Văn xuôi về đề tài lịch sử viết cho thiếu nhi từ sau cách mạng tháng tám 1945 đến nay tt tiếng anh

HANOI UNIVERSITY OF EDUCATION -------- TRAN HAI TOAN HISTORICAL PROSE FOR CHILDREN POST THE AUGUST REVOLUTION OF 1945 TO PRESENT Specialty: Vietnamese Literature Code: 9.22.34.01

HANOI UNIVERSITY OF EDUCATION



TRAN HAI TOAN

HISTORICAL PROSE FOR CHILDREN POST THE AUGUST REVOLUTION OF 1945 TO PRESENT

Specialty: Vietnamese Literature

Code: 9.22.34.01

A SUMMARY OF PHD DISSERTATION IN PHILOLOGY

Ha Noi, 2020

HANOI NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF EDUCATION

Scientific supervisor: Assoc Prof Dr Le Quang Hung

Reviewer 1: Assoc Prof Dr Ly Hoai Thu

Reviewer 2: Assoc Prof Dr Ton Phuong Lan

Reviewer 3: Assoc Prof Dr Tran Thi Viet Trung

The dissertation will be protected before the thesis review board

at university level at Hanoi University of Education

on …… hours … … day ……… month …… year 2020

Further information of the dissertation can be found at National library or at Library of Hanoi University of Education

TO THE THESIS

1 Tran Hai Toan, Historical material, folk materials and creativity

of To Hoai in the novel “desert island”, Journal of Education, No

292, 2nd term, August 2012

2 Tran Hai Toan, A study on introducing historical prose for

children to school curriculum, Journal of Science, No 21, January

2018

3 Tran Hai Toan, Some features of Vietnamese historical prose for

children, Journal of Theory and Criticism of Literature and Arts,

No 6, 2018

4 Tran Hai Toan, Some writing tendencies in historical prose for

children, Journal of Theory and Criticism of Literature and Arts,

No 4, 2020

INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale

1.1 The literature for children plays an important and indispensable

part in the national literature It is the literature for children, which has a close and mutual relationship with literature for adults, having created a complete appearance for the literature of each country in the world

The formation and development of Vietnamese literature for children was quite late It was not until the early 1940s of the twentieth century, especially after 1945, that literature written for children was truly developed and produced many unique works Despite less than a century of development until now, it can be said this area has gained many basic achievements, with a , with a large number of composers, variety of subjects, diversity of genres, innovation in methods However, , literature for children and the study of this kind have not really been interested by many people in compared with literature for adults

1.2 Writing on historical topics is one of the great inspirations, an

indispensable need in the development process of the national literature Along with the process of formation and development of Vietnamese literature for children, historical stories for children have also developed and achieved many outstanding achievements since 1945, especially from

1954 to present

The studies of historical novels written for adults have attracted a lot

of interest, while those for of historical prose for children are rather limited Most of the studies are just articles published or printed in specialist reference or scientific journals There are few extensive, comprehensive and systematic research works on this topic

Therefore, studying historical prose for children post 1945 as a full and complete object is a necessary work, contributing to the systematization of typical achievements, analyzing perception on history, artistic characteristics, generalizing writing trends and affirming the indispensable position of this topic in the flow of the literature for children

in particular and Vietnamese literature in general

1.3 Historical proses for children has also been included in the learning

curriculum However, the number of these works included in the cirriculum in the content of teaching, story telling has been too little and the quality of these works has not been well – qualified The writing and

publication of historical prose works for children along with the introduction of more works and excerpts of valuable works on historical topics in Reading and storytelling programs, literature programs are one of the effective solutions to help students become more interested in and excited with historical knowledge, and contribute to language development, ideal orientation, build up children’s sentiments and dreams

With the above reasons, along with the interest in children literature,

the author has chosen the title: historical prose for Children post the

August Revolution of 1945 to present

2 Research subject and scope

In particular, we focus on studying nine typical historical works for children by Nguyen Huy Tuong, Ha An, To Hoai, Nguyen Duc Hien and Nghiem Da Van At the same time, in the analysis process, we also compared those with historical prose works (mainly historical fiction) written for adult

