1. Full name: Nguyen Huong Ngoc 2. Gender: Female
3. Date of birth: February 5, 1991 4. Place of birth: Thai Nguyen
5. Decision No. 3216/2014/QD-XHNV-SDH dated December 31, 2014, of the Rector of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi, recognizing the doctoral student.
6. Changes in the training process: The thesis title was changed from "Narrative Art in Contemporary Vietnamese Women's Short Stories (through short stories by Le Minh Khue, Y Ban, and Da Ngan)" to "Tan Da in the Process of Vietnamese Literature in the First Half of the 20th Century" according to Decision No. 418/QD-SDH, dated May 26, 2015, of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi.
7. Thesis title: Tan Da in the development of Vietnamese literature in the first half of the 20th century
8. Major: Literary Theory 9. Code: 60.22.01.20
10. Scientific supervisor: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Pham Quang Long
11. Summary of the new findings of the thesis:
- In Tan Da's work, contradictions clearly exist. However, when analyzing his literary works and actions, we find that all of these aspects are unified and converge to create Tan Da's unique artistic personality. These contradictions also reflect the multifaceted nature of his character, beliefs, and personality. These aspects have often been underestimated before. In this thesis, we consider them as indicators of the formation of his creative individuality.
- Tan Da is an extremely special figure, special in his personal character, life views, ideology, family, and other social relationships. In each different value system, he vividly and clearly reveals his character and thoughts. In fact, Tan Da lived very honestly with himself; therefore, in any value system, he clearly revealed his individuality. This is both close to Confucianism and different. The Confucian spirit is imprinted on his literary works and other relationships, but he is a self-disciplined person with clear self-cultivation and restraint. Tan Da's expression in different value systems has the arrogance of a talented Confucian scholar of the previous generation, while also possessing the individuality of the modern era. In other words, his very self-expression reflects his position on the boundary of his time, where traditional and innovative values intertwine, counteract each other, yet still achieve unity. In that final unification, his modern artist persona and creative artistic individuality are clearly revealed.
Essentially, his works embody the essence and material of poetry, travelogues, and philosophical discourse in the style of medieval Confucianism and traditional Vietnamese literature. In poetry and folk performances, he showed almost no innovation. In prose, he attempted to create innovation but failed because he only made simple changes to the outward form. With a desire for change in artistic creation, Tan Da tried to learn and create changes in his literature, but the crucial point is that he did not understand the essence of that change, which lies not only in outward form but in the inner spirit and values. He did not achieve the level of individuality and personality explored by the Romantic New Poets, especially in expressing bold, passionate, and intense personal emotions. This limited the ability of Tan Da's works to transcend tradition, keeping them perpetually on the boundary between tradition and modernity, preventing them from fully embracing innovation.
- With his very distinctive characteristics and expressions, Tan Da became an important literary figure of the early 20th century. As Hoai Thanh said, he, and no one else, "played the opening notes for a new and modern concert that was about to begin..." (Hoai Thanh, 1999: 255). His contributions to modern Vietnamese literature are undeniable. He was a writer with the richest and most diverse experience in terms of genre and writing style throughout the entire development of Vietnamese literature. He wrote extensively in various genres and tried to incorporate many elements of modern literature into his works; however, his innovations were not as successful as he hoped. This failure in Tan Da's literary innovation was due to very clear limitations in his own perception, thinking, and worldview.
12. Practical applications:
To serve as a reference for research, study, and teaching of Vietnamese literature in high schools, colleges, and universities.
13. Future research directions:
- Studying other literary phenomena in Vietnamese literature of the early 20th century.
- Research and compare Tản Đà with similar literary phenomena around the world.
- Research and compare the shifts in Vietnamese literature at the beginning of the 20th century with similar phenomena around the world.
14. Published works related to the dissertation:
1. Nguyen Huong Ngoc (2019), “Tan Da’s novel *The Child’s Dream* viewed from a genre perspective”, Ho Chi Minh City Social Sciences Journal (4), pp. 48-57.
2. Nguyen Huong Ngoc (2019), “The issue of “movement” in Tan Da's novel The Child's Dream”, Journal of Art Education, (29), pp. 88-92.
3. Nguyen Huong Ngoc (2020), “Tan Da and experimenting with new rhymes in literary works”, Journal of Art Education, (33), pp. 66-69.
4. Nguyen Huong Ngoc (2021), “Major themes and topics in Tan Da's poetry”, Journal of Art Education (37), pp. 97 - 102.
5. Nguyen Huong Ngoc (2021), “Image of the country and nation in Tan Da's literature (Through Tan Da's complete works by Nguyen Khac Xuong)”, Ho Chi Minh City Social Sciences Journal (5), pp. 42-50.
