USSH is pleased to introduce the latest book by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Pham Hung (Faculty of Tourism Studies). Published by Hanoi National University Publishing House, fourth quarter of 2011, 620 pages.
In the seemingly tranquil atmosphere of ancient literary research, it turns out that there was never truly peace. Many issues of past literature, thought to be "resolved," are actually far from over. Numerous problems of classical and medieval literature continue to be raised for research, discussion, and debate in order to find a more convincing perspective and evaluation method within the academic community. These include issues concerning the integrity and unity of Vietnamese literary history; the concept of spatial and temporal boundaries of Vietnam, its culture, and literature; literature during the Northern domination period; Champa and Funan-Thuy Chenla literature; and even the role of different national literatures within the larger family of Vietnamese nationalities… To this day, these remain areas where consensus within the literary community is still lacking.
Even so, the "obstacles" stemming from the influence of utilitarianism or biased and extremist viewpoints in literary research are not entirely gone. For example, in the field of religious literature, we seem to have only just opened the door to the world of Buddhist literature, while the world of literature of other religions, especially Catholic literature, remains largely mysterious and seemingly closed to us. This is also true for many issues concerning "overseas literature," "Southern literature," or "literature in the temporarily occupied zones," with many unresolved problems. These issues make the aspiration to build a unified and comprehensive history of Vietnamese literature seem very distant. "Classical Vietnamese Literature: Exploration and Reflection" is a collection of research published in various books, newspapers, and scientific journals both domestically and internationally from 2001 to 2011. These explorations and reflections are presented in three parts: the first focuses on literary theory and history; the second on specific authors and literary works; and the third on some classical literary works recently introduced into school curricula. The explorations and reflections on several issues of classical Vietnamese literature, as well as literary theory and history, presented in this book, are, to varying degrees, viewed "from a new perspective, different from long-held prejudices."
(Excerpt from the author's "Preface")
