Northern Illinois University Center for Southeast Asian Studies Board of Trustees of Northern Illinois University

THE COLLECTIVE AND THE INDIVIDUAL IN TWO POST-WAR VIETNAMESE NOVELS Author(s): John C. Schafer Source: Crossroads: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Southeast Asian Studies, Vol. 14, No. 2 (2000), pp. 13-48 Published by: Northern Illinois University Center for Southeast Asian Studies Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40860735 . Accessed: 09/10/2013 15:07
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THE COLLECTIVE AND THE INDIVIDUAL IN TWO POST-WAR VIETNAMESE NOVELS JohnC. Schfer* In the late 1980s, when Vietnam's renovationpolicy loosened on writers, novelsemerged thatdescribed restrictions thecharacters' and in much dreams detail than had beendone fears private greater these more Two novels are of inward-looking before. analyzedhere:L Far and Past Trn Manh Ho's Separation. Both Lu'u's A Time novelsargue thatlimitsshouldbe placedon "collective concern" and shouldhave moresay in choiceofmarriage thatindividuals partners lives.Thearticlerelates and in other thisargument to aspectsoftheir and it considers issuesand topastliterary current howlife and debates, in Vietnammightchange if collectiveconcernbecomes literature weakened. severely

Vietnam's communist leadersrequired Untilthelate1980s, novelists to supportthenationalendeavorby authoring works stereotyped characters and themes and thatfocusedon the thatfeatured typical The liberalizations oftherenovation struggle. goals ofthecollective in 1986 announced the encouraged appearance of more policy workssuch as L Lulu'sA TimeFar Past (Thfri creative xa vang), in 1986 and Trn Manh Ho's (L Lini 1997/1986), published (Ly than), publishedin 1989(TrnManhHo 1990/1989). Separation These two novels deviated fromprevious norms by featuring and situations, characters theinner lives oftheir exploring atypical and criticizing thecollective concern thatrestricted the characters, characters'individual choices. A Time Far Past uses the term concern" to refer "collective to thenotionthata (tap thequan tain) should or instruct an in how to lead his individual group, collective,
* in Vietnam in thelate1960sand early1970s C. Schfer John taught English at Humboldt StateUniversity in Arcata, and now teachesEnglish CA. He articles on Vietnamese intheJournal literature has published Asian Studies, of VietNam Forum,Hrp he published Liu, and otherjournals.Recently
on the War in Vietnam:An Annotated Vietnamese Perspectives Bibliography of in English. Works An Interdisciplinary Crossroads: Asian Studies Journal ofSoutheast 14(2):13-48 2000 by theCenterforSoutheastAsian Studies Copyright Northern IllinoisUniversity

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C. Schafer John

or her life (104). In the Confucian-influenced society of prethe most collectives had been the revolution Vietnam, important theextended and (dnghoor dai gi dnt), (gi dnt), family family leaders had been the country (dai nw&c).Since 1945,communist Vietnamese tobe loyalinsteadto thenation, theParty, encouraging collectives such as military and party-controlled unitsand work thefamily's The twonovelsarguefor and theparty's teams. limiting and direct a choice to restrict of person's marriage partner, power concern that collective couldharmindividuals' livesin the showing ithad beencorrupting theauthenticity ofVietnamese sameway that revealthetouchy The novels'fates nature oftheissue: A literature. thehighest FarPastreceived awardfrom theVietnam Time Writers' while was confiscated soon after it was Association, Separation published.1 the tensionbetweencollectiveconcernand As theyhighlight individual desire the novels evoke a numberof long-standing all aspectsofVietnamese life.Is thegroupto questionsthataffect with collective Is it to balance the itself concern solely well-being? and thegroup?Shoulditpromote thewellneeds oftheindividual on the that individuals contented of individuals serve grounds being Should it promote individual the collective more effectively? And the most happinesseven when the group does not benefit? ofall: Iftheway to makeindividuals seditious question happyis to shouldthecollective leave themalone? themmorefreedom, grant whichthetwonovelsraiseprimarily in the Theseage-oldquestions, contextof love, marriage,and the arts, are perhaps the most how the novels ones in post-warVietnam.Exploring important can teachus a great deal aboutrecent social addressthesequestions
1A made it to Franceand thebook was republished in copyofSeparation In hisintroduction beentranslated. to the Parisin 1990.Thenovelhas never Thi V says TrnManhHo's novel "had just been on the Paris edition, takenback. The secret fora few days when it was immediately market House Number 3 at 387 TranHirng entered Dao, Printing policesuddenly all the copies thathad not yet been District 1, Saigon and confiscated in a California distributed" (Thi V 1990:5).Bi Bch H, writing journal, thatSeparation was confiscated in she "doesn'tbelievetherumors saysthat in July, returned from However, 1999,a friend recently Saigon" (1990:36). was stillnotavailablein bookstores toldme thatSeparation in Ho Vietnam ChiMinh City. 14 14:2 Crossroads

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and theIndividual TheCollective in Vietnamese Literature

and abouttheissueslikely trends to occupyVietnamese and literary in thetwentieth-first century. love and groupThe tensionbetween individually-oriented literature oriented dutyis an old issue whose revivalin post-war to theinvolvement resistance ofthe reflects youngpeoples'growing in and the their co' (state-sector quan workplace) Party marriage plans. Not only do the novels promote individualism by this struggle,but they also exemplify the recent highlighting that a of works more individualistic present emergence perspective by exploringthe psychologicallives of their characters.This has precursors in the literature of the emphasison individualism have even and some critics evidence for individualism 1930s, sought literature. But individualism comes at a price. A in premodern move to radical individualism literary by theNew Poetsof previous the 1930s led to some remarkably expressivepoetrybut also to confusion. Accustomed to collective these concern, psychological individualism found attractive but Western-style destabilizing, poets freedoms that couldnot,as colonial in partbecauseitpromised they liberate themselves from completely enjoy.If Vietnamese subjects, in matters of love and concern the effect on life collective marriage, will be Such a literature and could, for profound. development novel and usherin a example,spell thedemiseof thesentimental Yet one of the novels holds forth a less more cynicalliterature. thatthequestforlove and fortruth extreme suggesting possibility, and thecollective. boththeindividual serves in theLate1980s oftheStrings" The "Untying war endedin 1975, Vietnamese WhenthesecondIndochina readers thatgreat workswould be written and writers aboutit. anticipated By the end of the 1970stheywere alreadyaskingwhy none had In Hanoi,literary critics suchas Nguyen MinhChu(1978) emerged. and HongNgoc Hin(1979) blamed the stereotyped that writing characters and stressed collective featured This typical struggle. was required focuson thecollective realism by thesocialist literary had adopted fromSoviet and that the Vietnamesecommunists from Mao Tse-tung's Maoistsources, Yenan (1967/1942) especially and the arts.Reinforcing thisemphasison the talkson literature was the requirement laid down by Mao and by stereotypical Ho thatliterature Vietnam's Chi must leader, Minh, revolutionary

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C. Schafer John 2 Critics that whilea focuson thecollective servepolitics. suggested and thetypicalwas appropriate duringthe war,it was no longer that had been achievedand peace restored. now victory necessary wereparticularly disturbed The critics by thenotionthatliterature had to make should serveas government propaganda.The critics for to socialist realism thesepointsindirectly, exampleby alluding realism" or "doctrinaire witheuphemistic phrasessuchas "wishful realism."3 They also avoided directattackson the notion that mustservepolitics. thatliterature literature Nevertheless, theyfelt to theprivate battles ofparticular shouldpay attention people and thehopesand fears ofindividuals. shouldexpress becamemoreopen after climate The literary Van Linh, a Nguyen became General of the and southerner, Secretary Party progressive at theSixth announced (1986)a policyofdoi mi, or Party Congress referred to as Vietnam's whichis sometimes renovation, glasnost. of to an array problemsincludingcorruptofficials, Responding in educationand training, bureaucratic inefficiency, shortcomings on centralized and the economicstagnation brought by a rigidly a moves toward market renovation's economywere economy, freedom for writers. The Hanoi by greater leadership accompanied valve a little, decidedto open thepressure had apparently avoiding sentiment an explosionof pent-upanti-government by allowing criticism. somemanageable Linhcalledan unprecedented In October, 1987, Secretary meeting Insteadoflecturing he askedthem and artists. to withwriters them, were "poorer than before" explain why works since liberation frank The He receivedsome incredibly (1991/1987). explanations. that the stated was that critic Ho Ngocfor bluntly problem example,

2 See Ho ChiMinh's in VeCngTc VnHo VanNgh collected [On speeches and Artistic Tasks].See especially pages 33 and 59. In thenovel Literary thisprinciple to Mao (TranManhHo attribute the characters Separation, 1990/1989:63) 0 had described a "hin literature MinhChu(1978)said Vietnamese Nguyn not actualreality; thu'cclang HongNgoc Hin hyvong"(wishful reality), to theprinciple had been written of literature (1979)said recent according which he contrasts with hinthux "chungha realism), phiciao"(doctrinaire ofexistence. on thetruths a literature focusing 16 14:2 Crossroads

