Professor Nguyen Kim Dinh - a kind and erudite teacher.

I only truly had the opportunity to study under Professor Nguyen Kim Dinh for the first time after the liberation of South Vietnam, when I left the military and returned to university to study with the 18th cohort. At that time, he was around 40 years old, rather thin (that was his physique, although in those years, almost everyone was thin!). But beneath the brim of his felt casquette hat (as I later learned, having followed him for many years, since his days in Moscow), his bright eyes were always fixed on the person he was speaking to, both encouraging and anticipating something. Especially, whenever he lifted his hat, his broad forehead created not only an outward impression of strength and intelligence.overtakeTime seemed to brighten his kind face, adding to his intellectual radiance. Indeed, his lectures on M. Gorky, V. Mayakovsky, and others transcended the limitations of the few textbooks available at the time (there were only about two main ones in the library: one by V. Nubarov – a visiting professor at Hanoi University in the late 1950s – and another by Professor Hoang Xuan Nhi). In his lectures, we not only discovered new knowledge but also felt the fervent desire to "bring sparks of sunlight into the human bloodstream" and the enthusiasm to "implement the resolutions of the heart," declaring war on "Soviet vulgarity"—these writers' passions. Later, when I had the opportunity to be close to him, to continue studying and teaching with him in the same subject, I gradually understood the source of the voice—both passionate and enthusiastic, yet firm and concise—in his lectures and research.

Professor, People's Teacher Nguyen Kim Dinh was the Head of the Department of Foreign Literature (1984-1992), and Head of the Faculty of Linguistics and Literature (1988-1991) at Hanoi University. / Photo: Thanh Long.

Anyone who has read all, or most, of the research works by or led by the professor – about thirty articles, books, and scientific research papers (a number that isn't particularly "impressive" to those who like statistics) – will likely share my initial impression of a consistently bold writing style.overtakeand encouraged colleagues and students to "dive into" topical academic issues in literary research such as typology, poetics, semiotics, narrative studies, and cultural studies. This was only evident through the works published in the Literary Journal –Some poetic issues of verbal art(1985)Regarding the research trend in liberal literature(1993)Russian philologists and the semiotic tendency in literature(1995), in the proceedings of the national conference on New Poetry –Experiencing the artistic space in Modern Poetry(in the book)Looking back at a revolution in poetry,1993), or through ministerial-level research projects.Narrative language problems(1998), for me, the image of the Professor, if "seen from the side," is already very sharp. In the chronology of the Faculty of Literature, Hanoi University, it can be said without exaggeration that the scientific events in which he actively participated related to the above issues were not limited to the scope of influence of a single academic unit. For example, at the 1980 scientific conference (held at 19 Le Thanh Tong, I don't remember the exact name) on theoretical and practical issues in literary research, which included scholars from the Institute of Literature and Hanoi Pedagogical University, his paperSome issues regarding the methodology of typological research.The professor's presentation convinced the audience not only because of the clarity of his theoretical conclusions on a relatively new issue at the time, but also because of his careful, selective attitude and respectful acknowledgment of the practical research results of his colleagues, even those who had not yet consciously applied this method. I am referring to Volume II of the work on literary history.Vietnamese literature of the 10th century and the first half of the 18th century(University and Vocational High School Publishing House, 1979) compiled by Professor Bui Duy Tan (in the two-volume textbook series by authors Dinh Gia Khanh, Mai Cao Chuong, and Bui Duy Tan), was mentioned by the professor in his paper. According to the professor, the author of the book also based his classification of trends and genres from the 16th century to the first half of the 18th century on the principle of "typological community." I was also very impressed by the mutual respect among the professors in the Faculty when, on the sidelines of that conference, in response to my greeting, Professor of Linguistics Nguyen Tai Can said he attended the conference "primarily to hear Mr. Dinh's paper." Later, that paper was developed by the professor into a teaching topic for many years at the postgraduate level. Looking at the "paradigm" of literary theory and criticism research in the years that followed, I kept thinking it was no coincidence that after the summarizing and thought-provoking articles by Professor Do Duc Hieu, along with the works of professors of the same generation as Professor Tran Dinh Huou, a number of noteworthy articles/books by his close students appeared, for example, on typology by Lai Nguyen An.Try to find out what types of Thematic motifs in modern Vietnamese literature.Literature Magazine, 1987, issue 6) and Tran Ngoc Vuong (The talented Confucian scholar and Vietnamese literature(Education Publishing House, 1995), on the poetics of Nguyen Xuan Kinh (Poetics of folk songs,(National University of Hanoi Publishing House, 2004), etc…