3 Research objectives and tasks

3.1 Research objectives

- Analyze features and evaluate the achievements of historical prose for children in Vietnamese literature from after the August Revolution of

1945 through typical cases

- Affirm the characteristics and position of historical prose for children in children literature in particular and Vietnamese literature in general

- Draw some issues on historical prose for children in the current phase; suggest introduction of works and excerpts of historical prose works for children to school curriculum

3.2 Research tasks

- Generalize the development process of Vietnamese historical prose for children from after the August Revolution of 1945 in terms of its paths, trends, achievements and typical authors

- Analyze and explain historical perception and typical writing trends

in historical prose for children from after the August Revolution of 1945

- Analyze the artistic features of the Vietnamese historical prose for children in a number of aspects: narrative art, structural arts, language art

4 Research methodology

- Methods of analysis and synthesis;

- Methods of System research;

- Methods of Category research;

- Social historical method;

- Method of Interdisciplinary research

In addition to the above methods, the dissertation also uses some other methods and operations such as classification, comparison, analysis, synthesis The above mentioned research methods and operations will be flexibly applied in the analysis process

5 Contribution of the thesis

The dissertation is the first study of Vietnamese historical prose works for children as an independent and complete subject The thesis has systematized the process of formation, development and analysed the typical features and outstanding issues bringing in a comprehensive view of historical prose for children in the period of 70 years of development

The results from the study partly contribute to the theory, research on children literature in general, historical prose for children in particular which has not really attracted much attention and has not had many achievements

Summarizing and assessing the features and trends of historical prose for children, the dissertation initially wants to explore to find new ways and new paths for historical literature for children especially in the current period when its achievement is leveling off

The dissertation is a useful reference for teachers, students, learners, those who are interested and love children literature The dissertation also provides suggestions to make the history closer to the children with the

introduction of a number of typical works, excerpts to the school curriculum, contributing to the widening of knowledge, stimulating their interest and passion with the history of the country

6 The structure of the thesis

The thesis consists of 4 chapters, besides an Introduction, Conclusion, Appendix and References:

Chapter 1: Theoretical basis and overview of the research

Chapter 2: Historical prose for children in the development process

of Vietnamese children literature

Chapter 3: Historical sensory perception and mainstream trends in

historical prose for children from after the August Revolution of 1945

Chapter 4: Some artistic features of historical prose for children

from after the August Revolution of 1945

Chapter 1 THEORETICAL BASIS AND OVERVIEW OF THE RESEARCH 1.1 Theoretical basis

1.1.1 Some basic concepts

1.1.1.1 Historical novel

Historical novel is a literary genre that combines fiction and historical elements The historical factor (the core of history) dominates and influences the topic, the writer’s creative inspiration, forcing the writer

to stick to historical documents The fiction element expresses the character in a multi-dimensional relationship, embracing a wide range of life, allowing the writer to exert a high level of imagination and creativity

1.1.1.2 Children literature

Children literature includes works written for children These readers dominate the choice of the topic, thought, theme of each work

1.1.1.3 Historical prose for children

Historical prose for children includes the genres: short stories, long stories, novels written about historical topics for children These are literary works based on two main sources, legend and history which are written in narrative form, directing at historical events and figures

1.1.2 Basic requirements for historical prose for children

1.1.2.1 About the character system

For adult readers, the writer can choose complex historical figures with many different perspectives and views For children, historical figures are mainly selected on issues that have been agreed on how to understand and evaluate In addition to the real figures in history, writers can also invent or create other characters and figures

1.1.2.2 About the plot

The plot of historical novels for adults can be complex with many situations, open details, writers may even describe in contrast to the recorded historical fact for readers to consider and evaluate by themselves while that of children novels is often simple, easy to understand and coherent The writer's creation should not and cannot go beyond historical truths, affecting their perceptions

1.2.1.3 About the language

Writing for children requires writers and poets to write in children’s language which requires writers and poets to have a linguistic standard to help train children’s thought, language and imagination

