The Renovation movement began in 1986 when Nguye^~n Va(n Linh, sometimes referred to as "Vietnam's Gorbachev," took over as General Secretary of the Party following the death of Le^ Dua^?n, an arch-conservative. Secretary Linh and his reform-minded allies began a process of quite radical change, the most fundamental being the move away from centralized control and toward a market economy.
Cultural Background
Before the movement for renewal became official and was given a name, significant developments
were already taking place in literature and the arts. When the war ended, writers and critics in
Hanoi hoped that masterpieces depicting their victory would be written. When no great works were
forthcoming, these writers and critics felt compelled to explain why. In an influential article entitled
"Writing about War" that appeared in 1978 in Literature and Arts in the Army [Va(n Nghe^.
Qua^n Ddo^.i],1 Nguye^~n Minh Cha^u, a well-known army journalist and writer,
suggested that the works produced about the war had failed to satisfy readers because they did not
pose psychological or social problems or express the attitude of the author. Perhaps avoiding
these topics was appropriate during the war, he suggested, when everyone involved in the struggle
was afraid that admitting individual fears would have weakened courage, but now that the struggle
was over it was time for writers to reassess their strategies. We have fallen into the habit of writing
a "wishful realism" (hie^.n thu+'c u+o(+c mo+), Nguye^~n Minh Cha^u said. Perhaps it is time to
return to "actual realism" (hie^.n thu+'c DDang to^'n ta.i).
Hoa`ng Ngo.c Hie^n, a literary critic and trainer of literary cadres, enlarged upon Nguye^~n Minh Cha^u's views in a article that appeared seven months later in Literature and the Arts [Va(n Nghe^.]. In this Soviet-trained critic's view, writers have become too concerned with writing "what should be" (pha?i to^'n ta.i) instead of "what is" (DDang to^'n ta.i). They have adopted "doctrinaire realism" (chu? nghi~a hie^.n thu+'c pha?i DDa.o), a kind of writing that follows preconceived rules and discourages the telling of truths.2 At this time critics, even those officially sanctioned like Nguye^~n Minh Cha^u and Hoa`ng Ngo.c Hie^n, had to speak cautiously and a little obscurely: since the term "socialist realism" (chu? nghi~a hie^.n thu+'c xa~ ho^.i chu? nghi~a) had acquired an almost sacred quality, it was better to avoid it and to attack "doctrinaire-ism" and a literature of "what should be." But clearly what both men were pointing out is that pressure from the Party to write socialist realism was stifling creativity.
Writers as well as critics began to chafe at the bit of socialist realism several years before Renovation policy was officially inaugurated. Nguye^~n Ma.nh Tua^'n, Nguye^~n Thi. Ngo.c Tu', and Nguye^~n Kha?i, for example, all published novels before 1986 that exposed the incompetence and greed of Party members and talked of losses as well as victories, of cowardice as well as heroism. Although an article in which the exile critic Nguye^~n Hu+ng Quo^'c surveys works by these authors has been translated ("Vietnamese Communist Literature"), I know of no translations of the works themselves.
As is clear from the annotations of their works, these writers depart from the strictures of socialist
realism. According the Nguye^~n Hu+ng Quo^'c, they depart in four ways. First, these writers
"recognize an internal conflict between the proletariat and the nature of socialism" (344). The Party
line has always been that the socialist regime and the people share the same ideals and goals. All
negative phenomena can be traced to the enemy. This view led to a division of characters into two
factions, one progressive and one reactionary. Renovation writers, however, reveal situations in
which the Party leadership is the problem and they produce characters who are complex mixtures
of good and bad traits.
This first "renovation" shades over into the second: a willingness to recognize evil or badness ("ca'i
xa^'u"). Previously in communist literature badness could be ascribed to rich land owners and
members of the bourgeoisie but not to the "new socialist man," certainly not to Party officials who
were supposed to be wise and capable of solving all problems. According to Nguye^~n Hu+ng
Quo^'c, this willingness to see badness in a wider range of people has reintroduced a tragic
element in Vietnamese literature. Writers could again dampen their pages with tears, something
that was difficult before Renovation.
