Vietnam, Vietnamese literature, Vietnamese language and culture

One of the most important aspects of spiritual life in Vietnam is the belief in the “Kitchen God,” Ông Táo or Táo Quân. In this paper we outline the nature of this belief and the ritual associated with it that occurs a week before Tết, the lunar new year, when the Kitchen God returns to heaven. This ritual facilitates the family’s transition to the New Year and enables reflection on the previous one. We then turn to another Tết event with a similar but more general purpose, the popular annual TV comedy show based on the Kitchen God, called Meeting Each Other at Year’s End [Gặp Nhau Cuối Năm]. This comedy show deals with a wide variety of controversial issues—political and economic events, social trends, corruption,
and a multitude of everyday issues and problems faced by ordinary people from all walks of life that have gained attention in the course of the year—and satirises and lampoons these. Using an analytical framework derived from the anthropology of performance in combination with the
sociology of humour, we analyse the nature of this TV show and the ways in which it fulfils its two-fold task—entertaining a large audience and reflecting critically on the life of the nation.

The history of vernacular writing in Vietnam describes an intimate and evolving relationship with Literary Sinitic. As with other nascent vernacular forms in East Asia, the practice of composing in Vietnamese was long held to be inferior to or unnecessary in the face of Literary Sinitic; at best it was viewed as a pedagogical crutch for learning the classical language. Nevertheless—while Vietnamese did not truly eclipse Literary Sinitic until the twentieth century—vernacular language did experience a rapid ascent after the seventeenth century, when Vietnamese-language works rendered in the morphographic character system known as Chữ Nôm burst into popularity. The relatively dramatic escalation in Nôm composition over the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries suggests an equally dramatic shift in the cultural and intellectual attitudes of the literati who practiced it. Vernacular writing had to be reinvented, however, before it could be used for the kind of intellectual and imaginative tasks exemplified by later literature.
Remarkably, just such a reinvention is articulated in the prefatory material of a seventeenth-century Sino-Vietnamese dictionary called the Chỉ nam ngọc âm giải nghĩa (Explication of the Guide to Jeweled Sounds 指南語音解義). The Chỉ nam bears two prefaces: one in Literary Sinitic (written in Sinitic characters) and one in Vietnamese (written in Chữ Nôm). Though usually read separately, they in fact combine to form an interlocking argument that redefines Nôm, not as a crude or simplistic facsimile of Sinitic writing, but as a legitimate and authentic extension of the sagely and civilizing technology that Han characters represented. The bilingual prefaces seek to dissolve the linguistic and cultural barriers separating the vernacular from the classical mode and to render Vietnamese intelligible in terms of Literary Sinitic intellectuality.
The Chỉ nam was produced at a crossroads in the history of Vietnamese vernacular writing. Although Nôm had gained some momentum as a pedagogical tool over the fourteenth century, the ascent of Neo-Confucianism following the Ming occupation of 1407–1427 led to a revival of classical education that disrupted or even reversed the course of vernacularization. The Chỉ nam therefore represents a “rebooting” of vernacular practices, fueled by a new perception of its place, nature, and function. Its production in the mid-seventeenth century marks a watershed in the evolution of the Vietnamese vernacular—between the limited and proscribed forms of vernacular literature found in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries and the flourishing traditions of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

This article discusses the origins and special features of the earliest extant Vietnamese version of the Princess Miaoshan story - the National Version of the Original Deeds of Guanyin, which forms a hagiography of Bodhisattva Guanyin; compiled by the monk Thích Chân Nguyên ca. end of the 17th century. With the use of comparison of different Vietnamese and Chinese versions of this story, we have detected that the National Version of the Original Deeds of Guanyin was based on the Chinese novel Complete Story of Guanyin of the Southern Sea (ca. end of the 16th century), thus contesting the previous views of the Vietnamese scholars on the origins and the history of transmission of the Miaoshan story in Vietnam. This early Vietnamese version represents peculiar features of Sino-Vietnamese cultural exchange in the aspect of Buddhist teaching, including the interchange of written (classical) and popular (vernacular) elements in this story.

