From oral tradition to poetry
Before the question of writing had an influence on literature, it was carried by oral tradition, thanks to a corpus of tales and legends that continue to irrigate Vietnamese culture. The proverb(Con rong, cháu tiên) is a reminder of the founding myth of the encounter between Âu Co and Lac Long Quân. The former was a terrestrial goddess, the latter an aquatic monster; this "dragon" was also reflected in the name given to Hanoi in ancient times: Thang Long. From this love, which consecrated the union of land and sea, a hundred eggs were laid: half were fertile and gave birth to the original Vietnamese people. Several versions exist, adding fantastical elements and clarifying the genealogy of these divinities, but other legends - such as Thân Tru Tròi - prefer the hypothesis of a giant god who set about erecting a pillar supporting the vault of heaven, the remains of which are said to remain in the Hai Duong region, east of Hanoi. In addition to these creation stories, there are various fairy tales that have been repeated from generation to generation, right up to the present day. Some, strangely enough, echo those of our youth, such as Tâm Cán, named after two half-sisters, where the poor heroine bears many similarities to the European Cinderella. Others, on the other hand, are more typical: in a pagoda (Buddhist temple), for example, the son of a mandarin sees a young woman - who turns out to be a fairy - in the tale Tù Thúc Gap Tiên.
As is their wont, oral tradition and poetry go hand in hand, and the major art form is unsurprisingly the first to be transcribed into written form in Vietnamese literature, which already deserves the name despite emerging from a thousand years of Chinese domination (111 BC - 932 AD). And yet, this domination was still being felt, not least because one of the most popular poetic styles was directly inspired by Tang poetry - a reference to the eponymous dynasty (618-907), reputed to be the golden age of Chinese poetry. These poems were written to particularly strict metrical standards, and were intended for the literate classes. On the other hand, other forms, more specifically Vietnamese, such as luc bat, were freer while respecting the law of rhyme and verse. They were intended for all strata of society, and their success ensured their continued existence.
Three alphabets for one language
Although, as we've said, Vietnam gained its independence from China in the middle of the 10th century, its writing also helped perpetuate this domination. Chu Hán, based on Chinese characters and considered "learned", remained the standard, both for poetry and for official documents such as the Thien do chieu edict proclaiming the transfer of the capital to Hanoi (then Dai La) in 1010, the many imperial histories, or, in another literary genre, the Linh Nam Chích quái, wonderful tales attributed to Vū Quynh (1452-1516). This vast body of material is no longer intelligible to today's Vietnamese: some texts are still taught in schools, but only after a multi-stage translation process.
Yet things were bound to change, both in content and form. Thus, while early poetry - at least that intended for the learned - explored Buddhist themes, Confucian scholars soon imposed their own style, more clearly marked in favor of a certain patriotism, as their position with politicians grew. The Hanoi Temple of Literature, a Confucian academy founded in 1070, which welcomed within its walls members of the royal family as well as the sons of eminent civil servants, is a sign of this turnaround. This monument - classified as a historical monument in 1906 - still exists: in addition to appearing on banknotes, it is also one of the Vietnamese capital's tourist highlights. Not least of all, the working classes began to demand their own script, based on new characters that were specifically Vietnamese rather than Chinese. The first inscription in Chu Nôm dates back to 1210: a list of people on a stele in the Tu Già Báo Ân pagoda in the village of Tháp Mieu. Trân Nhân Tông (1258-1308), third emperor of the Trân dynasty, decided that chu Nôm would be used in his proclamations to the people, demonstrating that its use would be very different from that of the learned script chu Hán, which would retain its official status, except for short periods. In fact, the new alphabet was scorned for a long time. Gradually, however, translations appeared in chu Nôm of texts previously written in chu Hán, or even Chinese. At least one timeless classic is Chinh phu ngâm (Lamentations of the Soldier's Wife), of which the poetess Doàn Thi Diêm (1705-1748) wrote a much-appreciated version.
Without faltering or faltering, chu Nôm came to be the writing of choice for literary scholars, who found in it a particular sensibility: never formalized, it also offers absolute freedom. As a result, some of the most famous texts in the Vietnamese repertoire are written directly in this "language", such as Kim-Vân-Kiêu by Nguyen Du, born in 1765 in the northern province of Hà Tīnh. This 3,254-line poem, written in Luc Bát versification, is inspired by the plot of a Chinese novel, and depicts a young woman who sacrifices herself by marrying a pimp to save her family. It is said that this work reflects the Vietnamese soul like no other. However, some have seen it as a political criticism of the dissensions between the Trjnh family (in the North) and the Nguyen family (in the South). Another poet is Ho Xuân Huong, whose biography is as fragmentary as her surviving work, but who is thought to have been a native of Nghê An province, living from 1772 to 1822. Be that as it may, her surviving poems have earned her the reputation of "Queen of Nôm Poetry". Alas, this literary momentum was destined to come to an abrupt end, when the country once again found itself under a foreign yoke and lost access to its own distinctive style of writing.