In the late 70's the critic Hoa`ng Ngo.c Hie^n had already recognized a problem with typical
characters. An individual, he said, is attached to certain groups based on social class, ethnicity,
religion, vocation, etc. and certain characteristics have been associated with each group. "But we
know," he continued, "that the adding together of those characteristics will not produce an individual
person, will not clarify the individual aspect, the unique capacity and particular appearance of the
person." Nguye^~n Hu+ng Quo^'c identifies a reaction to the typical and a return to individual
expression as his third renovation. Renovation writers, he says, "recognize that in literature there is
reserved a fairly extensive territory for the 'I,' for the personal aspect of people, ordinary common
people" (345). Nguye^~n Minh Cha^u suggests that during the war writers voluntarily avoided
personal expression for fear of releasing floodgates of emotion that would weaken the will to resist.
Clearly, however, socialist realism, from Engel's famous definition (See Section VII) to more recent formulations, has encouraged the
depiction of "typical characters under typical circumstances." Personal cries of anguish such as
Ba?o Ninh's the Sadness of War and individual portraits of corrupt officials such as Uncle
Chi'nh in Du+o+ng Thu Hu+o+ng's Paradise of the Blind did not fit the formula.
Nguye^~n Hu+ng Quo^'c's fourth departure from socialist realism is not a feature of renovation
writing but rather a changed definition of the acceptable canon. Previously, he argues, only
"useful" literature (va(n ho.c co' i'ch), literature supporting the revolution and socialism, was
accepted. After Renovation, the leadership allowed a category of works that in its view might not
be "useful" but were judged "harmless" (vo^ ha.i ). Many pre-war stories and poems that had been
labeled bourgeois and reactionary, including those by Nha^'t Linh and other members of the Self-
Strength Literary Group (See Section II), could be reprinted and sold in
bookstores. New works, including many listed in this section, could be published.
Despite the current retreat from openness, the Vietnam literary scene has been profoundly affected
by the Renovation movement. The debates surrounding socialist realism, Nguye^~n Huy Thie^.p's
iconoclastic short stories, and the firing of Nguye^n Ngo.c have energized writers and critics alike
and may be the prelude to increased literary achievement.
Renovation Literature
Increased momentum for change occurred after the Sixth Party Congress in 1986. At this
congress, Party leaders emphasized the responsibility of the media and the press to boost the spirit
of the masses and suggested they could do this by ensuring truthfulness and avoiding simplistic,
cliche-ridden accounts. In October, 1987, Nguye^~n Va(n Linh, the new Party Secretary,
personally attended a memorable meeting of writers and artists and participated with them in a
frank dialogue about the state of creative activity. The Party Secretary suggested that the creative
elite could play an important role by investigating problems facing the country and enlisted their
help in the battle against bureaucratism and corruption. In remarks he made at the end of this two-
day exchange, the Party Secretary stated that "one must hold fast to socialist realism," but he
suggested that writers who properly adopt this approach are not afraid to attack evils, even evils in
people holding important posts in the Party, if these evils prevent the new socialist man from
emerging (Nguye^~n Va(n Linh 123). This invitation from the most powerful person in government
signaled a major change in policy and had an immediate liberating effect on literary production in
Vietnam. Most works from the North listed in this section were produced or published during this
period of openness that lasted from roughly 1986-87 until 1988-89. Contacts with the West were
easier during this period and they facilitated the translation and publication abroad (not always with
government approval) of works by Ba?o Ninh, Du+o+ng Thu Hu+o+ng, Nguye^~n Huy Thie^.p, and
Pha.m Thi. Hoa`i.The Movement Was a Moment
The window of opportunity that allowed works with the features enumerated above was not open
for long. In December, 1988, Nguye^n Ngo.c, author and editor of Va(n Nghe^. [Literature and the
Arts] was sacked, presumably for publishing stories by Nguye^~n Huy Thie^.p. Most observers
believe it was Nguye^~n Huy Thie^.p's historical stories--"A Sharp Sword," "Fired Gold," and
"Chastity"--that angered some Party leaders. In these stories traditional heroes such as Quang
Trung, who drove out the Chinese in 1789, are treated irreverently; and traditional villains such as
Emperor Gia Long, accused by patriots of making deals with the French, are treated
sympathetically. The reformist faction began to lose power, no doubt in part because
conservatives were alarmed by the collapse of communist governments in Eastern Europe and
events at Tian An Men Square. Even General Secretary Nguye^~n Va(n Linh lost his zeal for
openness and began to speak of the dangers of irresponsible dissent. In January, 1990, new press
regulations were passed which tightened censorship and warned of incorrect interpretations of
Renovation freedoms. In 1991 DDo^~ Mu+o+`i, a conservative, replaced Nguye^~n Va(n Linh as
Party Secretary.