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TheCollective and theIndividual in Vietnamese Literature

had becomepropaganda,an instrument of politics.4 In literature " Linhpromised to untiethestrings" a (c&i tr) Secretary response, thatwhile theyshould not abandon socialist bit. He told writers to "portray shouldfeelfree bad peopleand bad things realism, they to arouse public indignationand censure" (NguyenVan Linh ofthesoul,"continued theSecretary. "You are engineers 1987:122). in "Don't depictpeople as saints.You mustperceivetheir failings A Far better" Time Past would orderto makethem (123-4). probably in Vietnam, and Separation wouldn'thave nothave been published of the strings. at all, withoutthis untying Written been written A beforedi m&i was officially inaugurated, TimeFar Past breaks realism moldbutrefrains from strident criticism of withthesocialist on theother takes hand,clearly Separation, Party policyand officials. Linh's advice to "portray bad people and bad to heartSecretary It reads like a catalogueof communist failings, beginning things." with the disastrousland reform programof the mid-1950sand theNew Economic Zonesofthepost-war era. through continuing in Le Lafu's A Time Far Past Concern Collective FarPastis GiangMinhSi,a manfrom ofA Time Themaincharacter In 1954,when the Vietnam. thesmallvillageof Ha Vi in northern at Din BinPh, theten-year-old Si is already are defeated French families when Traditional married. commonly arranged marriages is describedas having were stillyoung,and Si's father children Confucian attitudes" The collective "old-fashioned (1997/1986:6).5 in this arrangedmarriageleads to a host of concernmanifested problems.Si dislikes his wife and soon falls in love with a notbecausehe loves the He later classmate, Hircmg. joinsthearmy, to getaway from his wife.His exploits in butprimarily revolution, the of an American themilitary, including single-handed downing Soldier."6 Buthis continued plane,earnhimthestatus"Emulation him in trouble. His discoverthathe love forHircmg gets superiors fantasies has been keepinga diaryfilledwithromantic (he writes
4 Ho Ngocis about themeeting withSecretary Linh, quoted in an article that "Hai NgyDng Ghi Nh-Mai" [Two Days to Remember Forever], No. 42,Oct.17,1987, 1-2. and theArts], [Literature Ngh appearedin Van 5 in 1997. translation aretotheEnglish published Page references 6 An "Emulation Soldier" (chiensi thi dua)is a model soldier. Si was within hisinfantry honor tothis elected (84). regiment 14:2 Crossroads 17

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C. Schafer John

cancerand he imaginesspending thathis wifehas died of throat Because his diary"reekedof quixotic with Hircmg). happy times new recruits (60), theyisolate Si from thinking" petit-bourgeois and establishes Do Manhintervenes that untilthepoliticalofficer towardlaborand studyis fine.Si's troubles are not Si's attitude demandthathe love his wifeas a over,because laterhis superiors the The makeitclearthatthey for condition joining Party. superiors and love. emotional "Can you do that?" in mind both have physical officer asks a deputypolitical (85). Dutifully agreeingto love his Thisact ofobedience homeand getsherpregnant. Si returns wife, had been worse. makes Hircrng waitingforhim on the things only had never been consummated. his that marriage understanding she marries his wifeis pregnant, someoneelse. Whenshe hearsthat Si is thendenied Partymembership To compoundhis tragedy, had been a deputy canton chief withclose becausehis wife'sfather French. tiesto the admirablecharacter, a generally Do Manh, The politicalofficer have for been destroyed chances that Si's happiness by recognizes that had beeninflicted on himfirst concern theexcessesofcollective and thenby Party officials. Confucian parents by his old-fashioned him: troubles case Si's of "I mustadmitthatI feelverydepressedaboutthismatter about the so-called collective other people's lives,' 'living concern.Feel freeto demand fromeveryindividual their utmost contributionto the needs of the society and musttakeinto our concern Butas a community, community. is hungry or thirsty accountwhathe needs,whathe himself notwhatwe wanthimtobe" (104). for, allow him to divorce,and laterhe Si's superiorseventually butfor different reasons. also fails, Thismarriage a city marries girl. a friend of uncle his towhomSi was introduced Thewoman, Ha, by because she was secretly was desperateto marry by an pregnant man withwhomshe had been havinga long affair. oldermarried note.Si thenovelends on an optimistic Despitethisnew disaster, successful Chairman tohishomevillageand becomesa very returns In just threeyears he improvesproductionof of Agriculture. peanuts, potatoes, and soybeans and directs a commune that schoolhouse. and a two-story center a daycare includes
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TheCollective and theIndividual in Vietnamese Literature

FarPast, thecollective concern oftheParty In A Time with merges bothSi's uncleHa and hisbrother ofthefamily: are Party that Tinh district and important whileDo Manh, thewellmembers officials, is a friend of the officer, family. political Promoting meaning family thesocialist stateare one and thesame and administering harmony the armyofficers and Partyofficials are Furthermore, enterprise. admirable characters who mean well. as the Though Party presented and political itsfamilial concern forSi's makesa messofhis affairs, and is well-intentioned, lovelife unselfish, benign. in TrnMnhHo's Separation Concern Collective thecollective concern at first In TrnManhHo's Separation appears but it is later revealed to be a to be similarlywell-meaning, manipulativeadministrative techniquewielded by deliberately and hypocritical. who turnout to be cynical,corrupt, officials mocks self-criticism it a workof sessions, is itself Separation Though In its attempt to expose corruption and communalself-criticism. it would appear to be the kind of work tendencies curbextreme 7 Yetthe in October, inhistalktowriters 1987. Linhinvited Secretary novel's post-publicationsuppression also reveals the Party's withsuchcriticism.8 discomfort
^ Some members exile community of the Vietnamese have detectedthis and have warned against consideringthe novel aspect of Separation Bi Bch H (1990),for "dissidentliterature" (van chw&ng phn khng). that that the Ho uses in Separation to Trn Manh gun argues example, "is a fake the effect of which is to misdeeds make official only gun, expose - notto damage - theprestige of theregime in to increase things prettier, from Vietnam that Trn theeyes of thepeople" (36). Recent Manh reports and is nowaligned with turn conservative elements Hohas madean abrupt have made Vietnamese exilesevenmoresuspiciousofhis theParty within - V HuyQuang Other exilecritics in writing motives (1990)and Separation. as the Thi V (1990),forexample are morewillingto acceptSeparation dissident. workofa true It seemsclear thatwhile in Separation TrnManhHo did not criticize he criticized all exiledissidents, it too communist enoughto satisfy society in Vietnam. In a vitriolic review in muchto pleasetheauthorities published for its one-sided, 1990, Hanoi criticL ThnhNghi faults Separation thetwowars of view of people and programs during negative completely resistance. excessively angryat the past is not the way to "[B]ecoming thiscritic can write aboutthe becomea renovation writer," says."Literature 14:2 Crossroads 19

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C. Schafer John of a man namedTran is thefictitious autobiography Separation Born in 1928,Hiragfights Hirng. bravelyin the war against the he learns after he getsthenews(untrue, that French, later) especially has marriedsomeone else. As a reward for his his girlfriend he is admittedinto the VietnamWorkers'Partyat the heroism, Hiragis woundedtwicein thewar,once in youngage ofnineteen. is too seriousto allow him 1947and oncein 1953.His secondinjury his to his unit and he is assignedto writeforVictory, to return division's newspaper. is a model cadre thepaper's generaleditor, Hirng's supervisor, as a paragon of named TrngGiangwhom the narrator portrays collectivismwho had purged himself of all petit bourgeois individualism. "Trng Giang had almost nothingleft that was "His entire bothmaterially and to life, personal him,"says Hirng. 9 to the collective" to the (61). organization, belonged spiritually, Giangbut soon realizesthatTrngGiang's HungadmiresTrng has reachedabsurd proportions. devotionto the collective Trng directs the novel's thathis prominence a caricature such is Giang or communism as a system but rather at the notat socialism attack in a dramatic show of excesses.In one sceneTrng Giang, system's a communal a tasty morsel from ownsup to taking contrition, plate theGenevaaccordshad removed the (73). In another passage,after thatthemenofHirag's ofbombing, threat Trng Giangis disturbed thefullmoon in solitude. unitare goingout alone to contemplate his men that "only the tells The arch collectivist Trng Giang withdraw feudal colonialists intotheir the classes,only exploiting individualmindswhentheyare happy,whentheywatcha flower bloom,whentheywaitforthemoonto rise."Butwe are socialists, and "in our collectivist he continues, ideologythereis no private a collective He (82). viewingof themoon in organizes ownership" to the advice of a and listen which the men sit together quietly
butthechallenge is to makesureone's ofoursociety, and wrongs missteps of idea that these the doesn't book wrongs belongto thenature givepeople . . . Literature of the to the society, opens up painful system thought. it mustmakethem wounds,but in doingso it mustmakereaders healthy; than believethat (99-100). yesterday" todayis better 9 in editionrepublished are to the references Vietnamese-language Page France. 20 14:2 Crossroads

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and theIndividual in Vietnamese TheCollective Literature

