In 2006, the Vietnam Writers Association celebrated the 100th anniversary ofLan Khai's birth and the Scientific Workshop: Lan Khai with Vietnam's modernliterature, Lan Khai was reverted,
Trang 1HANOI NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF EDUCATION
DO THI NHAN
HISTORICAL NOVEL OF LAN KHAI
Major: LITERATURE THEORY
Code: 9.22.01.20
SUMMARY OF PHD THESIS IN PHILOLOGY
Hanoi - 2020 The thesis is completed at:
Trang 2Instructor: Associate Professor Dr TRAN MANH TIEN
Argument 1: Associate Professor Dr TRAN KHANH THANH
Argument 2: Associate Professor Dr NGUYEN BICH THU Argument 3: Associate Professor Dr PHUNG NGOC KIEM The thesis will be presented before the Univeristy Council of thesis
examination
At : Hanoi National University of Education
At time:…… , on date:…./ … / 2020
The thesis can be referred at library: National library, Hanoi
Or library of Hanoi National University of Education
Trang 31 The necessity of the thesis
1.1 Lan Khai is a typical writer of Vietnam's modern literature in themovement of literary innovation at the period from 1930 to 1945 His name left adeep impression in many genres such as psycho-social novels, forest stories, stories,criticism, research, collections, translation and painting, especially his historicalnovels Up to now, Lan Khai is the writer with the largest number of historical novelsamong Vietnam's modern writers (26 works) and is an early writer with aninnovative, influential pioneering spirit He has very big impression on historicalcompositions in later stages, but until now his historical novels have not been fullyand systematically studied
Before 1945, with the trend of literary innovation, Lan Khai's historical novelscaused controversy around historical and artistic matters and the use of language inhistorical novels These are complex issues so far the argument has not ended, andsince his mysterious death has not been published for a long time, after 1945, therewere many Lan Khai relics and dozens of historical novels have not been republishedand are widely introduced to readers Up to now, there has not been any researchwork on Lan Khai's historical novels in a complete, large, comprehensive andsystematic manner, especially his breakthrough achievements in the above types inthe period from 1930 to 1945 From an innovative perspective, we will find thepioneering work in Lan Khai's writing on Vietnam's modern novels
In 2006, the Vietnam Writers Association celebrated the 100th anniversary ofLan Khai's birth and the Scientific Workshop: Lan Khai with Vietnam's modernliterature, Lan Khai was reverted, it shows that Lan Khai's literary heritage is verylarge, Lan Khai's historical novels account for a large part of his heritage andVietnam's modern novels which needs to be studied in time It requires fullycomrpehensive researches to Lan Khai's historical novel in terms of content and artform in order to see the contributions of writers in the period of 1930-1945 and theevolution of literary history, concurrently to clarify more theoretical issues
1.2 Historical novels that reflect the past imprints of the nation having animportant position in literary life as well as in the spiritual life of the people Duringthe innovation period, especially in recent years, the historical novels of Vietnamesewriters have risen up with a large number of works and large scale that reflect largelyand form many diverse and complicated trends, then there have appeared manydifferent artistic concepts both in writing and receiving Historical novels havebecome the focus of literary news Before the current trend of internationalintegration, more and more works are applied to modern Western theory in literaryresearch including historical novels However, theory about historical novelintroduced in domestically was dispersed and concept of the genre has not beenunified, and the compositions have become more and more complicated, and therehave been many debates surrounding the issue of history and artistic novel
Trang 4Coming from such situation, it requires us to understand that the compositionshave been experienced effectively and appropriate approaches to bring a clearer view
of the development of one particular literary genre in Vietnam's modern novel.Therefore, we advocate studying Lan Khai's historical novels of Lan Khai in thisform Besides, the achievements of Lan Khai's historical novel innovation before
1945 have not been properly viewed objectively At the same time, through ourresearch achievements, we want to clarify the theory of genres in order to contribute
to the comprehensive approach and system of historical novels of Lan Khai
1.3 The study of Lan Khai's historical novels has practical significance inteaching Literature and history in the school Because, the access to thecompositions on the historical subject of teachers and pupils is still limited, itrequires more knowledge of historical literature and intensive theory Theresearch of historical novel by Lan Khai will provide more theoretical light andvalues in the work on historical themes to meet the needs of students to raiseawareness in the school The study of Lan Khai's historical novels will contribute