Recent developments indicate that pro-reform elements, at least those in favor of artistic freedoms,
are still in retreat. In the economic sphere, however, freedoms have not been curtailed and the
move toward a market economy has become a race (if not a stampede). It appears that Vietnam is
following the Chinese model of granting freedoms to business people but not to writers and
journalists. Whether this policy will be successful remains to be seen. In one sense, literary and
economic freedoms are intertwined. One impetus for relaxing central control of literature and
journalism was economic: lacking funds to support many publications, the government told
agencies that their journals would have to become self-supporting. To attract readers and make a
profit these journals began to include sensational stories and pictures, often culled from foreign
publications. In addition, the influx of modern communication technology--photocopiers, fax
machines, video cameras and recorders--makes strict control of the dissemination of printed
information and images extremely difficult. As Western-style consumerism spreads, it will no doubt
create its own momentum for freedom.4
Sources
A collection of seventeen recently written (most in late 80's, early 90's) short stories, part of a series
of books to "enlighten travelers to the soul of a place" (ii). Most stories are by northerners whose
works became known in the West during the Renovation period--Ba?o Ninh, Du+o+ng Thu
Hu+o+ng, Nguye^~n Huy Thie^.p, and Pha.m Thi. Hoa`i. Six are by Vietnamese now living in the
West (Some of these could be considered exile narratives). Editors purposely avoided "war stories"
and stories "carrying heavy political freight," but war and politics are in the background. In their
choices (four stories by the iconoclast Nguye^~n Huy Thie^.p, for example), the editors appear
eager to represent modern (even postmodern) works--works that break sharply with previous
narrative styles. Many stories reveal Vietnamese trying to adjust to a new commercialism
associated with Vietnam's move to a market economy.
In this story a former soldier remembers a night in Hanoi twenty years ago when he and a woman
he had never met before ended up holding each other in their arms during a B-52 bombing raid.
When the raid is over, the soldier leaves to help others. Later he searches for the woman's house
but can't find it because the trolley that he used to mark its location has moved. Vividly describes a
B-52 raid from the perspective of those under the bombs. Also suggests how a brief wartime
encounter can dominate a soldier's memory of war.
Semi-autobiographical novel: Kie^n, the leading character, is one of only ten survivors from the
27th Youth Brigade. A moving account of a man haunted by memories of lost comrades, by the
"sorrow of having survived." It is also a love story, an account of his relationship with Phu+o+ng, his
childhood sweetheart, whose life--her fall from innocence into a joyless promiscuity--suggests that
the war destroyed everything that was pure and innocent. Some readers charge that the English
text differs greatly from the original.
Describes the opposition to Party control of literature and the arts that took place in North Vietnam
from 1956-1960. (This opposition movement took its name from two journals founded by
dissidents: Nha^n-Va(n [Humanism] and Giai-Pha^?m [Works of Beauty].) Suggests
that the movement began as a response to excesses caused by the importation of Maoism from
China, excesses that included the rigid ideological control of art. The Party's repression of this
movement in 1960 meant that until around 1980 published criticism of life under communist rule
was "sporadic or shrouded in metaphor" (173). Important background for understanding the
Renovation movement.
The author of the Village that Wouldn't Die (See Section
VII) and a key figure in the Reformation movement (See introduction to this section) reflects on
his life as a soldier-writer. Provides details about writing and publishing in the communist-controlled
areas during the war. Includes rare personal information, including information about his wife, also
a soldier, who was wounded, then captured and imprisoned for six years by Saigon forces.
This issue of the Forum contains, among other things (See annotation), translations of
stories by several Renovation writers, including Nguye^~n Huy Thie^.p's historical stories (See
below), and critical articles on Renovation writers.