1.2.1.4 About the educational function in writing purpose

Children's history books, directly or indirectly, often bring them valuable lessons about the nation's fine traditions, such as patriotism, a sense of national pride, thus orient and inspire them to live better, more valuably for the present life

1.2 Overview of the research on historical prose for children

1.2.1 General studies on historical prose for children

1.2.1.1 Articles directly discussing historical for children

In this research direction, there are many articles and exchanges by authors Ha An and Van Thanh The authors discuss the issues such as: the purpose of composition, how to choose characters, themes, topics, the relationship between historical truth and artistic fiction in composition

1.2.1.2 Studies on a development stage of children literature including historical prose for children

This direction attracts a lot of interest from researchers and critics with typical articles by Bui Thanh Ninh, Van Thanh, Nguyen Chi Ben when they read a number of historical works, researchers discuss some aspects of content and art in works for children

1.2.1.3 Studies on a development stage of children literature including historical prose for children

Researching on a development stage of children literature, the authors give out their comments and view on the historical prose for children before and after 1975 There are few articles, research systematically presenting the historical prose for children

1.2.2 Studies on outstanding authors

1.2.2.1 Nguyen Huy Tuong with “Lá cờ thêu sáu chữ vàng (Flag with six

gold letters)

Comments and assessments on Lá cờ thêu sáu chữ vàng” (Flag with

six gold letters) are often cited by the authors when they summarize and

comment on a literary stage or a literary issue for children It is also considered as one of the typical works by Nguyen Huy Tuong and in historical fiction for the children

1.2.2.2 Ha An with three works “Bên bờ Thiên Mạc (On the Thien Mac river)”, “Trên sông truyền hịch (Transmitting Orders on the River), “Trăng

nước Chương Dương” (Chuong Duong River on a Full Moon Night)

Works by Ha An, especially three above works are often cited in most of the research, reviews on a development stage of children literature

or reviews on historical works for children All the articles confirm the specific position of these works in the historical prose for children

1.2.2.3 To Hoai with three novels "Đảo hoang (Desert Island), "Nhà Chử (Chu Dynasty)”, “Chuyện nỏ thần (Story of the Magical Bow) (Story of

the Magical Bow)”

In general, the articles and research on these three novels often focus on the value of the work on the content, art form and confirm the creativity of To Hoai when opening the direction to exploit the history in association with legends for children

1.2.2.4 Nguyen Duc Hien with “Sao Khuê lấp lánh (Twinkling morning star)”

There are a number of articles, research papers, introduction of Sao

Khuê lấp lánh (Twinkling morning star)” on newspaper or websites, etc

affirming the value of the work and the author’s creativity

Sub- conclusion

Via the process of survey and research, we have conducted reading and classifying documents according to the contents related to the thesis topic

In fact, though there have been quite a lot of studies on historical prose for children, they just focused on researching and evaluating one or several works and making general comments on this literary array The theoretical part of the request to compose historical stories for children was also paid attention, however, these research have focused on the period before 1975 - when the country was at war and when historical works for children have gained the most typical achievements Since the 90s of the twentieth century, a small corner in newspapers and magazines has been reserved to criticize children's books In particular, specific research on the historical topic for children has not received the deep attention of researchers or graduate students It is necessary to have more comprehensive and systematic research and studies on historical prose for children

Chapter 2 HISTORICAL PROSE FOR CHILDREN IN THE DEVELOPMENT PROCESS OF VIETNAMESE LITERATURE FOR CHILDREN 2.1 Overview of the development of vietnamese literature for children

in modern vietnam literature

2.1.2 Prose written for children from 1945 to 1975

Children prose in this period is closely linked with historical circumstances, focusing on revolutionary missions, fostering combat, educating patriotism for the young generation through the example of heroic children through educational lessons in combat and manufacturing

2.1.2 Prose written for children from post 1975 to present

Children literature has made dramatic changes and profound innovations in all aspects from the authors to themes, topics, ways of exploiting life materials and gained many achievements especially short stories

However, in recent years, children literature has been facing many challenges: lack of junior writers, lack of professional writers, especially in poem; there are many works published with poor content and language which have no positive values for children…