"collectivistmoon/' which Trng Giang personifiesand calls official." "comrade political lifeis the land reform A key eventin Hirng's campaignof the a programthat Hanoi leaders later admit was mismid-1950s, father is accused ofbeinga handled.Duringthiscampaign Hirng's a he is successful farmer. In landowner, only moderately though father is falselyaccused of being a addition,Hirng's girlfriend's and the Oanh, is reactionaryby girlfriend, reactionaryspy, and his "bourgeois"girl denounceshis father association.Hirng from deathand prevent his own in orderto save his father friend In thisact,Hirng theParty. says,he "abandonshis expulsionfrom theorganization" inorder tofollow ownnature (96). becomesa cooperative tool of theParty, thisevent,Hirng After calls the"collective" or the"organization." His whichhe variously him write a series of the first a to work order novels, being superiors thatillustrates and promotes theland based on his own experience a reform produces thinlydisguised campaign.Hirngdutifully a character who abandonshis landowner featuring autobiography friend. and hisreactionary father girl on thisnovel,the Partyassigns a girlto Whilehe is working - Mng servehimfoodand clean his room.This girl,whose name Rung means"Dreamof RiceFields,"is a postergirlfortheland reformprogram. Her parents had died of starvationand a had triedto rape her,but she was saved by guerrilla landowner knowsthathis superiors soldiersand nurtured Hirng by theParty. willtakehisattentions Oanhand thereby Rung awayfrom hopethat his love" (107) so thathe will continue propagand"proletarianize He finds unattractive and the for Ruong Party. physically izing but in a to Marxist moment of her blind to allegiance dogma, objects herforfearthat weaknesshe kissesherand thendecidesto marry ofher. he'llbe accusedoftaking otherwise advantage to his hopesfora loveless Hirag's destroys marriage MngRung in the life. Furthermore, programs supportof which he happy - theland reform thecollectivization writes campaignofthe1950s, - are all revealedlater and theNew Economic Zones ofagriculture, reeducation forced laborfor tobe failures. Hu'ng undergoes through thefirst ofthese. To makematters when hisrolein promoting worse, war ends,his superiors abandontheir theAmerican revolutionary virtuesand begin living like the mandarinsof colonial times. cadresused to be described Revolutionary by thepopularslogan,
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C. Schafer John last to enjoypleasures."In TranMann "Firstto suffer hardships, and Partyleaders Ho's post-warVietnam, aging revolutionaries have reversed the such as Trng Trng Giang'snew Giang priorities. born "not for as been is described wife having revolutionary young workbut fortheworkofthebed" (168).In another passage,Trng a book of his own Gianghas become so absorbedin promoting when told of a granary thathe can'tbe bothered mediocre poetry riceharvest and a pest-infested fire (281-82). collectiveconcerndestroysnot only love and In Separation is an answerto individualhappinessbut also literature. Separation are no works Linn's beingwritten? great question:Why Secretary thatneither hard experience learnsfrom The narrator lovingnor from a to instructions collective. done be can according writing for Chairman Mao's Trng Giang's early praise Remembering about his literature and art, on literature lectures particularly point comments thatmustservepolitics(63), Hirng beingan instrument write thatforthirty-odd accordingto these yearshe has triedto value. oflasting butnever edicts anything produced ofhisown output soberassessment appliesonlyto works Hirng's thathave been publishedup to thatpoint.He does producetwo be judged to have lasting ifpublished, honestworks, which, might accountoftheResistance Nexttothe value. Living Dead,a novelistic in response to a suggestion was written War againsttheFrench, by to war as In novel this Hirng sought portray realistically Giang. Trng the individual soldier's often-lost while not highlighting tragic, fun, His noveldescribes soldiers and selfishness. withcowardice struggle in battles but who fight then,finally losing this heroically many totheenemy. The desert orsurrender withcowardice, battle internal secret of the division cultural objecting publication, policeprohibits of some soldiersas cowards. to thenovel's portrayal particularly WhenHirnginsiststhatsome soldiersindeed act cowardly,the at him:"Literature is of literature police throwEngels'sdefinition don't you get that?If you in typicalsituations, typicalcharacters thatmeansour armysurrenders" writethatour soldierssurrender (124). made itsway into has purportedly which honest The other work, titled thereader'sown hands,is an autobiography Hirng Separation. his wifeand he had bravelyseparatedfrom wrotethisworkafter

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TheCollective and theIndividual in Vietnamese Literature

his acquiescenceto the Party'sdirection.10 For most of the from like Si in A TimeFar Past,has been a hero on the novel,Hirng, buta cowardinhispersonal life. His writing ofSeparation battlefield on his own behalf, a decisionto find is an act ofbelatedheroism a devotion torevealing thetruth. freedom through fear of the collective had himfrom both Earlier, Hirng's estranged had been and freedom. a in truth which he Hirng keeping diary romantic wrote that he feared would him in sad, poems secretly get His wife seized this diary and troublewith the "organization." to turnit overto thecultural threatened policeifhe didn'tat least a to be properhusband.She was seekinga highposition pretend and neededtheappearance theParty ofa happymarriage within in Her blackmail workedfora while,but orderto getthepromotion. his fear, from her,and began Hirag eventually conquered separated all and cleanseshis soul. At to writea novelin whichhe confesses is in conversation withhis rebellious the end of the book Hirng who bears his for the future. She has conceiveda hopes daughter, writer with a as as child is cowardly, who, courageous Hirng young for thetruth. Thiscoupleand their has been killedin prison writing as "precious oftheRevolution" childaredescribed (273). products While the novel Separation expresseshope formore literary freedom,it provides evidence that the hope may be wishful novel about the war withthe Frenchnevergets Hirng's thinking. the writer whomhis daughter loves is killed published, outspoken and when thebook ends it is not certain ifthefictional in prison, willeverbe published. The real-life novelsuffered similar Separation confiscated soon after it to be distributed, difficulty, being began a copyreachedParis.11 notbefore Bothin fiction and in real though still meant concern for the life, collective concern definitely collective'swell-beingat the expense of the individual writer's freedom.

10Thework'stitle refers to "marital that inwhich is,a situation separation/' but do not live together. a husbandand wifeare legallymarried Thi V wifeis so closelyassociated withtheParty, thatsinceHirng's the suggests refers also to separation ofthetitle from theParty (1990:24). "separation" Thosewho do notsee Trn Manh Ho as a truedissident (see note6) would thetitle in this notinterpret way. probably 11See note1. Crossroads 14:2 23

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C. Schafer John concern aboutchoiceofloversis common Community throughout the world, but its applicationin these novels has particularly Vietnamese resonances. Throughoutthe ages stories from all cultureshave featuredcouples whose love is not condoned by socialrules.Romeoand Juliet or existing had problems with parents concern. traditional collective Vietnamesestorieslikewise Many a youngman and a youngwomanwho loved each other featured becausetheir had arranged butcouldnotmarry forthemto parents otherpeople. In thosetraditional storiesit was usuallythe marry controlled whomyoungpeoplewouldmarry, that whilein A family itis theParty FarPastand Separation that Time blocksthewayto love and happiness. a girl's In traditional Vietnam to arrange parents sought marriage thatwere materially and sociallyequal or allianceswithfamilies superior. Traditional marriages exchanged a daughter for a When a newlymarried paid by the husband's family. brideprice she was expectedto womanmoved in withherhusband'sfamily, evenmorerespectfully and obediently servehermother-in-law than Thisfamily was justified shehad servedherown mother. system by to Confucianism,that collectivistsystem of social references relations against which Vietnamese are constantlyrebelling. is based on hierarchical bonds betweenking and Confucianism and and husband and child, wife,witheach bond subject, parent of the others. The an extension honors not obedience, system being the initiative. bride's individual submissiveness to her Accordingly, toConfucian was justified new family byreference teachings. on several to thecustoms The communists and objected grounds Confucian the custom rules of the traditional of family, including for the communist the First, revolutionaries, arrangedmarriages. was an outdatedremnant of feudalism, because traditional family on loyalty to theemperor stress was an extension of theConfucian the because Vietnamese to Second, tight-knit family loyalty parents. to kingand to kin,it hamperedthe directedattention primarily communists' loyaltyto new social formations. goal of fostering Communistleaders addressed these conventions by redirecting and people theConfucian toward (trung) loyalty country previously directed towardkingand thefilial directed piety(hiu)previously to theParty and pious (hiu)to "Be loyal(trung) towardthefamily. would tellrevolutionary thepeople,"Ho Chi Minh troops, usingthe Yet even while theyconsideredthe Confucianterms. traditional
24 14:2 Crossroads Love and Duty in Law and Literature

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TheCollective and theIndividual in Vietnamese Literature

traditional Vietnamese family a remnant of feudalism, the also viewed it through thelens of Marx and Engels's communists ofthebourgeois As such,thetraditional Vietnamese family. critique because it was associated with familysystemwas objectionable accumulationof privateproperty, usually in the hands of the husband, and because it perpetuatedinequalities such as the and oppression ofwomen(Pham VanBich1999:48). exploitation The revolutionaries enacted several liberalizing consequently but owingto their desireto forge a Party ofloyaland likereforms, members the communist leaders also undercut someofthe thinking measures. The 1946 Constitution and later decrees liberalizing and outlawedforced Van Bich1999:57(Pham marriages polygamy to HongVan Chi,theseprogressive 58). Yet according guarantees werefollowed a strong by a 1951decreethatgave theParty say in whom soldiers and Party memberscould marry.The decree that"cadresofvillageleveland soldiers mustinform the stipulated that before cadres of district and levels they marry, party provincial officers and non-commissioned mustobtain theparty's to agreement and that the their of marriages, marriage arrangements high-ranking in the partyand of officers in the People's Armyare the officials affair" VanChi1964:145). (Hong party's The 1960 Law on Marriageand the Familytook liberalization further by allowingyoungpeople to choose theirown marriage and by banningchild marriages, and wifepartners, bride-price, As PhamVan Bichnotes,this beating(PhamVan Bich 1999:57-58). of all the principleof freechoice of 1960 law "emphasizedfirst between husbandand wife, marriage partner, monogamy, equality of women'sand children's and theprotection interests" (1999:58). 1960soldiersand However,thetwonovelssuggestthateven after were limitedin theirchoiceof marriage Partymembers partners, because the Partyhad takenon itself the role once played by the in the two novels comment Characters on thischange.In family. for Si's Si to love his wife, Si's thanking superiors finally getting that a mother "word from the is worth acknowledges superiors of wordsfrom morethantensof thousands brothers and parents, friend sistersat home" (95). Hirng's Hai Gifrn that the complains is even stricter about the choices of its "organization" marriage membersthan the Confucianelders had ever been with their (110). daughters