He is an expert on Russian culture and literature. (Photo: Thanh Long)

But when speaking of Professor Nguyen Kim Dinh, one must first mention a Russian studies scholar. He belonged to the first generation of Russian studies scholars who received fundamental training. Immediately after graduating from the first class of the Faculty of Literature at Hanoi University in 1959, he was sent to study in the Soviet Union. After four years of internship at the Faculty of Philology, Moscow State University, where he studied under renowned professors and experts on Russian literature such as Avalpatov, Aimetchenko, GNPospelov, etc., he returned to Vietnam and devoted himself to researching and teaching Russian literature until his retirement in 2001. His first monograph, on the Soviet Russian writer Maxim Gorky, was 293 pages long and published in 1981. Following that book...M. Gorki – Life and WorkWritten 22 years earlier (1959) by Professor Hoang Xuan Nhi, this monograph provides us with a deeper and more vivid understanding of Gorky – the “harbinger of storms” of the revolution, the “apostle” of socialism, the creator of the “myth of the man with the wings of Icarus”. Of course, time has allowed those who succeeded him in teaching and researching Russian literature to introduce another facet of Gorky – one of the great and complex phenomena of world literature. Nevertheless, I still think that his book could be used as a practical object for genre analysis.creative portrait criticismin the subjectArt theory and criticismof the current training program for Literature students.

Professor Nguyen Kim Dinh at his home in 2012 / Photo: Thanh Long

Like most people who studied literature in Soviet Russia, his connection to Russia was not only based on beautiful impressions and memories of the country's nature and people, but also on the lofty humanistic ideals, full of vitality, embodied in the immortal literary images of classical Russian writers.

As the son of a renowned teacher from Thanh Hoa province, originally from Nghe An, Mr. Nguyen Kim Dinh himself studied Chinese characters from a young age, receiving a Diplôme from Dao Duy Tu school, at the same time as his senior, Professor Tran Dinh Huou. He also taught high school (mathematics!) for four years in Quang Xuong before enrolling in the first cohort at Hanoi University. This brief overview helps to understand the "level of acceptance" of Russian literature and culture held by the reader, Nguyen Kim Dinh. And only with such a "level of acceptance" can one possess the ability to adapt to the changing times while remaining loyal to Russian studies. It's worth remembering that in the early 1990s, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, several "Russian scholars" quickly changed their decades-long beliefs in the (true) values ​​of Soviet literature, becoming, or struggling to become, a different kind of "scholar." For the loyal reader Nguyen Kim Dinh, reading is not just about acquiring knowledge, but also, and inevitably must be, accompanied by creativity—creativity in its own unique sense, in a particular aspect. Perhaps that's why, recently, during meetings among Russian studies scholars, when participating in expert committees evaluating doctoral dissertations or considering state awards, he often said, "We learn a lot, but we don't do much." That's a reality. But there's another reality, mentioned by Associate Professor Dao Tuan Anh, a close colleague of ours: "We may be sad that we haven't done much, but we can rest assured that what we create isn't 'mass-produced'!" As for me, in those words of his, I read not only a touch of regret but also a yearning to reach new goals in the relay race of generations of Russian studies scholars in our country.

Professor Nguyen Kim Dinh and students of the Literature department/Photo: Thanh Long

Of the many things he shared with me throughout our years working together, there are two things I often share with his students whenever I mention him as a revered mentor. The first is the requirement for a solid foundation of professional knowledge. He told me during our first meeting, when I became his colleague: "To teach and research well, you must first be proficient in foreign languages ​​and have a firm grasp of literary theory." Perhaps among my fellow students and colleagues, I was fortunate to have someone who guided me and was willing to share his expertise from the moment I became a lecturer (he often jokingly said, "Feel free to exploit" him as much as you can). The second is the ethical responsibility of a teacher, which he spoke of in a way typical of a "literary person." More than 20 years ago, during a discussion about some "deviant" phenomena in teacher-student relationships, he quoted two lines of poetry by the Soviet poet Nikolai Sidorenko that he greatly admired:

Sing whatever you want, do whatever you want.

But don't soil the first snowflakes of the season.

"First Snow of the Season"Each person's first kiss is a symbol of purity and sacredness: "the first kiss, the first battle" (E. Evtusshenko), the first blank page in the book of life... The teacher always believed that the purpose of teaching was to help each person preserve these noble values ​​throughout their lives.

The teacher's life, filled with tireless learning and teaching, was intertwined with words. On his seventy-fifth birthday, my friends and I presented him with a calligraphy piece featuring four characters.Don Hau Bac Van.