường Tân Thanh , but it is better known as Truyện Kiều...
, Đoàn Thị Điểm's chữ nôm translation of the poem Chinh Phụ Ngâm Khúc (征婦吟曲 - Lament of a Warrior Wife) from the Classical Chinese poem composed by her friend Đặng Trần Côn (famous in its own right), and poems by the renowned poet Hồ Xuân Hương.
Quốc ngữ
While created in the seventeenth century, quốc ngữ was not widely used outside of missionary circles until the early 20th century, when the French colonial government mandated its use in French IndochinaFrench Indochina
French Indochina was part of the French colonial empire in southeast Asia. A federation of the three Vietnamese regions, Tonkin , Annam , and Cochinchina , as well as Cambodia, was formed in 1887....
. During the early years of the twentieth century, many periodicals in quốc ngữ flourished and their popularity helped popularize quốc ngữ. While some leaders resisted the popularity of quốc ngữ as an imposition from the French, others embraced it as a convenient tool to boost literacy. After declaring independence from the French in 1945, Ho Chi Minh
Ho Chi Minh
Hồ Chí Minh , born Nguyễn Sinh Cung and also known as Nguyễn Ái Quốc, was a Vietnamese Marxist-Leninist revolutionary leader who was prime minister and president of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam...
's Viet Minh
Viet Minh
Việt Minh was a national independence coalition formed at Pac Bo on May 19, 1941. The Việt Minh initially formed to seek independence for Vietnam from the French Empire. When the Japanese occupation began, the Việt Minh opposed Japan with support from the United States and the Republic of China...
provisional government adopted a policy of increasing literacy with quốc ngữ. Their efforts were hugely successful, as the literacy rate jumped overnight.
In those early years, there were many variations in orthography
Orthography
The orthography of a language specifies a standardized way of using a specific writing system to write the language. Where more than one writing system is used for a language, for example Kurdish, Uyghur, Serbian or Inuktitut, there can be more than one orthography...
and there was no consensus on how to write certain words. After some conferences, the issues were mostly settled, but some still linger to this day. By the mid-20th century, all Vietnamese works of literature are written in quốc ngữ, while works written in earlier scripts are transliterated into quốc ngữ for accessibility to modern Vietnamese speakers. The use of the earlier scripts is now limited to historical references.
Folk literature
Unlike written literature, early oral literature was composed in Vietnamese and is still accessible to ordinary Vietnamese today. Vietnamese folk literature is an intermingling of many forms. It is not only an oral tradition, but a mixing of three media: hidden (only retained in the memory of folk authors), fixed (written), and shown (performed). Folk literature usually exist in many versions, passed down orally, and have unknown authors.Myths
Myths consist of stories about supernatural beings, heroes, creator gods, and reflect the viewpoint of ancient people about human life. They consist of , creation stories, stories about their origins(Lạc Long Quân, Âu Cơ), culture heroes (Sơn Tinh or Mountain Spirit- Thủy Tinh or Water Spirit).Legends
External links
- Culture of Vietnam encyclopedia
- Việt-Học Thư-Quán - Institute of Vietnamese Studies - Viện Việt Học Many pdfs of Vietnamese literature books
- Translating Vietnamese poetry
- Vietnamese Poetry Collection