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C. Schafer John I do not mean to suggestthatgovernmental interference with In boththese choiceofmatesis uniquetoVietnam. novels individual of collective concern are soldiers, victims and even in theprimary Americasoldiersare notfreeto love whomever individualist they were wish. While I was readingthese works,Americanofficers becausetheir themilitary to superiors objected beingexpelledfrom in two unlike these the choiceoflovers.Yet, their novels, American does not go so faras to directthe soldiers' interference military's in thetwo ofcivilian selection spouses.Even ifitdid, thesituations as uniquely for as ittookon novelswould stillresonate Vietnamese, role once reservedforthe family's the directive elders,the Party that itsought todisplace. conventions theConfucian replicated Many modern Vietnamese novels have criticized family marital and thetwonovelsextend in personal involvement choices, not only to the Party. thiscriticism Many prewarstoriesattacked but also the mother-in-law's marriages parentally-arranged In NhtLinh's 1935 dictatorial power over her daughter-in-law. which is themostfamous novelDoan Tuyt Off],12 perhaps [Breaking modern Vietnamese novel, the heroine Loan's life is nearly a man she doesn't forces herto marry whenher family destroyed even know.Our authorsLe Lu'uand TrnMannHo are cut from nationalist author of thantheanti-communist cloth different political - parent with him an aversion to share but anyone they Off, Breaking - whowouldtellpeoplewhomthey shouldlove and official orParty a for Far A Time Si's In Past, family arranges poormarriage marry. In makes worse when it tries to intervene. and the him, things Party results achieves the when, equallypoor actingin Separation Party it for to be Himg's family, arranges Rung place of the traditional mate. traditional Even when theyare not explicitly attacking family are romantic stories statements Vietnamese structures, persistently - if freed fromcollective of faithin the ability of individuals with whom life to select concern theycan build happy partners contrast thecompeting virtues of "a sometimes lives. Vietnamese In their dreams and in the vu" and tnh" (love) "ngha (duty). is alwaysthepossibility embodies thosedreamsthere that literature 12Thenovel arediscussed who author anditsfamous (1993), byJamieson The fullnovelhas been translated translates by James longexcerpts. Banerian Linh 1997/1935). (Nhat
26 14:2 Crossroads

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TheCollective and theIndividual in Vietnamese Literature

one's soul mateand livinghappilyeverafter. of finding of ai tnh, are neverfreefromcollective However,because the Vietnamese also feela strong senseofdutyto parents and becausethey concern, in love is rarely faith tested. Boththetension their and and society, in TheTale of Kiu(Nguyn are exemplified outcome Du itstypical the most beloved of in which Vietnamese 1983/C.1800), ThyKiu, has to choosebetweenherlove forKim and her dutyto heroines, who has been falsely accused of a crime. Deciding help herfather, is a "heavier" virtue thanherlove forKim,she thatdutyto parents a man she does notlove in orderto obtaina bridepayment marries Thetension is also illustrated in shecan use to save herfather.13 that worksoftheNew PoetsXunDieu and LiruTrong Lir14 thepre-war sentimental novel To Tarn and in HongNgoc Phch's [PureHeart] a who died of a broken about heartbecause her 1925)15 (1963/ girl themansheloved. wouldnotlethermarry parents Far Past and Separation A Time portray people makingsimilarly love and duty.Bothnovelscan be seen as choicesbetween difficult ofloversunjustly stories romantic keptapartby therulesofsociety. novels are similar to pre-war works that the In this sense, had as critics communist rejected examples of self-absorbed, in contrast to thoseearlier romanticism. However, works, bourgeois even would have beenbetter off that had thenovelssuggest society been free to choose love over duty. The the main characters and Oanhare admirable who characters womenHircmg forbidden and both are more admirable than the wish to servetheir country, choosesforSi andHirng. The unwantedmatesthatthecollective is activein theresistance for the Oanh, example, against "bourgeois"
13The that is filial Kiudemonstrates (hi u). Thy piety duty particular 14For of some of translations Xun see Sanh Diu's poems, Huynh English and I and Khac H-u Vin (1983?: 661-667). Ngoc Nguyn Thong (1996) of his most three Latu translated Lu' famous, Trong "Ting including poems for a collection editedbyJacqui thu" (TheSoundofAutumn), Chagnonand For a translation of "TingthuD" (The Sound of Don Luce (1974:27-29). inreply tohisearlier Lirwrote Autumn II),whichLiruTrong pre-war poem, discussion of see Nguyn Khac Vinand Hu 604).Additional Ngoc(1983?: with the section titled "Vietnamese theNew Poetsappears below, beginning of'I.'" and theFirst Literature Appearance 15For critical of thisnovel,whichhas notbeen translated, discussion see andJohn C. Schfer Cao thiNhir-Quynh (1988). Crossroads 14:2 27

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C. Schafer John

She laterbecomesa doctor and is killedwhiletrying French. to aid victimsof an Americanbombingraid. During the land reform her grave,"theycut me offfrom the campaign,as she says from I the revolution" but was revolution, (145). concern? The questionis raised Whynotrebelagainstcollective in bothnovels.As Political Officer asksSi,"Whycouldn't Do Manh will not My feelings you openlysay, This is a coercivesituation. woman?'"(140).Speaking allow me to livewiththat from thegrave, wonders whohad beenso braveinbattle, Oanhsimilarly whyHirng, so easilyon the"battleground had surrendered ofconscience" (145). In both worksthe main characters realize thatthough eventually ofcollective have concern, theymayhave been victims theymight had theytakenmoreresponsibility avoided tragedy fortheir own lives. The troublewith a collectivemaking decisions for you, collective is one's Confucian that or theParty, whether is that family to make never learn decisions for yourself. youmay as Matchmaker RebellionagainsttheWorkplace the Vietnamese have indeedbeen rebelling In recent years against role of matchmaker. Untilrecently the Party'sself-appointed the a direct interest in theselection was notonlytaking ofsoldiers' Party and officials' an indirect rolein the spouses,butitwas also playing of other Vietnamese. choices Pham Van Bich's marriage studyofthe that for state Vietnamese who worked in family suggests employees urban areas, not all of whom would be Partymembers, the "ay quan," or workplacein the state sector,played a crucialrole in in the state-sector Employment spouse selection.16 workplace, especially in urban areas, was desirable because it provided forsocialmobility and forobtaining material benefits opportunities foodand clothes, suchas housing, accesstohealth care, couponsfor Becauseoftheadvantages and travel (1999:132-38). permits accruing in state-sector from positions, employment manyyoung peoplewere to chooseanother "instructed stateemployeeas a by their parents
16In his in choiceofmarital oftheroleoftheworkplace analysis partners, on research and KhuatThu Hong Van Bichrelies Pham heavily by Belanger in urbanareas. PhamVan (1995),whichfocusesonlyon stateemployees thismaterial withreferences to his personal Bich'ssupplements experience at least1993)and to studies, one by Binh (he livedin Hanoi until including Minh(1991),thatfocuson ruralfamilies. However,his analysisis most areas. for urban reliable 28 14:2 Crossroads

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and theIndividual TheCollective in Vietnamese Literature

practicewas for people to marriagepartner.Anotherfrequent choose their marital partnerthemselves,then report to their whichwould approveor disapproveof their choiceon workplace, thegroundofclass endogamy" (138).Thereweresome advantages The workplace a stateemployee. sometimes to marrying helpedan employee find a spouse and helped him or her keep wedding theworkplace would typically expensesdown. However,whether as itdoes inTrn Ho'snovelis a question as directly intervene Manh Van Bichsays,"needsto be confirmed Pham that, by hardscholarly which is notyetavailable"(138)17 evidence thetwonovelswerepublished, officials at Thus,at thetime Party a more sometimes role than did theworkplace played paternalistic the parents.Yet thoughpeoples' cooperationwith the Party's thenovels'contents thatmany seemedvoluntary, direction suggest to theworkplace'sinterference. In the had been silently objecting was becoming more late 1980s resistanceto that interference had followedHo Chi obvious. Duringthe war manyVietnamese life for national life.Protests Minh's model by sacrificing family had been muted either interference because state-sector against or because the the feared Party theyaccepted messagethat people their individual of had to dreams, purgethemselves suppress they and dedicatethemselves to achieving all softbourgeoisemotions, dreamofindependence and freedom collective from thegrandiose After the became less domination. war,youngpeople willing foreign Now that individual dreams. their to suppress peace had come,they to acceptHo ChiMinh's redefinition offamily, a weremorereluctant to "the people" or (in some attention whichdirected formulation world,yetwhich versions)theworking-class people of the entire members concrete somehowoverlooked (see PhamVan Bich family of renovation, 1999:60). After 1986,underthenew freedoms they individual choice. These attitudes changing practicing beganopenly inpersonal tostate interference marital resistance choices. increased for individual has the desire choice become ever In recent years more obvious, as therehas been a trendaway fromthe state and toward individual choiceofspouse. involvement family-ratified in people's thestatesector becameless important In thelate 1980s,
^ Hirng member. theParty interfered moredirectly in his is a Party Perhaps in it would the of a state worker than who was nota plans marriage plans oftheParty. member 14:2 Crossroads 29