to make the Vietnamese literature picture more comprehensive, help studentsbecome more aware of the history, arousing aesthetic feelings among studentsabout the glorious tradition of the nation
Coming from the urgent need for research and learning today as well ascontributing to summarizing the literary achievements of Vietnam in the twentiethcentury, we chose the topic of the Historical Novel of Lan Khai in order to clarifythe theoretical and practical issues of writing as well as the contributions of thewriter - Lan Khai in the journey of renewing genre and modernizing the country'sliterature in the early twentieth century
2 Subject, scope of the research
2.1.Subject of the research
In order to implement this topic, we focus on examining all the historicalnovels of Lan Khai that have been published and reprinted before 1945 From there,point out the characteristics of creative inspiration, artistic conception, the world ofcharacters, characteristics of genre, methods and means of expression, personalityforte in the creativity of the writer
2.2 Scope of the research
In addition to the subjects to study, we will simultaneously expand theexploration of short stories and Lan Khai's historical genre; combined with sometypical historical novels of medieval literature, historical novels by other writers ofthe same time and later literary periods We will conduct more in-depth investigations
of about 20 typical Lan Khai's historical novels and learn more about the short storiesand autographs of his historical topics (The waves of Lo Giang, Mui Ten Dep Loan,8023) in the literary period from 1930 - 1945, and at the same, contact with somehistorical novels in abroad to clarify the object of the study
Trang 53 Purpose and mission of the research
3.1 Purpose of the research
In this study, we will shed light on the awareness and achievements of LanKhai's historical novels and his important contributions that have opened up a newdirection for modern Vietnamese historical novels in the movement of literatureinnovation 1930 - 1945 Based on the theory of genre and historical novel of Lan Khai,
we will point out the forte, cultural capital, artistic conception, influential sources,method new genres, creative models of historical novel, factors that make up Lan Khai'sartistic achievements Since then, clarify the problems of theory and writing practiceabout the type of historical novel in Vietnam's modern literature
3.2 Mission of the research
Our research will show the successes and limitations of Lan Khai in the genre ofhistorical novel in the literary period from 1930 - 1945 in both content and form of the art.This confirms the contribution of Lan Khai to modern Vietnamese literature in the light ofmodern theory in the formation and development of Vietnam's modern historical novelfrom an innovative perspective
4 Theorical base and researching method
4.1 Theorical base
In the context of having a variety of diverse theoretical and literary systems,
we advocate the historical and dialectical materialism of Marxism-Leninism as thebasis and at the same time; combine the knowledge of modern Western literarytheory to shine into Lan Khai's historical novels In particular, we pay specialattention to the relationship between literature and reality and the role of the genre
of historical novels, the sense of artistic innovation of the writer in creation in theareas of creative inspiration, writer's thought with the structure of the plot,characters, languages, the nature of the interference of genre, the problem of spaceand time
At the same time, we also point out the concept of historical novel and somemanifestations of Western literary schools such as the Cultural and HistoricalSchool, Psychoanalysis, Surrealism, Narrative Theory, semiotics, neo-historicalschools, etc have influenced more or less the writer's work, showing the inheritanceand creativity, innovating the historical view of Lan Khai on the flow of Vietnam'smodern novel; between the history and artistic novels, historical novels and thecontext of composition, the writer's consciousness before the era made its own mark
in the historical novels of Lan Khai; innovations in the artistic thinking of writers;Lan Khai's breakthroughs in selecting topics and creating characters in historicalnovels have made his own impression in Vietnam's modern novel that in bothnational and modern
4.2 Method of the research
To implement Lan Khai's historical novels, we advocate the following researchmethods:
Trang 64.2.1 The method of historical materialism and dialectical materialism: Wewill put Lan Khai's historical novels into the specific creative context in theperiod of 1930 - 1945 to examine and explain his creative causes and results.4.2.2 Systematic method: We will gather Lan Khai's historical novels into asystem to examine both content and form to see artistic conception, history forte andhistory display the pioneering in art novels.