Written in 1990, this is the author's second novel to be translated into English (First was
Paradise of the Blind). Qua^n, the narrator and main character, describes his experiences
as a captain in the army. Main narrative is an account by Qua^n of his trip home on leave and then
his return to the front and more fighting that, by the end of the novel, has led to victory. Through
flashbacks, dream sequences, and other devices we learn of earlier events: Qua^n's mother's
death of typhoid when he was eight, his brother's death in battle, his childhood sweetheart's forced
seduction by Party officials. Though once an idealistic volunteer, the horrors of war have made
Qua^n distrust the patriotic slogans of the revolution. Main themes, besides this attack on the
rhetoric of war, are the persistence of love--for one's comrades and family members--and nostalgia
for one's youth and for village life before the war.
A novel of a woman, her mother, and her aunt all of whom are greatly affected by the land reform
campaign of 1953-56 in communist North Vietnam. All three characters struggle to maintain family
traditions threatened by doctrinaire communism in the person of Chi'nh, the uncle of the main
character and a cadre in charge of land reform. The author's disenchantment with communism is
suggested by Uncle Chi'nh's movement from ignorant devotion to communist principles to
corruption and black market dealing. Contains richly drawn accounts of everyday family life,
particularly the preparation of food, and while it doesn't describe the war directly, conveys one
woman's view of what it is like to live after decades of war and communist rule.
Provides biographical information on the author and comments on her major works. Argues that
Du+o+ng Thu Hu+o+ng's deepening disenchantment with communism and her growth as a writer
were parallel processes and that the depth of her disenchantment lends power to her writing.
Faults the author for creating characters lacking in psychological depth but says she compensates
for this weakness with detailed portraits of everyday life.
A powerful (but grim) collection of fictional stories about the aftereffects of the war by both
American and Vietnamese writers. Evolved from emotional meetings in Boston attended by
American and Vietnamese writer-veterans who decided to produce this work of reconciliation.
Given this purpose, it is ironic and sad that when the editors toured the U. S. to promote this book,
there were demonstrations in some cities by anti-communist Vietnamese.
Includes stories by Vietnamese exiles living in the U.S. as well as by Vietnamese from Vietnam.
Selections take up the following concerns: "the need to tell the story, the grief of loss and the ways
the dead continue to haunt the living, the psychologically and morally and physically wounded, the
tragedy of exile, and, finally, the displaced, the lonely, the haunted, the trapped--the children of the
war" (xiv). Eleven selections are excerpts from longer works. No information is provided on the
literary or historical context of the Vietnamese works--only short biographical sketches of the
authors--but there is no better collection in English of post-war fiction by Vietnamese.
Story of a poorly educated veteran whose wife and wife's family criticize him for not knowing how to
take care of the couple's sick baby. One night he discovers his wife has cut the straps from his
beloved rucksack that he used during the war. He holds the strapless rucksack and remembers
fallen comrades.
A father and son--both rogues--come across some American bones that they hope to sell for
millions. Before they can unload them, they are haunted by the ghost of a Black American
soldier.
A collection of twelve modern short stories, six by writers living in Vietnam, one by Nguye^~n Minh
Cha^u who died in Vietnam in 1989, and five by writers who now live in the West. Includes stories
by the best known writers of the Renovation movement: Ba?o Ninh, Du+o+ng Thu Hu+o+ng,
Nguye^~n Huy Thie^.p, and Pha.m Thi. Hoa`i. These are not traditional tales of gentle love and
sweet nostalgia, nor are they civics lessons in the socialist realism mode. Most stories about
postwar Vietnam are, as the Introduction states, "bleak portraits of a backward, rundown and
corrupt society" (xiv). Stories by exiles about life in the West are equally bleak. The editor has
chosen interesting stories and found translators who present these narratives in nicely crafted
English prose. Two stories from this collection are annotated separately: Ba?o Ninh's "A Marker on
the Side of the Boat" in this section and Mai Kim Ngo.c's "In the Recovery Room" in Section X.
