Professor Do Duc Hieu – A dreamy and creative teacher.

I know Professor Do Duc Hieu has some knowledge.a little lateIt wasn't until the early 1970s that I was fortunate enough to be close to him, study with him, work with him, and share his thoughts, thus gaining some understanding of him. It's truly not difficult to recall him from our first meeting, and even from the final moments before parting ways. At the Faculty of Literature – Hanoi University, he was a man of "unique personality." Almost all generations of his colleagues and students easily pictured Do Duc Hieu like this: thin, pale, sometimes appearing "lacking in vitality," speaking softly and gently, but when lecturing, his voice resonated like the waves on a windy day (even those at the back of the class could hear every word clearly). Professor Do Duc Hieu's work ethic was truly extraordinary. It's hard to imagine that a man who had two-thirds of his stomach removed in his youth, his body reduced to the size of a reed, still cycled regularly, rain or shine, from 26 Hang Bai Street to the Me Tri dormitory, the headquarters of the Literature and History departments in the 1970s, when he was the deputy head of the Literature department; and at night, he would "bend over" to the pages of books (due to poor eyesight, he had to wear glasses with a prescription of over 5 diopters), producing thousands of pages of dreamy and creative writing for many generations of students. In his final years, due to illness and pain, I know that Professor Do Duc Hieu still read and worked, although it seemed that his health no longer allowed him to be lucid enough to write down his creative ideas.

Actually, if there were novariationIn his life, if he had followed his initial choices, Do Duc Hieu should have become a lawyer, or, if things had been slightly different, he would have been a civil servant.practicing lawHaving passed his high school graduation exam in 1943, he enrolled in law school, in the same generation as the writer Nguyen Dinh Thi, who was then studying philosophy. Much later, both would eventually choose the path of literature; Do Duc Hieu chose teaching and research, and Nguyen Dinh Thi chose writing. Both were similar in that they did not pursue their initial choices to the fullest. When the resistance war broke out, responding to the Party's call, both left the French school and went to the resistance zone. For Nguyen Dinh Thi, it seems that a little of his initial "professional blood" still followed him into the early days of participating in the resistance against the French. He wrote quite a few philosophical research works published in several newspapers and magazines at the time; while Do Duc Hieu, it seems, initially wanted to become a lawyer, or at least a civil servant.entangledHe was involved with the law, yet in the end, he left no trace. He resembled the 17th-century French playwright Molière, for whom he devoted much effort in his textbooks.History of French Literature, also giving up their original career choice.barrister,to embark on the path of art. For Do Duc Hieu, perhaps the only trace of his early professional career is revealed in the way he presents or lectures on a topic he considers passionate about; or when he has to express his opinion in refutation of an issue he disagrees with. At that time, his arguments are incredibly sharp. Perhaps, that's all that remains. Otherwise, literature seems to have been a "fated choice" for him. To be precise, from right after 1945, that is, right afterleaveAt the Law Faculty, 19 Le Thanh Tong Street, until the very last days of his life, he was solely preoccupied with one predetermined path – literature – as a teacher.tap the child on the headat Phu Tho High School; then Luong Ngoc Quyen High School in Thai Nguyen; at one time as a professor in the Faculty of Literature - Hanoi University; and sometimes in the course of a professorship.Western educationIn the truest sense, he taught French in Nanjing, China; and at other times, he was a civil servant in the Editorial Department of the Ministry of Education and Training, organizing the compilation of general education textbooks. Despite his diverse work, all his endeavors remained deeply connected to literature. Perhaps that is why, later in life, we see a Do Duc Hieu whose literary career was so broad and varied. It is very difficult to categorize him into just one field.narrowcertain. For example, if we assume he is an expert.rankedRegarding Western literature, that's true, but not entirely sufficient. Besides his insightful writings on this subject, we also find many subtle and profound pieces about Vietnamese literature; some even argue that he should be considered a specialist in Vietnamese literature. Indeed, from 1955 to 1958, he participated in writing textbooks at the Textbook Editorial Board of the Ministry of Education and Training, and was also a member of the Le Quy Don group, a group of prominent Western and Vietnamese scholars of that era, including Vu Dinh Lien, Huynh Ly, and Le Tri Vien (translators).The wretched,in a Vietnamese language imbued with the spirit of Hugo, yet also very Vietnamese. Furthermore, reading Do Duc Hieu's writings, one sometimes recognizes within them the knowledge of a...academicBecause, from the way he frames the problem, explains the problem, and cites sources and analyzes texts, he is no different from a professor.French studiesIndeed; and sometimes, he wrote literary works.clear, melodiouslike a typical high school "student." And it's difficult to "evaluate" which quality is more dominant than the other (?). The teacher, his closest colleague and the one who understood him best for many years, People's Teacher Le Hong Sam, in a short article after his death, made a very accurate observation that he "possessed many qualities."hugolien"Most notably, the contrasts are striking: Western-educated scholar and traditional teacher, timidity and courage, old age and youthful thinking…". One must truly understand him to draw such a subtle observation. And that's not all; I believe, more importantly, we need to clarify…human qualitiesandjobThis is what defines him: it is precisely because of these contradictions that he is also a perpetual dreamer.DreamyandcreativeThese two aspects are unified throughout his entire career. By examining the entirety of Do Duc Hieu's career, we will understand this more clearly.