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G Schafer John thepromotion ofa market and sociallives.With economic economy, find work could and in theprivate marriage partners youngpeople on the stateagency.According to Pham sectorsinsteadof relying Van Bich, in urban areas young people now choose theirown Thisconvention but gettheir is parents' approval(139-40). partners between thetraditional a compromise marriage arranged by parents modernmarriagearrangedsolely by the and the western-style people. young to Yet in the midstof this change the statecontinuedtrying life. 1987 Law on of The norms and the family Marriage impose a more positiveview of the familythan that Familyrepresents thewar.It saw family notas obstacles during loyalties promulgated but as ways ofhastening thejourney. But on theroad to socialism mustbe a socialistor "new culturefamily" based on the family "feudal" notthehierarchical family: equality, husbandand wifeare equal, love and In thesocialist family, to make each other progressin all aspects, actively help in socialist construction and national and defence, participate to children becomeusefulmembers ofsociety. bringup their and Family Law) (1987Marriage untilone realizesthatthelaw's requirement Thissoundspromising lifeis similar to thecollective socialist concern ofharmonious family himintostaying wifeto blackmail withher thatmotivates Hirng's collective concern his will.Thusthestate-directed protested against an in contemporary novels remains force two the important by Vietnam. to Inward-looking FromOutward-looking individualism notonlyin their views on The twonovelsexemplify in also their selection of detail and in their but and marriage family In the Hanoi critics manner of 1990s, early literary presentation. very identifiedthe 1980s as a time when writingbecame "inwardL Liruand TrnManhHoni).Theymentioned (hirng looking" of a new kind of novel that as pioneers especially L Lyii to Nguyen itself According by beinginward-looking. distinguished a a Far Past "marked movement to new A Time Thin, Ngoc literary period" because it "'triedto describelifeand people just as they - hectic,various,multifaceted, and oftencomplicatedand were
30 14:2 Crossroads

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TheCollective and theIndividual in Vietnamese Literature

irrational7" (31).18 The developmentwas also noted by Nguyen Ngoc, then the head of the creative section of the Writers' in 1990, whowrote Association, attention to a personas a Literature [now]pays morecareful - complicated, multifaceted, rich and individual world - who relatesin many and multi-layered multidimensional, and multifaceted also complicated ways to thewhole society or herself. it concentrated and to himself (Previously onlyon a at the level of citizen and stressed that citizen's seeing person One can say thatliterature to society.) has become relations moredirected at thecomplicated moreinward-looking, inner worldofa person. (QuotedbyNguyn 1990:31) NgocThin to ourtwonovels,Nguyen to theexampleof In addition Ngocpoints ofWar),which Sorrow Bo Ninh's(1990)Noi buonchientranh (The inner of world Kin, a war veteran haunted by explores the of lost comradesand overcome memories by nostalgiafora more timebeforethe war. Also said to fitthe inward-looking innocent was Du'crng Thu Huang's (1988) Nhfrng Thin M Dw&ng category 19 the of Blind). (Paradise novel replacing NguyenNgoc (1991) sees the inward-looking work that he calls kindofpost-1975 "tiuthuyt su'" another phng sir"resembles whatAnglo-American "Phng (novelsof reportage). criticscall new journalism:it containsa great deal of realistic and blursthedistinction between fiction and non-fiction description is used to societal it evils and Often expose government prose. malfeasance. However,it criticizes societywithoutrevealingthe As examples ofthistypeofnovelNguyen worldsofcharacters. inner three novels: two 1983 mentions works by Nguyen Manh Ngoc tm&cbien(Standing Tun Dirng FacingtheSea) and C lao Tram KhacTru'frng's dt Island)- and Nguyen (1990)Mnh (TheMangrove nhiuma (Land of Lots of People and Many Ghosts).20 lam nguj&i and incompetence These threenovels detail the corruption of after thewar.Bypresenting in ruralVietnam officials officials Party
18Nguyn Ho Phircrng. critic, NgocThin quotesanother LyBoththesenovelshave been translated intoEnglish. See thereferences details. listfor 20Noneofthese novelshas beentranslated intoEnglish. Crossroads 14:2 31

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C. Schafer John novelsdiffered these"journalistic" from worksof as less than heroic, thewar,but,in thewordsof Nguyen written realism socialist during of society"without "a the exploring Ngoc,theypresented picture fitsthis innerworld of individuals(13). In some ways, Separation forHirng appears at timesto be not a living, breathing category, narrative devicethat theauthor uses to lead us, a rather but person, in journalisticfashion,througha historyof Party errorsand excesses.21 But,as we will soon see, in otherways Separationis inward-looking. NhirPhircmg The critic (1991) sees the inward-looking Huynh of literature. Now novel as another step in the "democratization" no longer of thatthewar is over,he says,writers pose theproblem Instead individualhappinessfora greatundertaking. sacrificing and thethirst individual for "thesearchfor describe happiness they to Huynh Nhir love betweena man and a woman" (15). According are suggesting thateven while L Luu and otherwriters Phu'cmg, should never we in a forgetthe great undertaking engaged individual of happiness: importance of the individualin both the responsibility In considering in regard of to and the to society responsibility society regard the we shouldn't view of thefateand happiness individual, and thedemocracy of thantheother. one as lighter Humanity rest on that point, on the realization that the literature its center but rather and individualis not thefuelofhistory force. (15) driving the widespreaduse of the diary NhujPhu^ng identifies Huynh A FarPastand Separation, as a in current motif novels, including Time of individuals. In A Time the inner life for increased of respect sign Far Past, afterSi's diary is discovered,Do Manhlashes out at How would you likeit, forinvading Si's privacy. officers superior to yourwives and lovers? ifI seized all yourletters he asks them, forall people,and you have a certain freedom "Our law stipulates violated this principle.Who instructed you to politicizeothers' also keeps a diary, in thisway?" (61). In Separation, Hu'ng thoughts him.The truth-revealing theverydiaryhis wifeuses to blackmail
21 According to the critic Bi Bch H (1990:36), "In grammar and style Tran Manh Ho in this novel [Separation] tends toward reportage [phng sir] ....

32

14:2 Crossroads

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and theIndividual in Vietnamese TheCollective Literature

is written in the first he later writes,Separation, autobiography another in a diary. person: wayyet theirrepressible and uncontrollable inner emphasizes Separation in yetother to participate in lifeofindividuals ways.Whenordered of "comrade looks at his fellow thecollective moon/' Hirng viewing soldiersand observes:"Theireyes gaze at the moon but it's not mind."As for he says,"I had a themoonis on their certain himself, own" his beloved of When he requests moon Oanh (82). my private to visit thearchcollectivist who from Oanh, Trng Giang permission in a nearby medicine tellshimthat he is studying town, Trng Giang kissher."Forget matters and can go, but thathe shouldn't private he instructs. can't restrain servethe organization," himself, Hirng and clumsily, "likea buffalo bitesan and he kissesOanh passionately to Hirng from hergrave,Oanhsays ear ofcorn"(72). Later, speaking thematerial lifeofa person, in them that"peoplecan direct putting oftheorganization, but theycan'tcontrol theinner theframework offeeling" notthelife life, (150).
Vietnamese Literatureand the FirstAppearance of "I"

to theindividual, the"I," in thehistory of How new is thisattention The question has provoked literature? and Vietnamese controversy - both Vietnameseand Western - have confusion.Some critics in the1930swiththeromantic thatthe"I" arrived verse suggested withthe novels of the Self-Strength now knownas New Poetry, ofreportage and autobiography.22 All Group,and withnew forms these developments were the result of French influence,as in FrancoVietnamesewriterswho had read Frenchliterature to experiment schoolswerebeginning withnew styles Vietnamese in a now-famous In 1942, workofliterary two and genres. criticism, and from Hoi Thanh Hoi brothers Hu, Chn,published an of Vietnamese critical New Poetry. As these influential anthology make clear,the 1930sNew Poets (a group including critics Xun
22 For criticaldiscussion of the New Poets, see Jamieson(1992) and For moreon theSelf-Strength 3 and 4, 100-233). (1993:Chapters Jamieson and ofnew forms see (1993:111-159 Jamieson passim).Forexamples Group, in Lockhart and autobiography, see theselections ofreportage (1996).In his Lockhart discussesthearrival to thiscollection, ofthe"active introduction of the monarchy and the T" which he associateswith the destruction in classes cities. of lower working emergence Crossroads 14:2 33