INFORMATION ON DOCTORAL THESIS
1. Full name: NGUYEN HUONG NGOC 2. Sex: Female
3. Date of birth: February 5, 1991 4. Place of birth: Thai Nguyen
5. Admission decision number: 3216/2014/QD-XHNV-SĐH by USSH,VNU, dated: December 31, 2014 by Rector of USSH, VNU
6. Changes in academic process: Thesis name changed from Narrator in feminine contemporary Vietnamese short stories (case study Le Minh Khue, Y Ban and Da Ngan) to Tan Da in the first half of Vietnamese 20th Century literature, admission decision number 418/QD-SĐH by USSH,VNU, dated May 26, 2015.
7. Official thesis title: Tan Da in the first half of Vietnamese 20th Century literature
8. Major: Literary Theories 9. Code: 60.22.01.20
10. Supervisors: Assoc. Prof. Ph.D. Pham Quang Long
11.Summary of the new findings of the thesis:
- Tan Da clearly had contradictions. However, when analyzing his career and life, we realize that all of these things are in unity and come to the unification to create Tan Da's artistic creative personality. These contradictions also show the multifaceted aspects of personality, concept, and personality. These things have often been underestimated before. In the thesis, we consider it as a sign of the formation of a creative personality.
- Tan Da is a very special person, especially from his personality, point of view of life, ideology to his family and his other social relationships. In each different value system, he vividly and clearly displays his own dignity and thinking. In fact, Tan Da is a person who lived very honestly with his own people, so in any value system, he also revealed his personality very clearly. This is familiar to and also different from the Confucianism. Confucianists are also spiritually imprinted on their career as well as in other relationships, but they are stoic. The expression of Tan Da in different value systems has the ego of a Confucianist and the ego of modern person. In other words, his expression was also demonstrated his position was on the boundary line of the times, where traditional values and innovations intersected, rejecting each other but still coming to unity. In that final unity, the modern artist and his creative artistic personality are clearly shown.
- Basically, his works contain the essence and material of poetry, travel prose, medieval Confucianism theory and traditional Vietnamese literature. Regarding folk poetry and performing, he almost had no innovation. In prose, he tried to innovate but failed because he only made simple changes in appearance. With the desire to change in artistic creation, Tan Da tried to learn to make changes in his literature, but the important thing is that he did not understand the nature of that change that is the change was not only in outward form but is also in the inner values. He has not yet reached the same personality exploitation as new romantic poets, especially in expressing his own strong, passionate personal emotions. This has limited the ability of Tan Da's works to change, keeping them on the boundary between tradition and modernity.
- With unique features and expressions, Tan Da became an important literary writer in the early twentieth century. As Hoai Thanh said, it was him, not anyone else, who “played the opening chords for an upcoming modern concert…” (Hoai Thanh, 1999: 255). His contributions to modern Vietnamese literature are undeniable. He is a writer who has had a diverse experience in terms of genres and writing in the entire Vietnamese literature. He wrote in many different genres and tried to bring materials of modern literature into his works but his literary innovations were not as successful as what he expected. That failure in his process of literary innovation is due to the limitations in his own perception, thinking, point of view and worldview.
12. Practical applicability, if any:
Being the document reference for the academic activities related to Vietnamese literature in high school, college and university.
13. Further research directions, if any:
- Research the other Vietnamese authors or literary works in the first half of the 20th Century.
- Research and compare Tan Da to the authors in other countries who have the same features with Tan Da.
- Research and compare Vietnamese 20th century literature to the same literature period in the other countries.
14. Thesis-related publications:
1. Nguyen Huong Ngo (2019), “The Novel Giac mong con (A little dream) by Tan Da from the Genre perspective”, The Journal of Arts Education (4), pp.48-57.
2. Nguyen Huong Ngoc (2019), “Travel topic in novel Giac mong con written by Tan Da, The Journal of Arst Education, Review of social sciences Ho Chi Minh city, (29), pp.88-92.
3. Nguyen Huong Ngoc (2020), “Tan Da and his experience in creating new syllables in writing”, The Journal of Arts Education (33), pp.66-69.
4. Nguyen Huong Ngoc (2021), “Themes, main topics in Tan Da's Poetries”, The Journal of Arts Education (37), pp. 97-102.
5. Nguyen Huong Ngoc (2021), “Images of country and nation in Tan Da literature (through Complete works of Tan Da by Nguyen Khac Xuong), Review of social sciences Ho Chi Minh city (5), pp.42-50.
