VIETNAM ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES
GRADUATE ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES
TRẦN
VU THI THUONG
VIỆT HÀ
TO HOAI’S NOVELS AND MEMOIRS AFTER 1945
FROM THE GENRE PERSPECTIVE
Major: Literary theory
Code: 9 22 01 20
SUMMARY OF DOCTORAL THESIS IN LITERATURE
HANOI, 2020
The work was completed at:
Graduate Academy of Social Sciences
Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences
SCIENTIFIC SUPERVISORS:
1. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ly Hoai Thu
2. Dr. Le Thi Huong Thuy
PS.TS Tôn Thị Thảo Miên
2. PGS.TS Nguyễn Thị Bích Thu
Reviewer 1: Assoc. Prof. Ngo Van Gia
Reviewer 2: Assoc. Prof. Le Quang Hung
Reviewer 3: Assoc. Prof. Phạm Quang Long
The thesis will be defended in front of the Academy-level Thesis
Committee, at: Graduate Academy of Social Sciences, 477 Nguyen
Trai, Thanh Xuan, Hanoi at
The thesis could be found at: - National Library
- Academy Library
2020
LIST OF SCIENTIFIC WORKS RELATED TO THE THESIS
1. Article: The narrative language in To Hoai's memoirs "Dust and
Sand at Someone’s Feet" and "Every Afternoon", published in
Culture and art Magazine, No. 407 May 2018
2. Article: To Hoai’s novels and memoirs after 1945 from the genre
perspective - an overview of the research situation, published in
Science Journal of Hanoi Metropolitan University, No. 26, October
2018
3. Article: The Poetry in novel The West by To Hoai, published in
Journal of Social Sciences Manpower, Graduate Academy of Social
Sciences, No. 5, 2019
4. Article: Portrait of some characters in To Hoai memoirs,
published in Science Journal of Hanoi Metropolitan University, No.
34, October 2019
5. Article: Memoir substance in the To Hoai’s novels after 1945,
published in Science Journal of Hanoi Metropolitan University, No.
36, December 2019
INTRODUCTION
1. The necessity of the subject
1.1. History of Vietnamese literature has many prominent names,
among which it is impossible not to mention To Hoai – an excellent
writer of modern Vietnamese literature. He also made his mark and
achieved success in many fields. To Hoai's contribution was recorded
in both stages before and after the August Revolution in 1945.
Especially in the period after 1945, To Hoai gained more
achievements, more works, more diverse genres. With many typical
works written after 1945: Mười năm (Ten Years, novel - 1958), Miền
Tây (The West, novel - 1967), Cát bụi chân ai (Dust and Sand at
Someone’s Feet, memoirs - 1992), Chiều chiều (Every Afternoon,
memoirs - 1999), Ba người khác (Three Others, novel - 2006), To
Hoai actually became a writer of unique, fascinating novels and
memoirs. Approaching a literary phenomenon from a genre
perspective is a "alluring" research direction, which always contains
newness, is a way to find the originality in each author's style and is
also a path that promises to make certain contributions. In the period
after 1945, especially during the Doi Moi period, genre interaction
was both intrinsic and autonomous in the process of mobilizing the
life of the genre and showed the awareness of renewing the writing
style of creative subject. To Hoai's writing is no exception to that
rule. To Hoai on the one hand, closely sticking to specific
characteristics of the genre, on the other hand, has a tendency to
interweave the genre: novel-esque memoir, memoir-esque novel.
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This creates a prose writing style, a To Hoai kind of author that
different from previous and contemporaneous writers. From these
foundations, we have implemented the thesis To Hoai’s memoirs
and novels after 1945 from the genre perspective.
2. The purposes and tasks of the thesis
2.1. The research purposes
- To clarify the creative perspective and innovation of artistic
thinking by To Hoai writer in the period before and after 1945,
especially after
1986, thereby highlighting the appearance,
movement, development, and the continuing and acculturation of the
art of writing novels and memoirs in each stages.
- To identify characteristics of To Hoai’s novels and memoirs after
1945 from the perspective of genre, explain the genre interaction
between novel and memoir; thereby confirming the position,
contribution, style and talent of the writer in the progress of modern
Vietnamese literature.
2.2. The research tasks
- To systematize research works on To Hoai novels and memoirs
in general and after 1945 in particular.
- To identify characteristics of To Hoai’s novels and memoirs,
clarify his stages of writing novel and memoir, the writer’s
perspective and the artistic thinking renewal of the writer.
- To identify characteristics of To Hoai’s novels and memoirs after
1945 from the perspective of genre
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- To clarify the interweaving and blurring of the genre boundaries
between To Hoai’s novels and memoirs after 1945, the artistic effect
of genre interaction.