It can be affirmed that Do Duc Hieu began his journey into literature with thedottedandexperienceFrom the national literature, Vietnamese literature. In his later years, in a conversation with critic Trung Duc, he wrote: after having "traveled far" to "the West," wandering along the Yangtze River, the Qiantang River, sitting by West Lake, Suzhou, Beijing, Nanjing, Shanghai (during his time at Nanjing University, teaching French). Sometimes I wander along the banks of the Seine, in the Luxembourg Gardens, sitting on a bench beneath the statue of George Sand; sometimes I gaze at the Mona Lisa at the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame Cathedral, the Panthéon (during my time at Paris VII University, studying methods of writing French literary history)... He returns to himself, to the familiar things in the garden of national literature, to write about his most cherished thoughts in Vietnamese literature. In fact, he has been passionate about and attached to Vietnamese literature since childhood. While passionate about French literature, Do Duc Hieu did not begin his career with it. Perhaps that is perfectly understandable: he did not receive formal training in it.regularHe was initially a law student. Although his career in teaching and researching French literature spanned nearly fifty years (his most significant achievements were in this field), it wasn't until 1958, when he left the Editorial Board to join the Faculty of Literature at the University, that his knowledge of French literature, as he put it, came from "self-education." Meanwhile, he had accumulated his knowledge of Vietnamese literature long before. Born into an intellectual family and passionate about teaching, he received much encouragement and support from his father. From the depths of his soul, he recalled, "I sang.""Three years guarding the outpost..." Lady Su, the young woman of Nanchang, whose eyebrows are like the new moon, whose autumn powder and fragrant scent evoke even more sorrow..."Distinguished Teacher Dang Thi Hanh, another colleague who was very close to and understood her "senior" colleague, recounted her first meeting and lecture with Professor Do Duc Hieu at Luong Ngoc Quyen High School in Thai Nguyen as follows: “When I first arrived at the school, I attended a literature class taught by Professor Do Duc Hieu. Later, I would work in the same department with him for many years, but as the years passed, from that first meeting until decades later, when he passed away, I found that in appearance and personality, he had hardly changed at all. When he was about 75 years old, a student from the University met him again after many years and declared: ‘Teacher, you are still as young as ever, because you were old from the beginning.’ One could describe him by borrowing a line from To Huu's poem describing a famous heroic girl (he was ‘ageless or ageless’). Entering the classroom with my colleagues, sitting at the back desk, I saw a tall, thin man, his eyes often looking up at the sky, with a full expression.” "Inspiration. But when he started lecturing in that high-pitched voice (especially when he got excited) – surprisingly, that voice and demeanor weren't at all ridiculous – the whole class fell silent…."The little girl looked at the rain.Women's Publishing House, 2008.

Although an "academic" figure, Do Duc Hieu always shows respect for his readers by providing them with knowledge and insights.à laportée de tous(Within everyone's reach). For him, everything written on paper had to be clear, concise, and easy to understand. This was the result of his perseverance, dedication, and the constant worry and concern he felt throughout his more than fifty years as a teacher. Another colleague, People's Teacher Le Hong Sam, who was very close to him and had collaborated with him on numerous projects, once recounted a small story: "Once, faced with a convoluted article, while many others dismissed it without hesitation, he (Do Duc Hieu) humbly pondered: 'What is he saying? I've read it four times and still don't understand.'" This was Do Duc Hieu's "polite" response to the "stuck-up, showy" style of literary research.flashReaders. Do Duc Hieu never used his position of "superiority," "seniority," or "veteran" status to overshadow the younger generation. In the field of translation, Do Duc Hieu left behind many translations of writers often referred to as "classic" (commonly taught in schools). People's Teacher Le Hong Sam wrote: "The great contributions in the field of translation – as well as in the field of criticism – of such a dedicated teacher, in my opinion, are primarily aimed at education. Not to mention famous children's stories, the works he translated belong to a number of representative authors in the history of French literature:Tartuffe, The Miser, The Miserby Molière (17th century)Paul and Virginieby Bernadin de Saint-Pierre (18th century), playMarion Delormeand novelsThe wretched(General translation) by V. Hugo (19th century)…In the collectionA selection of French literary worksBilingual, jointly managed by him and me, he edited and translated most of Volume II (17th century). He translated the final pages of his life on the occasion of the 200th anniversary of Balzac's birth, which arePrefaceset"The Comedy of Life".

For nearly half a century as a teacher, dedicated to many generations of students, Professor and Meritorious Teacher Do Duc Hieu left behind thousands of pages of writings, including textbooks, theoretical research, translations, and an exemplary dedication to the cause of education. In the last ten years of his life (approximately from 1992 to 2002), knowing his health was failing, he devoted himself to writing three works on reforming the way we read literature. Knowing his time was very short, Do Duc Hieu had to seize it to...dreamyandcreativeThe last three booksReforming literary criticism(1993)Innovation in reading and literary criticism(1999)Modern Poetics(2000), published at the end of the 20th century. Ten years after his death, Professor Do Duc Hieu's most dreamy and creative writings in the three works above were compiled and introduced under the name by his student – ​​teacher Tran Hinh.Modern Poetics – Some Theoretical and Application Issues(Education Publishing House, 2012, 700 pages). Researcher Lai Nguyen An made the following insightful observations about him: "His writings bear the imprint of..."trembling"...a mixture of certainty and astonishment from a researcher eager to think about something new."

Accepting a simple life until the end, Professor Do Duc Hieu never stopped thinking: living means knowing how to dream and be creative. In his professional work, especially in research and teaching, his greatest fear was not being able to "modernize" himself. Then there was the fear of becoming a mere imitation.copyof others, or even "transform others" (the generation of students) intocopyof mine.Creative daydreamingPeople shouldn't be allowed to make that mistake. That's the advice of a teacher I'll never forget.

As a generationlater generationsfar inferiorseniorWithout daring to claim that I fully understand him – a man of profound soul and boundless knowledge – I can only write these few rambling lines about Professor and Distinguished Educator Do Duc Hieu.Read what he wrote to understand him..

Late autumn 2013