2.2 Historical prose for children post 1945 - formation and development

2.2.1 The period from 1945 to 1975

The main contents of the historical works written for children in this period were to reconstruct the national history, reflecting the heroic spirit from the early days of national construction to wars against aggression and national construction; depicts historical fictional or real life heroes

Compared to other topics in the period of 1945 - 1975, the number of writers in this stage was not much, but it also marked talented and devoted writers In terms of quality, there are some outstanding works that deserve

to play an important role in Vietnamese children literature

2.2.2 The period from 1975 to present

After 1975, there have been some changes in writing historical stories for children Most of the works have new ways of exploitation and directions The authors not only stick to historical events and figures, but also combine writers’ in-depth insights into the history, culture and creativity to produce many fascinating works

Despite certain achievements in recent years, there have been few conscientious writers and valuable works Facing this fact, a few exchanges and seminars on the development of historical topics in painting, music and literary works for children have been organized Kim Dong Publishing House also makes efforts to publish typical works on history

2.3 Historical prose for children from after the august revelution of

1945 - typical authors

2.3.1 Ha An – reconstituting history with a rich imagination

Simple and clear without losing poetry, creativity in writing It can

be said that Ha An has proved her bravery and talent who masters history, deserves to be considered as one of the typical writers, laying the foundations for historical stories for for children in Vietnamese literature

2.3.2 Nguyen Huy Tuong - towards beautiful examples with epic inspiration

Nguyen Huy Tuong stucks to the core of history but blew the soul into

it, making the dry details and events come alive, magnanimous and soaring

2.3.3 To Hoai - exploiting the history associated with the legend and culture

The combination of reality, fairytales and historical legends

converged in his three works Đảo hoang (Desert Island), Nhà Chử (Chu

Dynasty), Chuyện nỏ thần (Story of the Magical Bow)(Story of the Magical Bow) (Story of the Magical Bow) brought about the top achievements in

the genre of historical stories for children

2.3.4 Nguyen Duc Hien - exploiting educational values from historical stories and figures

Nguyen Duc Hien harmonized the educational and artistic content in historical works, showing the serious working attitude of a responsible person to the job and to the younger generation

2.3.5 Nghiem Da Van - depicting historical portraits with emotional soul and talented pen

Each of his page shows the in deep style of an emotional and talented writer, creating a "historical story brand" that cannot be mixed with any other writer

Sub-conclusion

Historical prose for children, in each period, has had its own features and inspirations associated with the historical, political, social context and discourse

In the more than 70 - year process of formation and development of historical prose for children, we surveyed and selected five typical authors They are Nguyen Huy Tuong with a epic historical style; To Hoai with the way of exploiting the history associated with the legend and culture; Nguyen Duc Hien with exemplary pages, harmonizing the history and education; Nghiem Da Van - a talented and emotional writer These writers have made excellent contributions to the students as well as affirmed their style in the difficult and picky historical topics

Chapter 3 HISTORICAL SENSORY PERCEPTIONS AND MAINSTREAM TRENDS IN HISTORICAL PROSE FOR CHILDREN POST-1945 3.1 Sensory perceptions of the mighty beauty with the praising trend

This is the key sensory perceptions in works on history in general before 1975 that prolonged in several works written after 1975 The trend derived from the historical context of the period 1945-1975 with the French colonist resistance war and the US colonist resistance war including three main contents:

3.1.1 Reconstituting significant events in national history

To Hoai has depicted a part of the national picture in the early days

of history basing on historical facts about the construction of the country

in the early stage and materials in folklore, Nhà Chử (Chu Dynasty), Đảo hoang (Desert island) are considered proud songs about the development

of the country that partly portrait the process of building and expanding the country by the ancestors from the delta to the mid-land, the mountainous

areas, and then to the sea

Building and defending the country is a throughout task in the

process of formation and development of the nation's history Chuyện nỏ thần (Story of the Magical Bow) reflects one part in the fight against the north enemy; Sừng rượu thề (The vow) is about a period in history when