3. Object and scope of the research
3.1. Object of the research
- To Hoai’s novels and memoirs after 1945 from the genre
perspective.
3.2. Scope of the research
- Surveying a number of promient novels and memoirs of To Hoai
after 1945: Ten Years (novels - 1958), The West (novels - 1967), Dust
and Sand at Someone’s Feet (memoirs - 1992); Every Afternoon
(memoirs - 1999); Three Others (novel - 2006). During the research
process, a number of works by writer To Hoai and other writers will
be referenced for comparison.
4. Research methodology
- The main research methods: Biographical method, poetics method,
interdisciplinary method, comparative method, systematic method.
5. New contributions of the thesis
The thesis is the first specialized research on the system of To
Hoai’s novels and memoirs after 1945, relatively completely
reconstructing the appearance and development process of the two
main genres in To Hoai’s works during this period.
The thesis shows the characteristics of To Hoai's novels and
memoirs after 1945 from the genre perspective, the interaction
between the novel and the memoir of To Hoai after 1945 to see the
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imprint of style, poetic characteristics and narrative techniques of the
author.
6. Theoretical and practical significances of the thesis
6.1. Theoretical significances of the thesis
Studying To Hoai’s novels and memoirs after 1945 is to clarify the
genre's characteristics as well as the identification of how to blend and
erase the boundaries of the genre, thereby contributing some knowledge
of genre theory and suggestion some problems with creative practices
and the reception of modern Vietnamese novels and memoirs.
6.2. Practical significances of the thesis
To Hoai is one of the most prominent authors who is taught in
schools. The research results of the thesis can be used in the study,
teaching and learning of Vietnamese literature at high school and
university level.
7. The structure of the thesis
In addition to the Introduction, Conclusion and Bibliography, the
thesis consists of 4 chapters:
Chapter 1. Research overview
Chapter 2. Genre and appearance of To Hoai’s novels, memoirs
Chapter 3. Characteristics of To Hoai’s novels and memoirs after
1945 from genre perspective
Chapter 4. Genre interaction between To Hoai’s novels and
memoirs after 1945
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CHAPTER 1. RESEARCH OVERVIEW
1.1. Overall research on To Hoai’s novels and memoirs
In modern Vietnamese literature, To Hoai has always been a name
that attracts a lot of attention, discovery from readers, researchers and
critics, especially provides the gaps for in-depth research. Research
on the To Hoai’s novel has the opinions of researchers such as Vu
Ngoc Phan, Phan Cu De, Ha Minh Duc, Tran Huu Ta... These
opinions have confirmed the value and attractiveness of his novels,
and also provided suggestions for the study of specific novels of To
Hoai. Research on To Hoai memoirs were conducted by Ha Minh
Duc, Nguyen Dang Manh, Vuong Tri Nhan, Van Thanh, Pham Viet
Chuong, Ly Hoai Thu... These authors have made sharp comments
about To Hoai's memoirs and being a premise for the study of
specific memoirs by To Hoai.
1.2. Specific research works on To Hoai’s novels and memoirs
after 1945
1.2.1. On specific novels
Research works, articles on Ten Years (1958), The West (1967),
Three Others (2006) have been conducted in many angles. The
authors have pointed out the unique values of To Hoai’s novels in
terms of content and form. These works have achieved certain
results, contributing significantly to the research and discovery of To
Hoai literature. However, the issue of genre has not been discussed in
depth, and also has not been considered as an outstanding aspect of
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ideas, thinking and creative style which dominated the novel
characteristics of the writer after 1945.
1.2.2. On specific memoirs
His two memoirs, Dust and Sand at Someone’s Feet (1992) and
Every Afternoon (1999) after being published have attracted the
attention of the public. The authors often focus on studying To
Hoai’s memoirs from the perspective of narrative and poetics, which
often goes into aspects such as language, tone, style... Although,
there are many works on To Hoai's memoirs. but it is still not yet
completed because until now there has not been a comprehensive and
systematic study on the characteristics of To Hoai's memoirs after
1945.
1.2.3. On the interaction between To Hoai‘s novels and memoirs
Research on the interaction between the novel and the memoir To
Hoai had some opinions and reviews. The main opinions discussed
the penetration of novel substance into the memoir and vice versa.
Discussing the penetration of memoir into novel genre, focusing on
some opinions of authors such as Nguyen Huu Son, Tran Hoa Minh,
Chu Mong Long, Tran Viet Thien... Discussing the penetration of
novels into memoirs, concentrated on some opinions of authors such
as Nguyen Dang Diep, Ly Hoai Thu, Do Hai Ninh...