A scholarly essay designed to place Nguye^~n Huy Thie^.p's stories in a historical, literary and
political context. Explains Nguye^~n Huy Thie^.p's work by contrasting it with a "standard
renovation agenda" pursued by writers like Du+o+ng Thu Hu+o+ng (See above). While Du+o+ng
Thu Hu+o+ng reveals the face of suffering caused by ignorant and corrupt Party officials,
Nguye^~n Huy Thie^.p does not "simply displace one image with another" (the image of the
revolutionary hero with the image of suffering victim, for example), but rather creates "multifaceted
images," "free floating signs" that have no "single ideological centre." Suggests that Nguye^~n
Huy Thie^.p's fiction "marks the possibility of a fundamental shift in literature's position in the
culture" (24).
An intriguing elaboration of Lockhart's introduction to his translation of eight Nguye^~n Huy Thie^.p
stories (See above). Lockhart asks whether this writer's work is more accurately termed post-
Confucian or post-modern. His conclusion: it is both. It is post-Confucian in its rejection of
didacticism, of the notion that literature must support the political-moral order. It is post-modern in
its merging of myths and history, its use of surrealism and magical realism, its deferral of meaning,
its "de-naturalizing" of standard historiography, and its lack of a clear ideological center. Nguye^~n
Huy Thie^.p's post-modernism, Lockhart suggests, results not from direct foreign influence
(Nguye^~n Huy Thie^.p knows no foreign languages) but from nascent consumerism induced by
Vietnam's movement toward a market economy.
Duye^n, a 42-year old doctor whose soldier husband was killed 12 years ago, works in a hospital
and raises her two teenage children. She meets a major, a widower, and becomes torn between
her desire for happiness with him and her sense of duty to her children and her mother-in-law.
This issue of this journal of international writing features contemporary poetry and prose from
Vietnam. Most poetry is by veterans of the war against the Americans, with some by younger
poets. Prose is by Phu`ng Gia Lo^.c ("The Night of That Day, What a Night! A True Account"),
Phan Thi. Va`ng Anh ("Pantomime"), and Ta. Duy Anh ("The Broken Curse"). Also included is an
interview by Kevin Bowen with Nguye^n Ngo.c, author of the Village that Wouldn't Die (See
Section VII), a former editor of Literature and Art, and a
leading figure in current literary debates. See this section for annotations on Phu`ng Gia Lo^.c's
story and the interview with Nguye^n Ngo.c. Phan Thi. Va`ng Anh's story describes a girl trying to
adjust to the knowledge that her father has been unfaithful to her mother. In Ta. Duy Anh's story,
the narrator pities and later falls in love with the daughter of a landowner whose family suffers
during the communist land reform campaign.
A collection of eight stories by a Renovation writer considered by some critics to be Vietnam's first
post-modern writer. Includes examples of what Lockhart calls mythical, historical, and realistic
social fiction, but doesn't include the historical stories that upset the political-literary establishment
in Hanoi (These are included in Vie^.t Nam Forum 14, edited by Dan Duffy. See Section IV
for annotation). The title story ("The General Retires"), his most
famous, is narrated by the son of a general who has retired after a successful career in the army.
The son describes his father's return to civilian life and the problems he encounters adapting to
post-war society.
These are the historical stories referred to in the preceding annotation. "Fired Gold" can stand as
an example. This is a complexly put together story (three narrators, three possible endings) about
events in the early 19th century under King Gia Long. It disturbed Hanoi authorities because one of
the narrators has some kind words for King Gia Long, who cooperated with the French, and some
unkind words for Nguye^~n Du, Vietnam's most famous writer. See Zinoman's helpful analysis
below.
Translation of Nguye^~n Va(n Linh's (Party Secretary) speech to writers, artists, and cultural
workers on the occasion of his two-day meeting with them on October 6 and 7, 1987. This is the
speech that officially announced a Renovation policy in the arts. The Secretary urges writers not to
"bend their pens" to please people but instead to be courageous in attacking evils even if they
occur among high Party officials. A proper work of socialist realism will "perceive [people's] failings
in order to make them better." In this sense writers and artists are "engineers of the soul" (ku~ su+
ta^m ho^'n)(123-24).
A short story in which the narrator critically appraises nine men with whom she has associated.
This author's work, like that of Nguye^~n Huy Thie^.p, has been called post-modern.