This article is partly an outcome of a collaborative research project carried out by A.Prof. Dr.Rostislav Berezkin (Fudan University, Shanghai, China) and Dr. Nguyễn Tô Lan (Institute of Sino - Nom Studies, Vietnam Academy of Social Science), sponsored by the Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation Collaborative Research Fellowships in Buddhist Studies 2015 (American Council of Learned Society, 2015)

The early modern Sino-Vietnamese dictionary known as the Chỉ Nam Ngọc Âm Giải Nghĩa contains two prefaces: one written in Literary Sinitic, using Sinitic characters, and one written in Vietnamese, using the “vernacular” script called Chữ Nôm. If read separately, each preface makes independent arguments in favor of “semantosyllabic” graphemes (characters that encode information for both meaning and pronunciation). However, when read as a single, continuous text, the prefaces combine to present a defense of Chữ Nôm—not as a vernacular alternative to Sinitic characters—but as a legitimate augmentation of the intellectual technology they represent, and thus capable of “taming” southern culture and intellectuality into literate civilization

This article examines David Damrosch’s notion of “scriptworlds”—spheres of cultural and intellectual transfusion, defined by a shared script—as it pertains to early modern Vietnam’s abandonment of sinographic writing in favor of a latinized alphabet. The Vietnamese case demonstrates a surprisingly rapid readjustment of deeply held attitudes concerning the nature of writing, in the wake of the alphabet’s meteoric successes. The fluidity of “language ethics” in early modern Vietnam (a society that had long since developed vernacular writing out of an earlier experience of diglossic literacy) suggests that the durability of a “scriptworld” depends on the nature and history of literacy in the societies under question.

The recent study by Trần Trọng Dương (2018) of graphemic borrowing in the transcription to chữ Nôm of Sinitic loanwords attracted our attention because of the importance of this work for research on broader questions. These are questions of language contact, in history and in the modern day, informed by linguistic theory and cognitive science approaches to the study of writing and literacy.

Carolina Hernando es doctoranda en la Facultad de Filología de la UNED y su tesis versa sobre ELE en Vietnam. Licenciada en Filología Clásica por la Universidad de Salamanca, Máster en Formación de Profesores de Educación Secundaria con especialidad en Lengua Española por la Universidad de Burgos. Docente de español como lengua extranjera con amplia experiencia en España, India, Vietnam y Rumanía donde trabaja en la actualidad como profesora en la Universidad de Bucarest y en el Instituto Cervantes de la misma ciudad. Resumen Es evidente que las características propias de una sociedad influyen en la manera en la que vemos el mundo, adquirimos nuevos conocimientos y, por ende, aprendemos nuevas lenguas, dado que el lenguaje es un instrumento para la cultura. Partiendo de esta premisa, creamos este trabajo, que pretende establecer de manera somera los rasgos culturales propios de Vietnam y explicar cómo estos pueden influir en el aprendizaje de ELE en los alumnos vietnamitas. El estudio sobre la adquisición de español como lengua extranjera para hablantes de vietnamita es prácticamente inexistente, por lo que este trabajo pretende arrojar un poco de luz sobre el asunto, así como ofrecer una herramienta de utilidad al docente de español en este país del Sudeste Asiático. Abstract It is clear that the characteristics of a society influence the way in which we see the world, acquire new knowledge and, therefore, learn new languages, because language is an instrument for culture. Based on this premise, we created this paper, which aims to establish briefly the cultural features of Vietnam and to explain how these can influence the learning of ELE (Spanish as a Foreign Language) in Vietnamese students. The study

Phạm Xuân Lộc, Nhân danh tập chí 人名集誌 Tài liệu về tổ chức và tục lệ của làng quê Bắc Kì. Un recueil sur les organisations et coutumes villageoises au nord du Vietnam. Dịch và giới thiệu/traduit et présenté par Nguyễn Văn Nguyên et Philippe Papin (Hanoi: Nhà xuất bản Thế Giới, École Pratique des Hautes Études, École Française d'Extrême-Orient, 2016).