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C. Schafer John

wereinfluenced Lu', amongothers) Dieu,Huy Can, and LiruTrong own periodbut by thesymbolists notby theFrench poetsof their - Chateaubriand, and romantics of the nineteenth century and Mussett, forexample.The highly romantic Lamartine, Vigney, New Poets abandoned the restraint and rigidrules of traditional Vietnameseprosody. Their poems were wildly exuberantand criesoftheheart. emotional and Hoi Chntellthestory, As Hoi Thanh a greatdeal of the New Poets' exuberance derived from their discovery of the a perspective individual new toVietnamese perspective, supposedly literature: - who can say exactly The first whatday itwas- thatthe day word "I" appeared in Vietnamese poetry it was truly It was as if it were lost in a strange land. This is surprised. withita perspective becauseitbrought that had notbeenseen in thiscountry: theindividual Sinceancient times perspective. in Vietnamese was no individual there There was only society. a largeone, thecountry, thecollective: and a small one, the for As the the individual aspect was individual, family. in the family and in the country like a drop of submerged in thesea. (51-52) water This argument for the recent appearance of the individual perspectivewould seem to be supportedby the simultaneous narration offirst-person and thegeneralized appearance first-person point of view was rare in "classical" pronoun.The first-person literature. Traditional Vietnamese Vietnamese storytellers presented theirstories as third-person retellingsof ancient tales, not as accounts oftheir own lifeand times. first-person original completely turnthese scentedleaves and read a tale of love "By lamplight recordedin old books," is the way NguyenDu introduceshis ofan old story in his versenarrative TheTale of retelling purported modern Even novelists have Kiu.23 thethird prose preferred person forthethird to thefirst person.Thispreference personwas rooted
23Thisis Huynh translation of TheTaleofKieu, SanhThong's p. 3. A note in ancient Chinaevents that wererecorded on green bambooslips. explains to "leaves'' (169). For a discussionof thedifferences Hence thereference versenarratives suchas TheTaleofKiuand themodern traditional between andJohn see Cao thiNhir-Quynh C. Schfer Vietnamese novel, (1988). 34 14:2 Crossroads

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and theIndividual TheCollective in Vietnamese Literature

Vietnamthere language.In pre-modern partlyin the Vietnamese The first was no generalized first-person pronoun. personpronoun or "subject"and untilrecently used today,"toi,"meant"servant" As PhanKhi notedin 1930, foundit too self-deprecatory. writers that"T (toi)is theway avoidedthewordbecausethey felt writers in orderforthe to themselves" refer slaves (1930:13). Consequently, use by modern ithad "toi"tobecameavailablefor writers, pronoun and to be sprungloose fromits associationswith a hierarchical worldorder.This did nothappenuntilthe1930s(see monarchical 1996:6-13). Lockhart and linguistic forms that Despitethisavoidanceofthenarrative use to markindividualism, literatures some Vietnamese Western novelist a form Trn Ho (1996), of Manh critics, including arguethat has been evidentin Vietnamese literature all along. individualism thatthe For example,TrnManhHo argues thatthe assumption was introduced is an error individual bytheNew Poetry perspective French "classicisme" withVietnamese equating bywrongly inspired vanhoc co dien.Justas Frenchclassicismwas classicalliterature, so also was Vietnamese classical succeededby French romanticism, followedby the New Poets who drew on those very literature romantics. French Consequently, manypeople have assumed that whichlackedthelinguistic classicalliterature, forms theVietnamese and anti-emotional as of"I," musthave been as anti-individualistic the Frenchclassicalschool.TrnManhHo argues thatwhile the and New Poetry is a justone,theequation equationofromanticism misses the mark.French of the two types of classical literature distancedapproach to classicismtrulyexpressedan emotionally but the same is not true of the so-called literaryexpression, literature. French classicism classical Vietnamese may have been It may have "phi ng" (freeof self),or "non-moi." deliberately and individual reason But Vietnamese ignored feelings. glorified was notlikethis.TrnManhHo arguesthatVietnamese literature - a diversecollectionof pre-twentieth classical literature century ancient folk thatencompassed materials (ca dad),and myths, poetry - gaveexpression versenarratives to thepeople's nineteenth century for and individualistic freedom, self-expression, yearnings development: The feudal regimedid not recognizethe individual,but forindividualliberation, literature expressedthe yearning
Crossroads 14:2 35

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C. Schafer John

of people to develop as individuals, to demandedthe right individualism. TheTaleofKiubyNguyn their Du,the express workofourpeople,is primarily a call mostcelebrated literary for theliberation oftheindividual from the for individualism, offeudalism. doctrine (65) ifwe is controversial. His case is strongest TrnManhHo's position in a psychological veinrather thanin terms individualism consider writers themoods, Traditional forms. ofliterary certainly expressed Folk poetryand verse of theircharacters. and feelings emotions, boththejoys and sorrows oflove. narratives expressed powerfully in the same way as storieswere not psychological Yet traditional For example,in TheTale ofKieu,Nguyen Du used modernstories. him inner more to allowed that forms convey feelings effectively thandid poets who favoredthe old style.He wrotein a popular folk and called lue bt}^whichwas used also for verseform poetry, and folkidioms.Nevertheless, he employed colloquialexpressions Du conveyedKiu's he was limited Nguyn by poeticconventions. moods not throughinnerfirst-person monologuesbut through allusions to well-knownSinomeans of and diction by poetic emotions were therefore filtered texts. Kieu's Vietnamese through form of a fixed with and the language poetic rhythms rigidrules oftones.Evenpoetry in the and placement written meter regarding and present them as objects for tendsto purify lue btform feelings When the critic Thin aesthetic Nguyn Ngoc argues appreciation. features oftheversenarrative one ofthedistinguishing that genre - is its tendency ofwhichTale ofKiuis themostfamousexample oftheinner to theexploitation of attention "to devotelittle feelings to the he is characters" (32), genre's stylistic probablyreferring withlaterloverssuggests that Yet theTale'spopularity constraints. the epic's emotionsresonatewithindividuals'experience despite meter and allusion. emotion's that through expression in classicalliterature, existed Tran thatindividualism Byarguing tolerance ManhHo makesmorepalatablehis own plea forgreater To a Marxist-Leninist likeTran in lifeand literature. ofindividuality 24 The Vietnamese and refers to the term "lue bt"means"six-eight" of a the in first and second lines constituent the ofsyllables number couplet, For a good discussion thisverseform. of unitof poemsemploying 1996:1-25. see Sanh verse Vietnamese forms, Huynh Thng
36 14:2 Crossroads

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TheCollective and theIndividual in Vietnamese Literature

Ho's character individualism is a petty Manh Trng Giang, bourgeois with associated Western colonialism. Trn ManhHo evades quality thechargeby finding individualism also in folkpoetry and in the of Kiu. Trn Tale Manh Ho that over the popular impliesthereby whole of Vietnamese it is not individualism but literary history obsession with collectivismthat is the aberration;his novel thatthe most recentformof this Separation impliesfurthermore aberrationwas not even Vietnamese in origin, since it was introduced Mao's Yenanlectures. byChairman The End ofSentimentalism? I said earlier that becauseVietnamese are neverfree from collective and becausethey also feela strong senseofdutyto parents concern, and society,theirfaithin love is rarelytested.This collective of the romantic ideal of unrequited love may explain experience why Vietnamese literary works have been so persistently If thisis so, thenthe increasedpersonalfreedoms sentimental. of recent sentimentalism. years mayspelltheend ofliterary remains but A Time FarPast does not. The romantic, Separation novelincludesscenessuggesting latter that freedom from collective concernwon't guaranteehappy marriages,and it presentsan view ofsexualfreedom. unsentimental In A Time FarPastSi enters free of his secondmarriage interference from or Party, fairly family is a disaster the because his had been marriage yet spouse secretly to avoid the of a maneuvering public disgrace pregnancy gotten her affair with anotherman. The novel also includes a through bleakpicture oftheworldthenew paintsthefollowing passage that havecreated: sexualfreedoms In the late morning, in officesall across the city,it was commonforpeople to be absent fromtheirdesks. Lovers rendezvous thesetimes. With usuallyscheduledtheir during at work and children in daycare or school, the parents collective wereas deserted as graveyards. For housing projects a few hours,lovershad theirprivacyin these apartments. to theirworkand became,once again, Then,theyreturned members of thecommunity. (158) respectable Thesenoontime liaisonsin thehousingprojects appearunromantic - affairs and dreary driven more bylustthanlove.
Crossroads 14:2 37