Laying the problem of To Hoai’s memoirs and novels after 1945
from the genre perspective, the thesis will focus on solving the
following issues:
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Firstly, the thesis identifies, describes and generalizes the process
of To Hoai’s novels and memoirs in the period after 1945.
Secondly, the thesis goes into researching genre characteristics of
To Hoai’s novels and memoirs after 1945 from the genre perspective,
especially clarifying the genre interaction between novel and memoir,
confirming that this is a striking feature of To Hoai’s writing style.
CHAPTER 2. GENRE AND APPEARANCE OF TO HOAI’S
NOVELS, MEMOIRS
2.1. Genre characteristics of novel and memoir
2.1.1. Novel viewed from a number of genre characteristics
2.1.1.1. The concept of novel
Through the opinions of foreign and Vietnamese authors about the
concept of novel, we believe that: Novel is a narrative genre,
reflecting the broad picture of social life, and is capable of approach
and describe reality with multi-dimensional inspiration.
2.1.1.2. Novel genre characteristics
When it comes to novel, it is necessary to mention the characters,
the plot, the structure, the narrators. These are the basic
characteristics that define the novel genre and are the premise to
study the genre characteristics of To Hoai’s novel in the period after
1945.
2.1.2. Memoir viewed from a number of genre characteristics
2.1.2.1. The concept of memoir
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There are different opinions of many researchers about the
concept of a memoir but we think that: The memoir records past
events, the authors of the memoirs are famous people. Memoir
relates to the experiences of the writer, their stories or those of
others around the observation field of the author.
Compared to diary, autobiography, memoir has both similarities
and differences. Memoir and diary have similarities in the form of
expression, confiding and paying attention to biographical facts.
However, there are differences between memoir and diary: writing
subjects, poetic devices, narrative, chronological order. Memoir and
autobiography are proses about the individual, writing about what
belongs to the past but these two forms are not completely identical.
The main difference between memoir and autobiography is that the
memoir thinking is both introverted and extroverted, that
autobiographical thinking is strickly introverted.
2.1.2.2. Memoir genre characteristics
When it comes to memoir, it is necessary to talk about the nucleus
of truth and decipher the truth, non-fictional, non-plot memoir is
based on authentic memory recall and in memoir must contain the
author figure. These are the basic characteristics that make up the
memoir and also the basis for studying the characteristics of the To
Hoai’s memoirs after 1945.
2.2. To Hoai’s novels and memoirs in the flow of modern
Vietnamese literature
2.2.1. The period before 1945
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Before 1945, To Hoai's novels and memoirs achieved certain
success, To Hoai’s writings were imbued with humanity and had a
deep impression on a writer's life. Comprehensively and objectively,
To Hoai is a remarkable realist pen in modern Vietnamese literature
before the Revolution.
2.2.2. The period from 1945 to 1985
In the 1945-1985 period, To Hoai on the one hand wrote novel in
the epic direction in the "mechanism" of socialist realism, on the
other hand, he separated himself from that main flow to explore and
choose his own approach and discovery. To Hoai's achievements are
novels about the outskirts of Hanoi and the mountains with socialist
realism. In this period, To Hoai did not write in the direction of
revolutionary memoirs but he found his own way, a way of
expressing that is private memoirs.
2.2.3. The period from 1986 until now
In the period after 1986, To Hoai’s novels and memoirs achieved
great successes with the prominent works: Dust and Sand at
Someone’s Feet (1992), Every Afternoon (1999), Three Others
(2006). To Hoai has changed his artistic conception about people and
his ecriture. To Hoai is considered a talented, "masterful" writer in
the art of writing novels and memoirs in this period.
2.3. The writing perspective and the artistic thinking renewal of
To Hoai
2.3.1. Factors affecting To Hoai's writing perspective and artistic
thinking
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It can be said that family, homeland, era and circumstances of
himself have greatly influenced the writer's perspective and artistic
thinking. That created a To Hoai unlike any other writer.
2.3.2. The writing perspective of To Hoai
Regarding novel, the first job of a novelist is to try to get close to
the truth. In the process of composing the novel, To Hoai always
wondered to express his ethnicity. Besides, To Hoai is aware of the
essence of the novel and thinks that the novel must also have
innovation. Although To Hoai did not discuss much about novel, his
views on novel can be considered as the guiding fulcrum in his
journey of writing novel.
Regarding memoir, To Hoai focuses on the principle of truth.