Les trois études comprises dans ce recueil présentent l'immense intérêt d'avoir été menées au contact direct de la réalité villageoise de la première moitié du XX ciècle. À l'aide d'informations concrètes puisées dans son village, l'auteur montre ce qu'étaient la hiérarchie des titres et fonctions, la vraie nature des sociétés d'entraide et la pratique de vendre des emplois, des exemptions de charge et des dignités honorifiques. C'est une vision saisissante de l'intérieur d'un village.

In the quarter century since passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, unprecedented advances in personal computing technology have assisted the new legislation in opening up the classroom as never before to those with physical and mental limitations which once constituted real barriers to their education.  At the same time, American classrooms have been becoming steadily more ethnically and culturally diverse, a trend which shows no signs of slowing.  These developments promise child and adult LEP’s unprecedented opportunity in “inclusive” classrooms (Brown, 2002; Rex, 2000), staffed from the top down by educators prepared to completely abandon the outdated concept of ‘disability’ – a notion rooted in a more culturally homogenous era before the advent of widespread personal computing, and the nearly ubiquitous, almost instantaneous access to information once only available in paper form at the library.  While correct identification of the true needs of every student – including the crucial distinction between those who merely lack English skills and those also needing special education services – will always be a challenge, those programs whose entire staffs work together promise the LEP child of past generation the chance to become the adult ELL of a new America – one in which even substantial personal limitations need no longer prevent one from fully participating in our public life on every level.

Lexicographic evidence and oral translations of được in Vietnamese show its meanings as: “all right”, “agreed”, and “OK”. In reality, the undetermined range of probabilities in its meaning, imperceptible by non-native intuitions, are readily recognizable by natives. Not grasping what được means entails communication failures since to be told that something “can be done” induces a positive belief in English. This paper studies the meaning of được (can/OK) and compares it with chắc (là) được (probably can/OK) and chắc chắn được (certainly can/OK). It discusses the strategic and polite functions of được in business communication and shows that được is explorative as it sets the starting point for communication that could be furthered to reach a more conclusive result, explicitly lexicalized by chắc chắn được. It concludes that được is a non-committal “conflict-avoidance device” and “face-saver”. It is inconclusive that the farther the “distance” between the illocutors, the higher the degree of politeness, but supports the demand for ‘face’ over efficiency to a certain extent in the communicative style of the Vietnamese. Overall, it points to the need for long overdue analytic work on business discourse in cultural and social contexts, especially in lesser studied languages and cultures.    DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1075/japc.15.2.03che

Nhạc tài tử emerged in the late nineteenth century and still has a strong connection with people’s lives in Southern Vietnam today. In 2011, Vietnam submitted this genre to be considered as a Masterpiece of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Recent research shows that musicians of Nhạc tài tử – known as the group from French Indochina, gave a performance at the 1900 Paris Exposition Universelle. Musicologists have referred to this genre in French as 'Musique des Amateurs' and English as 'Music of Amateurs', based on the social characteristics that it has been widely performed by non-professional musicians in informal gatherings. This paper raises the issues in translating Nhạc tài tử regarding the semantic, musical and social contexts. According to the first Vietnamese dictionary (1895), tài tử originally means ‘cultivated/talented man’ and ‘traditional music specialist’. The expression as ‘amateur’ has only been used since the 1940s. Students of Nhạc tài tử are trained privately by skilled masters for many years. Since 1956, formal training has been available at the École Nationale de Musique (National School of Music). In the musical contexts; even though having an improvisational nature, Nhạc tài tử is based on highly structured compositions with detailed ensemble practice, which originated from the ritual music of Nhã nhạc (a genre of Vietnamese court music). Music scores have been published since 1911 and commercial recordings available since the 1930s. ‘Music of Amateurs’ does not reflect the changes in semantic, musical and social contexts; and somewhat implies that Nhạc tài tử is inferior to other Vietnamese traditional music. Musicologists did not perceive a need or appropriate equivalence to translate the Javanese Gamelan, the Indian Khayal, the Japanese Noh, the Vietnamese Quan họ, etc; it is time to return Nhạc tài tử to its Vietnamese name.