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C. Schafer John

FarPastis nottheonlypost-renovation workto hintthat A Time In a celebrated have created new problems. and thenew freedoms a woman short controversial (1992/1987), HuyThip story by Nguyn hospitalbringshome abortedfetusesto employedin a maternity feed to Alsatian dogs that she is selling to make extramoney. of the fetusesmay indicatepoor family Though the availability than the adulterous encounters mentioned rather above, planning nevertheless hints at troubles as HuyThip'sstory Nguyn coming new and to sexual economic freedoms. theVietnamese adapt in whichall liaisonsarepossibleand in which In an environment concern maketheir ownbad choicesin from collective freed people or despair will replace marriage, perhaps cynicism, irony, moodofVietnamese fiction. as thedominant Should sentimentalism Vietnamese writers and readers sentimentalism pass away, may for collective concern. soonwax nostalgic SwingsofthePendulum Vietnam an individualist Of course,it is hardto imagine becoming not as free-floating see themselves ions but as Vietnamese culture. a network of social bonds. Their constrained by language particles terms doubleas personal thesebonds:kinship reinforces pronouns, not to oneself and everyfirst-person pronounexcepttoi (I) refers withthepersonto whomone is alonebut also to one's relationship individualism was likea FortheNew Poetsofthe1930s, speaking.25 had left the that collectivist upbringing poets illdrug powerful the New this to withstand. Poets Eventually, drug brought prepared The most famous case is ofpersonal that to thebrink disintegration. of the group,who of Liru TrongLu%perhapsthe most romantic and lived apart becameaddictedto opiumin themid-40s allegedly huton theoutskirts of Hu(Nguyn his wifein a wretched from Vy theearly1940s and Hoi Chan Hoi Thanh (1968/1942), 1969:100-113). the who helped make theNew Poetsfamous, critics acknowledge thepsychological turmoil to linking problems, poets' psychological the"I": to livewithin thevainattempt

25Becauseit contrasts moreintimate withtheother first-person pronouns, whenone wishesto create social "tai" maybe selected themoreimpersonal but distance.In otherwords it also can be used to definea relationship, nota closeone. generally 38 14:2 Crossroads

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and theIndividual TheCollective in Vietnamese Literature

thesphereof'I.' Havinglostbreadth, we Our liveslie within seek depth.Butthedeeperwe go, thecolderit becomes.. . . has Vietnamese been so sad or in such Neverbefore poetry we have lostthe turmoil. Alongwithour senseofsuperiority times. peace ofmindofprevious translation (53-54; byNeilJamieson) their regained peace ofmind ManyoftheNew Poetseventually to the collective. The most of them prominent returning by as did their the Hoi Thanh. revolution, joined promoter eventually what called a Hoi Thanh "miraculous In doingso they experienced "In the new atmosphere of the homeland,we, the resurrection": - we of victims or theguilty individualism of the victims century in individual life means the immense life of our the realizehow little community"(quoted by Nguyn Khac Vin and Hfru Ngoc toNeilJamieson, this 19837:145). According as a of psychicand social "rebirth" experienced syndrome "miraculous resurrection," especially insofar as it characterized many of the more articulateand influential elementin is an important membersof the intelligentsia, the of ICP Communist the [Indochinese explaining resurgence and preceding(1944-1945) Party]in the years immediately the following(1945-1947) August especially immediately Revolution.26 (209) - in 1954after the laterthantheNew Poets who wentnorth Writers - have described their conversion to Indochina War end oftheFirst "it in that was like an similar terms. communism Nguyn Sangsays T that was thecause ofso muchpain;itwas theT/ that escapefrom a smallcage intoan immense outer world." likebeingreleasedfrom theresistance enabled"theuniting of to AnhDux,joining According
26 That which involved sharinghardshipsand activity, revolutionary intense camaraderieand be a transforming could generate dangers, was also but one seems undeniable, literary hyperbole suspects experience For involved in some accounts of these "miraculous resurrections/' and others describe Liru Lu7s Trong Nguyn Vy preexample,though revolutionary years in Hue as unhappy and bleak, the poet suggests his death(LujuTrong twoyears before in a memoir Lu' otherwise published 1989). 14:2 Crossroads 39

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C. Schafer John

and theprivate; theintentions thecommunal of thePartyand my as one with no interfering own soul came together elements" Cu-De 1979:31-32). (Quotedby Phan Thus Vietnamese literature has experienced wild swingsof the between individualism and collectivism. In the1930sthe pendulum New Poets broughta swing toward individualism.Then the movedto thecollectivist sidewiththeAugustRevolution pendulum in 1945,as the necessity of collective actionto defeattwo world in two wars of socialist realismand of brought acceptance powers thatliterature the doctrine should servepolitics. Thencame peace and Secretary Linh's looseningof the strings writers, restricting a move from extreme collectivism toward some more allowing away central point. Towarda SustainableIndividualism? In contemporary Vietnam thereare stilllimitson theretreat from as suggestedby the fictional death of the writer to collectivism, whom Hirng'sdaughteris espoused and by the real-lifepostofTrnManhHo's novel.The Tiananmen suppression publication incidentin China and the fall of communist partiesin Eastern Europe made Hanoi leaders fear openness and led almost to a tightening of the stringsSecretary Linh had immediately loosenedin 1986.In June 1988a resolution oftheFifth Plenumofthe Sixth warnedwriters notto stray from theParty line(Nhn Congress 1988:1). In August, in Dan 22 June the wake of the Tiananmen 1989, a resolution oftheSeventh Plenumcalledfor morecaution incident, in implementing reforms Trn (see Heng 1998:40).The difficulty Manh Ho had in distributing his novel Separation, whichwas was probably relatedto therestrictions publishedthenextmonth, these resolutions. by reimposed has not led to any significant Up to the presentrenovation in freedom increase ofspeech,and even literary critics have muted their calls for liberalization.In his article about the growing ofliterature in the1980s, democratization Nhir Huynh Phircmg (1991) an that individual's to the collective should argues responsibilities be balancedwithan awareness ofthecollective's to responsibilities the individual. However, he does not mentionthe individual's tohimorherself, nordoes he saywhatshouldhappen responsibility when an individual's responsibility necessitatesopposing the collective. As Vietnamesebecome more accustomed to a de40 14:2 Crossroads

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and theIndividual TheCollective in Vietnamese Literature

and as individualinitiative centralized becomesa more economy, in economic virtue individualism contexts, respected maybecome in other contexts as well. Butwhatwill happenifa moretolerated society accustomed to collectivismbecomes suddenly more Willtheindividualism be a truly individualistic? one, self-realizing - neversatisfied - against in practice or will itbe another yearning setofsocialconstraints? And ifindividualism is realized yetanother will it be a healthyindividualism, or will it be the in practice, but psychologically debilitating typethatthe New Poets exciting and later toescape? embraced first sought The recentrecord of Vietnameseliterature, with its strong "I" between and "we" and its radical between the swings opposition and thecollective, warn writers to be of individual might wary too A Time Past indeed that much freedom. wariness. far expresses in for Trn Ho searches Manh Nevertheless, Separation ways out of and in doingso he forefronts thevalues oflove,good thedilemma, and truth. humor, Separationpleads forpeople to make love, not politics,the in control."27 TrnManhHo showsunquestioned faith in "general to choosetheir ofindividuals own mates,and his novel theability suggests that the opposition between the individual and the sacrificial individualistic collectivecan be brokendown through that the ofhis love love.In a philosophical passage Hirng says story of the because it is the the forOanh "tragedy period," represents the individual I and the the and between the collective, opposition I. Eventhepowerofthislove love for Oanhis thehateful we.Hirng's couldn't defeat his fear of the collective that opposed the into"the grandiosecollective so he plungedhimself relationship, hislove couldhave dissolved we"(148).He has realizedtoolatethat between and we,forwhenwe sacrifice thedestructive opposition for ourselves. As he says,"Only for thosewe love we are also living thetwoelements intoone . . . We love has thepowerto harmonize or I, I or we- that'snot at issue any longerwhen we have love" (201). 2' Trng that is thegeneral, the soulofeachindividual Giang says "politics " from the Oanh contradicts the andevery arch (72). Speaking grave, period oftheworld ofthespirit canonly 'The general be love"(150). collectivism friend and themost admirable character in thenovel, Hai Giern, Hirag's ofrecent leaders onthe fact that the mistakes doctrine" blames has "political in control" "the been (211). general
Crossroads 14:2 41

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C. Schafer John

in Separation hints at thepossibility offreedom character Another and devotion to truth. This humor character through good through who wentnorth one ofa groupofsoutherners after the is Hai GicVn, and Hirng first meetwhenHai GicVn Hai Giern 1954GenevaAccords. thelandreform assistant is becomesHirag's during period.Hai Giern romantic that and a model of theindependent, spirit outspokenly to truth in lifeand literature. Hai withgood humordevoteshimself and day and couldfind humorous is "cheerful GicVn night something and situation" in every (85).He also finds courageto speakthetruth in defiance ofthecollective's direction. his individuality to preserve withhispersonality, GicVn's a Consistent givennamemeans"joker," the leader of his unit."Our socialistsocietyis a factthatdisturbs member witha serioussociety," saystheleader."A cadreand Party Ordered to nameis unacceptable" his humorous (86). change name, does so, but laterhe changes it back. Hai GicVn also Hai GicVn in his love life. After theParty demonstrates independence prevents love because she is Catholic, his first he lashes himfrom marrying thatis fiercer for thanwere out at theParty beingan "organization in previous times: elderswiththeir Confucian daughters they say sit with no powertochoose"(110).Whenhe here, youhave to sitthere, the marriesanotherwoman later,he does so withoutinforming criticizes the often its GicVn Hai Party leadership, particularly Party. even scientific to Consistent everything, study. tendency politicize in theearlypages ofthenovel Hai withhis generaloutspokenness, thepersonal that to telltruthfully GicVn story eventually urgesHirng becomesthenovelSeparation. of southerners as moreeasy-going, fits thestereotype Hai GicVn less bound by rigid rules,and more influenced less formal, by thanare northerners.28 and emotions By makingHai GicVn feelings in his novel,TranManhHo may be character themostadmirable betweenthe northand south as communication that suggesting a bit (More Hai could become"southernized" thenorth improves, fewerTrng Giangs!),and in this way the destructive GicVns, betweenthe heartand the mind,betweenI and we, oppositions in thenorth Ifcommunist officials becamemore could be softened. - warmer,more flexiblein applying rules and "southernized" - thenperhaps couldreplaceconflict. Whether harmony regulations for psychologically this harmonywould provide opportunity 28Many with the southerners stereotype. agree
42 14:2 Crossroads