The narrator enrolls in a sewing class in what is called the Saigon Tailor Shop though it's located
near a railroad crossing in Hanoi. The shop, the narrator says, "was a dark train car packed with
dreams, and I had bought an express ticket to a future full of cheap dress shirts and windbreakers
with fake South Korean labels" (30). Orchid, one of the girls in the shop, is run over by the
Unification Train on an express run to Saigon. A humorous and scary vision of where Hanoi may
be heading.
This story, an example of reportage (pho'ng su+'), was originally published in Literature and
Art on Jan. 23, 1988. It describes a raid on the house of the author by commune officials and
police who mercilessly demand outstanding rice-tax contributions. Includes three letters to the
editor about this story and excerpts from an interview with the author and from a profile and a
eulogy (Phu`ng Gia Lo^.c died in 1992). This piece testifies to the rebirth during the Reformation
period of reportage, a genre that Ngo^ Ta^'t To^', Nguye^~n Co^ng Hoan and others employed in
the 1930's and 40's (See Section V).
A good explanation of the Renovation movement in literature, the reaction against socialist realism
that occurred after the Sixth Party Congress in 1986. A Postscript describes the government's
retreat from reform in 1988-89. Crucial background for understanding the political context within
which recent works by writers such as Ba?o Ninh, Du+o+ng Thu Hu+o+ng, Nguye^~n Huy Thie^.p,
and Pha.m Thi. Hoa`i are produced.
A collection of short stories and excerpts from novels designed to convey a picture of the
Vietnamese soldier. Most authors are soldier-writers from the north with established reputations as
chroniclers of army life: Hu+~u Mai, Nguye^~n Kha?i, Ho^' Phu+o+ng, and Nguye^~n Minh Cha^u,
for example. Most stories take place during the war against the Americans. All follow the rules of
socialist realism: the heroes, usually soldiers, are models of revolutionary virtue. Still no doubt
some truths are conveyed about soldiers' attitudes toward love, family, home village, and
comrades.
Critical commentary on Nguye^~n Huy Thie^.p's short story "The General Retires."
Argues that the supposedly postmodern features in Nguye^~n Huy Thie^.p's fiction are best
explained as reactions not to modernist art (which Zinoman says never circulated in Vietnam), but
to Vietnamese cultural and economic developments. Suggests that when Nguye^~n Huy Thie^.p
blurs history and fiction and the natural and supernatural, he is playfully reworking narrative
conventions employed by traditional (precolonial) story tellers. The loneliness and pessimism of
his stories are meant to oppose the "obligatory hopefulness" of socialist realism and to point out
how a growing materialism brought by the new market economy is destroying the warmth and
humanity of traditional Vietnamese life.
Critical analysis with notes of one of the three historical stories by Nguye^~n Huy Thie^.p that so
upset Party officials in Hanoi and are believed to have caused them to re-impose restrictions on
writers. This essay is reprinted in the Vie^.t Nam Forum issue (No. 14) edited by Duffy,
which also includes Zinoman's translations of the three stories.
Footnotes
1. This article, the Vietnamese title of which is "Vie^'t ve^ Chie^'n Tranh," has not
been translated. It appeared in the November, 1978, issue of the journal mentioned.
2. "Some Characteristics of Our Literature and Art in the Period Just Passed" [Ve^
Mo^.t DDoc DDie^?m cu?a Va(n Ho.c Nghe^. Thua^.t O+' Ta trong Giai DDoa.n Vu+`a Qua],
Va(n Nghe^. [Literature and Art] 23 (9 June 1979).
3. Ibid.
4. For a discussion of how Renovation has affected the circulation of information in
Vietnam, see David Marr, "Education, Research, and Information Circulation in Contemporary
Vietnam," Reinventing Vietnamese Socialism: Doi Moi in Comparative Perspective, ed.
William and Mark Selden (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1993) 337-358.
Yale University Council on Southeast Asia Studies
Dan Duffy, Editor Viet Nam Publications
danduff@minerva.cis.yale.edu
P.O. Box 208206, New Haven CT 06520-8206
203-432-3432
Web Author: Andrew Kuklewicz
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Revised: June 18, 1996
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