A turbulent end to the millennium
Having interfered in the conflict between the Trjnh and the Nguyen, France annexed the south of the country (the colony of Cochinchine) before imposing itself on the north (the protectorate of Tonkin) and the center (the protectorate of Annam): Vietnam, split into three entities, became part of French Indochina in 1887. Between 1918 and 1920, the colonists banned chu Nôm and formalized a new writing system that was not so recent after all: chu Quoc ngu. This alphabet, based on the letters of the Roman alphabet, actually dates back to the 17th century. Invented by colonists of Portuguese origin, such as the precursor Francisco de Pina, it was theorized by Alexandre de Rhodes (Avignon, 1591 - Ispahan, 1660), who published a Latin-Portuguese-Annamite dictionary (the ancient name given to Vietnamese) in Rome in 1651. While some saw Quoc ngu as a symbol of new foreign oppression, others saw it as a unifying force in a country that was already broken up. What's more, since it's easier to learn, since no Chinese prerequisites are required, this alphabet also opens a door. Thus, in the early 30s, the Tuc Luc Van Doan (By Its Own Strength) group formed in Hanoi and decided to renew literature by following Western influences. This was seen as a wind of freedom that would allow the possibility of subjectivity, after Confucianism and before Communism, which were reluctant to tolerate "I" writing. Unfortunately, periods of conflict were to give writers a further opportunity to talk about themselves: war was to become the recurring theme that fuelled twentieth-century literary production, while a new form, also Western, was to take hold: the novel.
The list of authors expressing themselves - despite everything - is long and abundantly translated into French, thanks to the commitment of publishers such as Picquier and Riveneuve. We could mention Pham Duy Khiêm, born in Hanoi in 1908 and who died in Sarthe in 1974, whose Légendes des terres sereines - folk tales he skilfully collected - are still available from éditions de la Frémillerie, but above all Duong Thu Huong, who was born in 1947 in the Thái Bình region and is recognized as the leader of the revival of Vietnamese literature in the 80s. A peace activist, she is also a prolific novelist. Her novel Terre des oublis is one of those that cannot be forgotten, but represents only a small part of her work, which can be found at Sabine Wespieser (Au zénith, Les Collines d'eucalyptus, Les Paradis aveugles, Sanctuaire du cœur, etc.)
We should also mention Minh Tuong Hoang and his family saga - Le temps des génies invincibles - which takes root in 1945, Nguyên Huy Thiêp (1950-2021), the first contemporary writer published in France after the Indochina War, some of whose titles are still being published by Editions de l'Aube(Mademoiselle Sinh, Crimes, amour et châtiment, Mon oncle Hoat et autres nouvelles), or Bao Ninh, who wrote just one book, Le Chagrin de la guerre (éditions Picquier), with such an explicit title. While Nguyên Quang Lâp's Fragments de vie en noir et blanc (Picquier) and Pham Thi Hoài's La Messagère de cristal (éditions Des Femmes-Antoinette Fouque) are unfortunately now out of print in our language, it's worth pointing out that both these authors have had run-ins with their country's authorities over their writings. Without aiming to be exhaustive, it would be difficult not to mention Linda Lê, who left Vietnam for France in her early youth. A discreet author, yet widely recognized by her peers, she lost her life early in 2022, leaving a body of work that includes chronicles(L'Armée invisible published by Cerf) and, above all, novels, sometimes inspired by autobiography(Je ne répondrai plus jamais de rien published by Points, Héroïnes: un rêve éveillé published by Bourgois, À l'enfant que je n'aurai pas published by Nil...). Admittedly, the ties between Vietnam and France are gradually weakening, no doubt leading to a drop in the number of translations and forgetting that a new generation of writers, who did not experience the war, is now speaking out and seems determined to assert itself. Viet Thanh Nguyen, born in 1971, is a good example, with Le Dévoué (10-18) about re-education camps and refugees, as are Phong Diep(Blogger, Delete, Riveneuve) and Phan Hon Nhien(Cheval d'acier, also Riveneuve).
