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| Vietnamese literature | |
|---|---|
| Name | Vietnamese literature |
| Native name | Văn học Việt Nam |
| Period | Ancient to Contemporary |
| Languages | Vietnamese language, Classical Chinese |
| Notable works | Tale of Kieu, The Chronicles of Đại Việt, Lam Sơn uprising chronicles, Đại Việt sử ký toàn thư, The Tale of the Mandarins |
| Notable authors | Nguyễn Du, Nguyễn Trãi, Tản Đà, Xuân Diệu, Hồ Chí Minh, Nam Cao, Ngô Tất Tố, Bảo Ninh, Vũ Trọng Phụng, Phùng Quán, Huy Cận, Trần Đình Sử |
| Country | Vietnam |
Vietnamese literature is the body of written and oral works produced in Vietnam across multiple languages and scripts, reflecting the country's complex interactions with China, France, and indigenous cultures. Spanning ancient chronicles, poetic canons, vernacular epics, colonial prose, revolutionary writings, and contemporary fiction, it documents social change, political struggle, spiritual life, and aesthetic innovation. Many texts exist in Classical Chinese, chữ Nôm, and modern Latin-based Vietnamese alphabet, contributing to diverse textual traditions and critical scholarship.
Vietnamese literary history is commonly divided into eras tied to dynastic, colonial, and revolutionary milestones: the early medieval period under Lý dynasty and Trần dynasty courts; the classical age under Lê dynasty; the late imperial and nomadic responses during the Mạc dynasty and Nguyễn dynasty; the colonial era influenced by French Indochina; the revolutionary period associated with August Revolution and First Indochina War; and the contemporary post-Đổi Mới era. Each period intersects with major events such as the Mongol invasions of Đại Việt, the Lam Sơn uprising, and treaties like the Treaty of Huế that reshaped patronage, censorship, and literary production.
Classical literature in Vietnam was composed primarily in Classical Chinese, producing historiography, poetry, and political treatises linked to Confucian institutions like Imperial examinations and courts of the Lê dynasty. Significant works include annals and chronicles such as the Đại Việt sử ký toàn thư and writings by scholar-officials like Nguyễn Trãi whose petitions and political prose responded to campaigns like the Lam Sơn uprising. Poets and scholars engaged with forms associated with Tang dynasty models and composed in parallel with literati from Song dynasty and Ming dynasty traditions, often circulating through networks tied to the Trịnh–Nguyễn War and court patronage.
The development of chữ Nôm enabled vernacular expression, producing narrative poetry and popular genres transmitted orally and in manuscript. Landmark texts include Tale of Kieu by Nguyễn Du—a vernacular masterpiece synthesizing Sino-Vietnamese sources and native storytelling—and religious and didactic works used by Buddhist and Ca Trù practitioners. Chữ Nôm literature also records regional voices such as folk songs linked to Quan họ and ritual theatre forms that interacted with texts patronized by families during Nguyễn dynasty rule. Collections of vernacular poems and proverbs circulated alongside commentaries by scholars like Lê Quý Đôn and performers connected to courtly entertainments like hát tuồng.
The encounter with French Indochina catalyzed shifts toward prose fiction, journalism, and new critical discourses using the Vietnamese alphabet (quốc ngữ). Early modernists engaged urban life and colonial society in works by novelists and journalists such as Vũ Trọng Phụng and satirists who addressed crises exposed by events like the Yên Bái mutiny and reforms of colonial administration. Revolutionary writers such as Hồ Chí Minh produced political tracts and poetry entwined with anti-colonial movements culminating in the August Revolution, while interwar literary movements debated realism, romanticism, and nationalism in journals linked to urban salons and printing presses.
After the economic reforms of Đổi Mới, publishing diversified, with an expansion of fiction, memoir, and experimental poetry addressing war memory, market reforms, and globalization. Novelists like Bảo Ninh and essayists connected to postwar reflection engaged with legacies of the Vietnam War and the Paris Peace Accords. Contemporary poetry and prose interact with international festivals, translation networks, and institutions such as university presses and cultural ministries, while independent voices use digital platforms to circulate short fiction, reportage, and satire in dialogue with diasporic communities like those in California and Paris.
Genres include classical historiography, court poetry in regulated forms deriving from Tang poetry, vernacular epic in chữ Nôm, modern realist and satirical novels, short stories reflecting urbanization, revolutionary literature of mobilization and propaganda, war narratives and memoirs, and experimental poetry influenced by global modernism. Performance genres intersect with written forms: narrative opera in hát chèo, classical theatre in hát tuồng, folk singing like ca trù, and ritual recitations that preserve texts through oral transmission and manuscript culture associated with village rituals and guilds.
Recurring themes are loyalty and filial piety memorialized in court histories tied to figures like Trần Hưng Đạo; moral critique and social reform voiced by scholar-officials during episodes such as the Lam Sơn uprising; love and fate dramatized in works like Tale of Kieu; anti-colonial resistance in texts associated with Nguyễn Ái Quốc; war, memory, and reconciliation after the Vietnam War; and modernity versus tradition debated in journals and salons during the colonial and revolutionary eras. Movements include Confucian literati scholarship, Nôm vernacular revival, colonial modernism, socialist realist production, and post-Đổi Mới pluralism, often driven by intersections among institutions such as academies, newspapers, revolutionary committees, and diasporic presses.
Category:Literature by language