2013 World Conference of the International Council of Traditional Music, Shanghai Conservatory of Music | Shanghai China; 07/2013

Đi tìm tri âm ở một chân trời khác: cuộc đối thoại bằng văn học giữa nhà văn Trần Trường Khánh, Kim Môn và Dương Hướng, Việt Nam

金門與越南，這兩個都曾經被戰爭炮火蹂躪過的地方，為兩地戰後文學提供許多創作的素材。陳長慶是金門文學的重量級作家，而楊向也是越南改革開放後文學的顯著作者。因此，本文以陳長慶和楊向兩位小說家的戰後小說和作品為研究文本，透過日常書寫的角度，試圖對各家的戰爭書寫，特別是關於女人和地方（農村）書寫等進行比較和分析。初步的比較成果發現，儘管兩位小說家的作品在戰爭日常書寫方面有所輕重不同，然而其歷史關懷、人性思索、嚮往和平以及對原鄉土地的熱愛是極為近似的。

關鍵詞：金門、越南、陳長慶、楊向、戰後小說、戰爭書寫

Trần Trường Khánh, Dương Hướng, Bến không chồng, Kim Môn, Việt Nam, tiểu thuyết sau chiến tranh

Emerging in the late nineteenth century and widely performed in the formal rituals and social gatherings, Nhạc tài tử still has a strong connection with people’s lives in Southern Vietnam today. The author’s earlier research demonstrated that Nhạc Tài tử was chosen to represent the musical culture of Indochina at the Paris World Exposition in 1900. The instrumental and vocal performance of tài tử music together with the dance of the French ballerina Cléo de Mérode at the Théâtre Indo-Chinois was a huge success and received much attention from French media. This paper discusses French writings on tài tử music; including Julien Tiersot’s 113 years old music score Danse de l’Indo-chine, recently discovered by the author, in which Tiersot notated parts of tài tử music performed at this Exposition. Six years later, Nhạc tài tử was again chosen to be performed at the 1906 Colonial Exposition in Marseille. This paper will illustrate that the experience and inspirations drawn from the performances in France had an impact on the transformation of Nhạc tài tử from private performances to concert venues, starting in Mỹ Tho and later in Saigon. This paper hypothesizes that the emergence of Ca ra bộ (Sing with gestures), which later became Cải Lương (Reformed Theatre), had its roots and drew its inspiration from the integration of tài tửmusic and Cléo de Mérode’s dance. Like the success at the 1900 Exposition, Cải Lương became one of the most popular genres of performing arts in Vietnam in the twentieth-century.

Music and Metamorphosis | Joint Musicological Society of Australia & New Zealand Musicological Society International Conference, Griffith University, Brisbane Australia; 11/2013

"Once long ago and far away, there was a land called South Kogglebot which had a problem with the education of its citizens. South Kogglebot had a long and chequered history. Indeed it had endowed universities for well over a thousand years, and of course, schools far before that. Yet for some reason South Kogglebot qualifications attracted little respect in the international marketplace, or even at home. In fact, South Kogglebot citizens by the thousand were carefully tying up their gold coins in a headcloth, packing a good supply of their favourite mushrooms in a wooden lunchbox, and heading off to
foreign lands in search of a respectable education ... "

Higher and tertiary education have become crucial to modern economies and societies. As a nation, Vietnam has great potential and its secondary school students perform very well in comparative international tests, yet its universities and colleges are poor-performing, under-funded and slow to change compared to those in neighbouring East Asian nations like China and South Korea. Why is this the case - and what can be done about it? Higher Education in Vietnam dissects the problems and provides constructive and well-located solutions, combining reform with Vietnam's strong educational tradition, for the transformation of higher education in governance, funding, curriculum, quality assurance, internationalization, language policy, research and vocational training. Written by a team of expert insiders with international experience, this book is the first comprehensive diagnosis and prescription for higher education in Vietnam and establishes a distinctive Vietnamese pathway for modernization in the global knowledge economy.