The cover of the book Văn Học Việt Nam Pháp Ngữ (Vietnamese Literature in French) by French-based Vietnamese author Nguyễn Giáng Hương. Photo courtesy of Hồ Chí Minh General Publishing House

Lương Thu Hương

A book about French literature authored by Vietnamese writers has been published by the Hồ Chí Minh General Publishing House, offering readers a better understanding of the literary body that has long remained obscure and overlooked in Việt Nam’s literary landscape.

French literature represents a unique segment of Việt Nam's literary expression, focusing on the country’s culture and people. Unlike the long-established tradition of Vietnamese literature written in Han Chinese and Vietnamese Nôm scripts, which has been widely accepted, studied and taught throughout Việt Nam's literary history, works in French have often been neglected, particularly in the latter half of the 20th century. This oversight has created a significant void in the nation's literary record for decades.

The book Văn Học Việt Nam Pháp Ngữ 1913-1986: Dị Biệt, Xung Đột và Hòa Giải (Vietnamese Literature in French 1913-1986: Difference, Conflict and Reconciliation) by French-based Vietnamese author Nguyễn Giáng Hương makes a crucial and valuable contribution to filling this gap.

During the expansion of colonial rule in Việt Nam, the French introduced a comprehensive system of Western thought and values that profoundly influenced the country's cultural landscape. French was taught in schools and used as the administrative language in Indochina.

In this multilingual and multicultural context, some Vietnamese intellectuals chose to adopt French – the language of the colonisers – to articulate their personal identities, which were often fraught with contradictions.

They were both subjects of a colonised nation and intermediaries navigating the cultural interactions between East and West. Their works reflect the conflicts arising from cultural differences within colonial and post-colonial Vietnamese society. In her book, Hương analyses twelve representative novels written between 1913 and 1986.

The French version of the book, published in 2018, was awarded the Renaissance Française (Understanding France) prize by the Academy of Foreign Sciences of France in 2019.

Author Nguyễn Giáng Hương. Photo courtesy of the writer

Reclaiming the voices of the forgotten

Hương conceived the idea for the book while reading several French language works rich in Vietnamese identity by authors including Phạm Văn Ký, Phạm Duy Khiêm and Cung Giũ Nguyên during her master's studies in France.

In particular, she explored President Hồ Chí Minh's archives at the Hồ Chí Minh Museum and discovered that, before becoming a revolutionary leader, he had written powerfully in French to critique colonialism using the oppressor’s own language.

Le Paria, a newspaper founded by Nguyễn Ái Quốc – later President Hồ Chí Minh – published its first issue on April 1, 1922 in Paris. Although it operated for only four years, the paper left a profound impact on French public opinion and especially on anti-colonial movements. File Photo

"These authors not only possessed literary talent but also masterfully used various artistic techniques in French to create poetry, prose, drama, and essays. Ironically, they have been completely forgotten, both in France and Việt Nam," Hương told Việt Nam News.

"The stories of these Vietnamese individuals abroad are not central to French literature, despite migration being a focal point of public discourse in that country. The sentiments of Vietnamese expatriates often go unread by those in Việt Nam, as they are expressed in a foreign language."

According to Hương, Vietnamese literature in French, although written in a foreign language, is an inseparable part of Vietnamese literature as a whole.

This segment of literature inevitably arose from and clearly testifies to the cultural and literary exchange between the French and Vietnamese from the colonial period through to the end of the 20th century.

A bridge between cultures

"The works of Vietnamese authors writing in French not only deepen our understanding of the influence of French culture in Vietnamese literature but also demonstrate the impact of Vietnamese aesthetics within the international Francophone literary landscape," she said.

By using the French language, Vietnamese writers present the beauty of Vietnamese culture and language to the global Francophone community, offering insights into human existence and life through the lens of Vietnamese perspectives.

"In other words, Vietnamese literature in French serves as a bridge connecting Vietnamese literature with world literature, where Vietnamese Francophone writers act as its most dedicated 'ambassadors'," Hương added.

Hương analyses twelve representative novels that illustrate key stages of cultural contact and reflect the evolving attitudes towards identity and transformation in a multicultural context.

"In the context of colonisation and loss of autonomy, Vietnamese authors have consistently sought to affirm their ancestral spaces and national traditions in their works. In the circumstances of migration, expatriates face an unavoidable dilemma: to integrate or to dissolve. The issue of identity becomes more urgent than ever," she explained.

"Francophone Vietnamese writers have sought a path back to their homeland through recollection and literary creation, aiming to preserve the roots of their identity."

Reviving a neglected legacy

As this segment of literature has been almost entirely forgotten in both Vietnamese and French literary history, the writer has faced numerous challenges in gathering documents for her book. Still, she considered it her greatest motivation.

These works, published either in Việt Nam or in France during the first half of the 20th century, have mostly not been reprinted since then. As a result, gathering complete original texts has proven extremely difficult and costly, as only a limited number of copies remain in the hands of rare book collectors.

"Fortunately, I found nearly all the works I needed at the National Library of France, where I spent a significant amount of time in the reading room, since the library does not allow books to be borrowed," Hương said.

Moreover, there is very little research on this area of literature, aside from the work of Professor Jack V. Yeager, The Vietnamese Novel in French: A Literary Response to Colonialism, published in 1987 and never reprinted.

"Thus, I had to read a substantial amount of material on the history, society and culture of both Việt Nam and France to create a project that is both comprehensive and rich in specific examples, with the deepest possible analyses of style and language," Hương recalled.

"Today, this work has been launched in Việt Nam. I hope it will be embraced by Vietnamese readers, leading to recognition of this literary tradition within the national literature and elevating overseas Vietnamese authors who wrote in French as 'cultural ambassadors' of Việt Nam abroad."

Hương lectures on French-language literature by Vietnamese authors at Georgetown University, Washington, the USA. Photo courtesy of the writer

According to literary researcher Phạm Xuân Nguyên, the book is vital for both Vietnamese and French book lovers alike.

"The book is essential for the French to reflect on their colonial past, recognising that there was a group of indigenous writers who used the language of the 'mother country' to express their identity," he said.

"It is also necessary for the Vietnamese to look back on their own colonial history and understand that there were local writers who bravely used the language of their conquerors to fight for their rights."

"This book by Hương, along with The Vietnamese Novel in French: A Literary Response to Colonialism (1987) by Professor Jack A. Yeager, is crucial for anyone interested in 20th-century Vietnamese literature. From here, it is hoped that the body of Francophone Vietnamese literature will gain the recognition it deserves in the history of national literature," he added. VNS

Nguyễn Giáng Hương, PhD, is the head of the Southeast Asian Language and Literature section at the National Library of France. The author has defended her doctoral thesis on the poetics of multicultural subjects in Francophone Vietnamese novels during the colonial period at the University of Paris - Nanterre.

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