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TheCollective andthe Individual in Vietnamese Literature is uncertain. Whatseems clear is thatthe healthy individualism issue of collectiveconcernraised in these late 1980s novels will wellintothenewmillennium. remain important References Bo Ninh version 1993/1990 TheSorrow tranh]. ofWar[Noi buonchin English Palmos based on Frank the translation from the Vietnamese by and PhanThanh Pierce. Hao,withKaterina by Vo BangThanh London: Seekerand Warburg. as Originally published Then Fate of Hanoi: cua tinh NhXutBan Hi Love]. yu[The phan 1990. NhVan, D. and KhuatThuHong Belanger, and Familyin UrbanNorthVietnam, 1965-1993/' 1995 "Marriage at theAnnualPAA Meeting, San Francisco. Paperpresented BinhMinh hinnay"[On 1991 "V quanh hnnhn trong gi ctnh nngthn in the Present RuralFamily].In Nhn MaritalRelationships the Present dien gi dnh Vit nani Men nay [Identifying Hanoi: Vietnamese hoi Ky yeu nghi. Family]. Bi BchH 1990 "Toi doc 'Ly than'ca TrnManhHo" [ReadingTranManh Van Hoc [Literary Ho's Ly than]. Studies] (Tustin,CA) No. 52:35-45. and John C. Schfer Cao thiNhir-Quynh to Novel: The Development of Prose 1988 "FromVerseNarrative inVietnam." Asian Studies 47:756-777. Fiction Journal of and Don Luce (editors) Jacqui Chagnon, Poems D.C.: 1974 Of QuietCourage: fromVietNam. Washington, Indochina MobileEducation Project.

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C. Schafer John ThuHipcmg Dircmg ThinDu^ng M]. Trans. 1993/1998Paradise oftheBlind[Nhfrng New York:William and Nina McPherson. Phan Huy Du'frng in in Hanoi 1988 Morrow. byNam Viet. published Originally Heng,RussellHiang-Khng ofIts Management." In and theStructure 1998 "Media in Vietnam David G. Marr, ed. 25-53. Political TheMass Mediain Vietnam. and Social Change Monograph 25. Canberra: Australian National University. Ho ChiMinh and Artistic 1977 V Cng Tc Van Ho Van Ngh [On Literary 1977. Hanoi: Si* That, Tasks]. andHoi Chn Hoi Thanh 1968/1942 ThiNhnVit-Nam [Vietnamese Poets].Saigon:Hoa Tien. NgocHin Hong 1979 "V mtdc dimca vn hoc nghthut trong giai doanvfra of Our Literature and Artin the Characteristics qua" [Some and the No. 23: Van PeriodJust Passed]. Arts] Ngh[Literature 9. June Hong NgocPhch A Psychological tarn 1963/1925 T tarn: [To tm: Novel]. lyticu thuyt in 1925. Xun. Thanh Originally published N.p.: VanChi Hoang A Case Historyof North to Communism: 1964 FromColonialism New York:Praeger. Vietnam. Nhir Phircmg Huynh nm80 v vn d dn chuho nnvan hoc" 1991 "Van xuinhtmg ofLiterature]. and theDemocratization in the 80s [Prose Tap ofLiterary Chi VanHoc [Journal Studies] (Hanoi)No. 4:14-17.

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TheCollective andthe Individual in Vietnamese Literature SanhThng and translator) (editor Huynh 1996 AnAnthology Poems. New Haven:Yale University ofVietnamese Press. Neil L. Jamieson, 1992 "Shattered Identities and ContestedImages: Reflections of and in 20th Vietnam." Crossroads Poetry History Century 7(2):71-134. 1993 Understanding Vietnam. CA: University ofCalifornia Berkeley, Press. L Li*u xa vang].Trans.Ng Vnh Hai, 1997/1986A TimeFar Past [Thfri B and Kevin Bowen. MA: University Amherst, Nguyen Chung, of MassachusettsPress. Originallypublished in 1986 and in 1996byWriters' Association republished House, Publishing Hanoi. L Thnh Nghi 1990"Nhn docLythan" Vn [On Reading Separation], NghQunDi and theArts and theArmy], 97-100. [Literature August, Lockhart Greg 1992 "Introduction." In TheGeneral Retires andOther Studies. Nguyen 1-38. Oxford Press. HuyThip. Singapore: University 1996 "Introduction." In The Lightof the Capital: ThreeModern Vietnamese Classics. Translated and Monique byGregLockhart Lockhart. 1-49. Kuala Lumpur: Oxford Press. University Lir Lu'uTrong 1989 Na DmSite Tnh in theMiddleoftheNight]. Thuan [Waking Ho:Thuan Ho Publishing House. Mao Tse-Tung and Art."In 1967/1942 "Talks at theYenan Forumon Literature Selected Works Mao Vol. 3. 69-98. of Tse-Tung. Peking:Foreign Press. Languages

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C. Schafer John Du Nguyn 1800 The Tale of Kiu [Truyn 1983/c. Kiu].A bilingualedition New Haven:Yale University Sanh translated Thng. by Huynh Press. HuyThip Nguyn v hiru]. Translated 1992/1987 "The GeneralRetires"[Tu'6-ng by Press.Originally Oxford University publishedin Singapore: 1987.

Retires and OtherStories. 115-136. Greg Lockhart.In TheGeneral

KhacVinand Hfru Ngoc Nguyn

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House. Some researchers list ForeignLanguagesPublishing but no date is given in the 1983 as the date of publication book.

Minh Chu Nguyn aboutWar]. VanNgheQunDoi 1978 "Vietve chintranh" [Writing and the Artsand the Army]. November.For an [Literature version see: about War." Trans.Huynh Sanh "Writing English TheVietnam Review 3 (Autumn-Winter, 1997):438-447. Thng. Ngoc Nguyen thm d di ntve quyluatphttrien 1991 "Van xuisau 1975:th* 1975: Some after Features Relatedto Laws of [Prose Exploring Chi Van of Hoc [Journal Literary Studies] Tap Development]. (Hanoi)No. 4:9-13. NgocThin Nguyn van xui Vit namhindai" 1990 "'Tiu thuyt ni' trong hu'frng Novel" and Contemporary Vietnamese [The "Inner-directed of Chi Van Hoc Prose].Tap [Journal Literary Studies](Hanoi) No. 6:28-34. VanLinh Nguyen 1990/1987 "Let Writers and Artists Actively Contribute to Vietnamese Studies Renovation." (New Series)21 (1991): 117of"Dongchitng 125.Translation b thu' Van Linhni Nguyn
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TheCollective and theIndividual in Vietnamese Literature

v&i van nghs [ComradeGeneralSecretary chuyn Nguyen Writers and Artists]. Talkswith VanNgh[Literature VanLinh and the Arts]No. 42: Oct. 17, 3. [Van Nghe reprintsthe speechoftheGeneral Secretary.] complete opening Vy Nguyen Writers and Poets].Saigon:Khai Chien 1969 VanThiS Tien [Pre-War Tri. Linh Nht Trans.JamesBanerian.Los 1997/1935Breaking [Doan Tuyt]. Off 1935. Banerian. J. (?): Originally published Angeles VanBich Pham
in Change:TheCase oftheRed RiverDelta. 1999 The Vietnamese Family

CurzonPress. Surrey:

Cu-D Phan namqua 1945ba muod 1975" 1979 "V motnnvanxuieach mang Prose from1945-1975]. In [On theBasis fora Revolutionary Writers nani NhvanViet [Vietnamese (1945-1975) (1945-1975)]. eds. 15-77. Hanoi: Van Dangand Vu CngTien, Vol. 1. Lu'cmg hoc chuyen Dai hocva trung nghip. Khi Phan The 1930 "Phplmvan: each dai dai danhtu'" [RulesforWriting: Literature on Phu Use ofPronouns]. Women] ' mrtanvan[New No. 73:Oct.9, 13-14. ThiVu In Ly than 5-26. thi eu" [Introduction]. 1990 "LfrigicVi [Separation]. Paris:Qu Me. Ho Manh Tran Paris:Qu Me.Originally 1990/1989Lythan published [Separation]. in Ho Chi Minh Nai Cityin 1989. Company Publishing by Dong H Chi 1996 Ph bnh [Criticism phnph bnh AgainstCriticism]. NhXutBanVanNgh. Minh City:
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V Huy Quang 1990 "Thngdiep cua Ly than. . .va TranManhHo" [The Message of Ly than . . . and Trn Manh Ho]. Van Hoc [LiteraryStudies] (Tustin,CA) No. 52:46-53).

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