According to To Hoai notion, to write a memoir, the writer
desperately needs courage and honesty. With the new conception of
memoir writing, To Hoai has shown very vividly and honestly the
atmosphere of the era and human destiny in his pages.
2.3.3. The renewal of To Hoai’s artistic thinking
2.3.3.1. From the art conception about people
With the gap before and after 1945, the art conception about
people in To Hoai’s novels and memoirs has an innovation. To
Hoai’s art conception about people is a factor that influences his way
of expressing social life and his way of building characters.
Discovering people and expressing people in many different angles,
To Hoai has contributed to the overall achievement of the artistic
conception about people in modern Vietnamese literature.
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2.3.3.2. To form and ecriture
The change of ecriture showed that the writer was not satisfied
with the previous model that reflected the art. With the change in
artistic thinking and stemming from the concept of approaching and
reflecting the truth, To Hoai and many other writers at the same time
were not afraid to expose the "naked reality" of life, eradicate the
"idealization" way of writing, his epic viewpoint fades away..
CHAPTER 3. CHARACTERISTICS OF TO HOAI’S NOVELS
AND MEMOIRS AFTER 1945 FROM GENRE PESPECTIVE
3.1. To Hoai’s novel characteristics after 1945 from genre
perspective
3.1.1. Art of character building
3.1.1.1. Building “excess” characters
The system of characters in To Hoai's novels after 1945 in their
position and identity revealed the "excess" of personality. Through
building characters with an "excess" of personality, readers realize
the heterogeneity, incompatibility, incongruity between people and
their personalities and identities. At the same time, the reader
recognizes the other side of the characters and another person inside
each character. The character presentation in the direction of
inclination in the negative, limited, revealing "excess" personality is a
new perspective of the writer about people.
3.1.1.2. Placing characters in living environment and daily life
relationships
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The space for the characters to operate and express their
personalities in To Hoai’s novels after 1945 is the daily, everyday
living space in the countryside in different regions. Placing a
character in daily life, To Hoai helped readers understand more about
life, cultural characteristics of each region as well as thoughts, souls,
emotions and personal characteristics of the characters in the works.
To Hoai placed his character in the living environment in the village,
in daily life relationships with family, brothers, relatives, neighbors,
friends, lovers...
3.1.1.3. The language depicts the character full of everyday life,
bearing the local color
To Hoai made a difference in terms of language depicting
characters. In his novels after 1945, the language depicts a character
that is both idyllic, casual, everyday life, bearing the local color,
typical of the countryside: suburban Hanoi, highland mountains, rural
areas in the northern delta. Acquiring the spoken words of each
dialect into his writing pages both creates vivid text and ensures the
objectivity of the words, creating a natural feature for the story while
avoiding the forceful touch of the author.
3.1.2. Narrative structure
3.1.2.1. Linear structure
Linear structure is a type of structure organized according to time
logic, events are arranged in chronological order, before and after.
The common point of the novels Ten Years and The West is that the
writer built the development story in linear order, events and details
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follow this linear order, later events are steps of development of
previous events. Although the writer implements the traditional and
simple structure, the organization is reasonable and effective,
bringing high artistic effect showing the change of life and people in
different spaces and time.
3.1.2.2. Psychological structure
The art of building structures based on the psychological
progression of characters has given the author many opportunities to
dive into expressing and analyzing the sophisticated and complicated
developments of human inner life. In his novel The West, To Hoai
focused on describing the mental states, thoughts, and moods of
Giang Sua, the Xa old man, Thao Nhia... In his two novels Ten Years
and Three Others, To Hoai does not focus too much on describing
the psychological progression of the character, only brief thoughts
and some monologues.
3.1.2.3. Structure with noncorresponding opening and ending
The opening and ending play an important role in a novel's plot.
The opening of a work is a core element in pique interest among
readers. The ending of the work is valuable to create an echo, which
is also a way to make the work have a lasting vitality with time. The
opening of To Hoai’s novels after 1945 often follows the traditional
formula, starting with an event taking place in the past, which is the
scene of daily activities. Ending in To Hoai's novels after 1945 is
often an open and unfinished ending, an open ending, a "beckoning"
ending.
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3.1.3. Narrative tone
3.1.3.1. The humorous and witty tone
The witty, humorous ego of To Hoai is expressed through the art
of storytelling, through drawing character portraits, through
conversations between characters. With a witty and mischievous
tone, To Hoai reminded the reader of deep, happy and sad memories
of a distant time, with many childish mistakes. A person who dares to
look back on the past to realize his mistakes, dare to relive the past to
find the feeling of serenity for himself in the present, must be a
person who is brave, experienced and understand life.