4.2.3 Comparative method: During the survey, if necessary, we relate thehistorical novels of Lan Khai with medieval novels, some historical novels bycontemporary writers, calendar novels, contemporary history and foreignhistorical novel to clearly see the new and unique elements of Lan Khai'screativity in this genre
4.2.4 Method of classification: We will conduct the classification of types ofcharacters, events, textures of Lan Khai's works, showing different perspectives onthe history of the writer's novels
4.2.5 Interdisciplinary method: we conduct an analysis of the similarities anddifferences between history and literature in a culture in order to show the aestheticaesthetic of literature and past reality
In addition to the above methods, our thesis flexibly uses other approaches such
as Cultural Studies, Feminism, Neolithicism, Inter-text Theory to complete the researchobjectives At the same time, we will focus on the use of analytical work to explore theideas and artistic writing of the writer, both illuminating the theory of the genre andconfirming the artistic style and strong innovative spirit of Lan Khai in this genre
5 New contributrion of the thesis
This is the first study of Lan Khai's scale and system of historical novel inboth the content of reflection and the form of expression from the perspective ofinnovation in terms of conception, inspiration and composition Historical eventswith great significance reflect the thought of the writer's era through themovement of the character world in historical novel At the same time,highlighting Lan Khai's contributions to the creation of his groundbreaking newartistic methods and methods for creating story lines, characters, using languageand time and art space We will show Lan Khai's own creative path, his uniquemarks and his contributions in literary innovation in the period of 1930 - 1945 inthis subject
By examining the historical novel genre of Lan Khai, we will shed light onthe new ideas and creative methods in the writer's work that have transcended thetraditional path, creating new qualities for national literature and certaininfluences on contemporary Vietnam's historical novel From there, clarify thetheoretical issues from historical figures to literary figures; novelal issues inhistorical novel; receive history from literature, conception of historical figures inthe new era as well as new characteristics of art poetry in the historical novel ofLan Khai
6 Structure of the thesis
Trang 7In addition to the Introduction, Conclusion, List of References, our thesis isimplemented in 4 chapters.
Chapter 1 Researching overview of historical novels and historical novels
NOVEL OF LAN KHAI 1.1 Researching history on historical novel in the world and in the country
1.1.1 Definition of historical theory
Historical novels written about events and characters of historical past have goneback and forth but were not consistent with the historian's writing If historians describehistory with a cold, objective look with the chronicle of the pen, the historical novelistalso entrusts his subjective and emotional view to historical events and figures Throughhistory to "add more flesh" but still ensure the authenticity by the flexibility of art.Historical novels attract the special attention of researchers In theDictionary of literary terminology (1995) by the authors Tran Dinh Su, Le BaHan and Nguyen Khac Phi pointed out the basic differences on the reflectiontopic of historical novel compared to other types of novel The authors emphasizethe authenticity of historical novel but also acknowledge that novel is anindispensable characteristic of novels
Historical novelists also provide different interpretations of historical novel Inthe article Writer Hoang Quoc Hai: Historical novel is the decoding of history (2017)with the opinion of writer - Hoang Quoc Hai considers novel to be a prominentfeature of the genre of historical novel but must, to a certain extent, not distort history
In this interpretation, the author still demands that writers of historical novel respectthe authenticity of history
In the article contemporary Vietnam's historical novel, some major trends(2018), the author, Nguyen Van Dan cited the opinion of historical novelist - Thai Vuwhen affirm to honestly reflect history as writing principles and mission should betowards from the writer
And writer Nguyen Xuan Khanh in the article of "A few thoughts on historicalnovel (2012) especially considered novel as a "privilege" of historical novelist Writersbecome free composers not subject to the monopoly of historical thinking
Views on historical novels by researchers and writers are rich but inconsistent.Based on the research carried out, we would like to offer the following interpretation:
Trang 8Historical novels are works that have a smooth combination between basic characteristics of the novel and historical documents on the basis of take history as a topic and respect historical events and figures By borrowing old stories to speak now, historical novels offer profound insights into history, about human life in the way of contemporary human understanding In historical novel, novel aims to clarify characters, events, historical circumstances and increase artistic authenticity in novels.