3.1.3.2. The lyrical, nostalgic tone
The nostalgic flow is one of the factors to find out about the writer's
past memories. The lyrical tone mixed in nostalgia has brought the
attraction to To Hoai’s novels after 1945. The lines of sadness
spread, not too climax but it is also convincing enough, leading
readers to penetrate. The social life of the land reform period was full
of pain and tears, and also the life of the upland people in the old
regime and the new regime.
3.2. To Hoai’s memoir characteristics after 1945 from genre
perspective
3.2.1. Author figure
3.2.1.1. Author figure through artistic view of social and literary life
The historical, social, cultural, era environment and his own
personality dominates To Hoai's way of seeing, feeling, thinking
about social life. The reality of social life has been carefully observed
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and carefully recorded by the writer. To Hoai brought readers to a
northern village with stories from "land reform" and "correction",
from "subsidy period" "cooperatives" to innovation to a market
economy. A miniature, complex, complete picture of all the good bad, white - black appears like life itself. This gave his memoirs an
appeal from the complex, colorful colors contained in it. The vision
of reality in the memoir differs from the fictionalized reality which is
re-created in other genres of To Hoai and other authors, in that reality
belongs to the past but is seen in the present time. Because to ponder,
to experience, to talk about yesterday to indirectly talk about the
present.
3.2.1.2. The author's self-expression into figure
Memoir is a memory about self, about the author. Memoir is a
place for the author to confess his feelings to readers. Memoir writing
is a thought struggle. To Hoai has struggled with himself to build up
a mental portrait with a gentle, serene mood and expresses the true
self to himself and to life. To Hoai when writing his memoirs is also
to return to his childhood, youth and impressions of writing and to
review the joys - sadness, gain - loss in his life, above all to find out
experiences in life.
3.2.2. The art of portraying character
3.2.2.1. Portraying fellow comtemporary artists
When drawing portraits of writers and also his colleagues, To Hoai
did not focus on building "mental portraits" but look at the trifles in
everyday life, from appearance, dress, walking, talking to activities in
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daily life. When building portraits of artists and contemporaries, To
Hoai always put them on the background of vivid history and
atmosphere of literary era. To Hoai has built portraits of artists and
contemporaries from his memory.
3.2.2.2. Portraying small, everyday people
To Hoai succeeded in building a portrait, depicting the fate of the
masses in the most severe periods of history. The "genuine on the
bottom" words full of love, respect of To Hoai has left the reader
with deep feelings about each specific person, each specific fate. That
is the fate of workers and women in historical upheavals. It is also the
fate of farmers, families in the whirlwind of market mechanisms.
3.2.3. Narrative tone
Tone is a strong factor in To Hoai's art of narrative. Whether To
Hoai writes novels or memoirs, readers still find the unity in the
narrative tone that is witty, parodic, humorous and lyrical.
3.2.3.1. The witty, parodic, humorous tone
The main tone in To Hoai’s memoirs after 1945 was a funny, witty
and parodic tone. The witty and humorous nature of To Hoai's
memoirs is expressed in the cruel, somewhat obscene way of saying
words that are almost words of everyday life. To Hoai explored and
applied a traditional and modern ecriture to create a complex, witty,
deep, delicate and gentle tone. To Hoai brought to his pages laughter
with many levels and different nuances.
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3.2.3.2. The lyrical, deep tone
The two memoirs, Dust and Sand at Someone’s Feet, and Every
Afternoon, are written based on humanistic inspiration and lead to a
lyrical and deep tone. The lyrical tone in Dust and Sand at Someone’s
Feet is a pitying, pensive tone about the fate of the contemporary artists
in the period of Nhan van – Giai pham. The lyrical tone in the Every
Afternoon is a pitying tone, reflecting on the fate of farmers, artists and
the whole period of the changing and vicissitude of the country's history.
CHAPTER 4. GENRE INTERACTION BETWEEN TO HOAI’S
NOVELS AND MEMOIRS AFTER 1945
4.1. Genre interaction in modern Vietnamese literature and in To
Hoai‘s prose after 1945
The theory of genre has shown a fairly common rule, that is the
invasion, infiltration, blurring between literary genres creating the
"boundaries" of the genre, blurring the borders of the genre. Genre
interaction is an expression of literary innovation and renovation
efforts. Genre interaction is an expression of genre transformation
process that is both regular and expressive of the empirical sense,
innovation, creativity of writers before the requirements of the
realistic literary life. Creators must always innovate the genre to
affirm their imprint, personality and style of creation. Regarding the
levels of genre interaction, it can be divided into many different
levels: kind with kind, kind with type; type with type, type with kind;
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