1.1.2 Situation of historical novel in the world
In terms of critical theory in the world up to now, there has been the historicalnovel (1937) of G Lukacs (Hungary) in-depth study of historical novel expressing theextensive breadth of history development and basic characteristics of this genre Then,
in Novel Art (1999), G Lukacs further developed: "Not only novel in general, buthistorical novel must reach the depth of historical philosophy" These sharp points havepaved the way for establishing the distinctive features of historical novel in terms ofcreative principles, artistic purposes and the ability to reflect, perceive history, differentfrom sub-novel, psychological theory, fantasy novels, etc
Russian theorist, G Lenobl in his work of History and Literature (1960)considers the authenticity and authenticity of events and characters suitable tohistory books as the basic criteria in the composing principle of historical novels.However, this concept is still "rigid" because in reality, the composition alwayshas an extension and move that criterion; otherwise, the work is unavoidable in acoercive, awkward historical record and lack of flexibility of literary art
Hayden White, one of the theorists of neo-modernism on "metahistory" hasexpressed the postmodern sense quite clearly From that fundamental point of view,
he develops all his ideas: “History is narrative Hayden White's new conception ofhistory creates a trend of historical dialogue, rediscovering history and promoting thedevelopment of historical novel
In his current work on Western philosophy and aesthetics (1992, CulturePublishing House, Hanoi), he cited the views of Michel Foucault: "History is adiscontinuity" Therefore there will not be a seamless narrative that we decode in thecourse of history This is an important contribution of Michel Foucault to promote thespirit of discovering history, exploiting and connecting "broken points" of history,promoting the development of historical novel
The author, M Kundera in the work of novel art (1998) pointed out thevery subtle difference between the historical novelist and the historian: “Thehistorian recounts the events that happened, and the novel captures an ability oflife, the capacity of man and the world Historical novelists record humanexperiences that historians do not care about or not value ”
The British politician and writer, George Otto Trevelyan (1838-1928) inBritish Social History (1922) stated: "History has no real scientific value, its solepurpose history is to educate people ” These concepts show that history and novelhave many intersection points Both exist as stories, inevitably using imagination torecreate the past and compensating for the break, the emptiness of recorded truths
Trang 9The great French writer, Alexandre Dumas (father) considered history
as a nail so that people could freely hang their paintings on it On the contrary,
in the article discussing about historical novel (2012) in Nghe An CultureMagazine, quoting the opinion of Russian writer, A Tonxtoi: "Historicalnovel must be exactly like a historical research" Or in the historical novel andarticle (2012) in the People's Army Electronic Newspaper also mentioned theviews of Japanese writer, Kikuchi Kan (1988 - 1948): "History in the novelmust be famous person and event recorded in historical books"
In the essay "The End of History" (1989), Fredric Fukuyama declared:
"History was ended." But with the advent of post-colonial schools of thought,feminism and many other modern theoretical paradigms, history is being viewedmore openly However, history is not summed up, but is put in many different angles,dialogues and complementary directions Even after the Post-Colonialist, novel wasborn, some countries around the world had to change their minds or rewrite history.When there are many different perspectives on history, it opens the prospect ofstrong development of creative potentials of historical novelists
1.1.3 Situation of historical novel researching in Vietnam.
In the work of Modern Writers (1942), the author, Vu Ngoc Phan has a newperspective on historical novels but disagrees with the use of his inappropriate characterlanguage
In the book of Nguyen Huy Tuong (1966) by the authors, Phan Cu De and HaMinh Duc endorsed the view of considering history as a means rather than a salvation andappreciating the creativity of the writer This view is consistent with the treatment ofhistorical material by many contemporary historical novelists
The author, Bui Van Loi in the doctoral thesis of Vietnam historical novelfrom the early years of the twentieth century to 1945, (Appearance andcharacteristics, 1998) also generalized: “In historical novel, the writer has novelalrights, due to the specific characteristics of historical novels In novel, writers oftencorrupt the reality, realize damage, which provokes imagination and enhances theaesthetic sense"
The author, Phan Cu De had an in-depth article titled Historical novel(published in the Journal of Writers in January of 2003) and Vietnam's Literature inthe twentieth century - historical and theoretical issues (2004), Section of historicalnovels, the author - Phan Cu De has initially studied the characteristics of historicalnovel genres in Vietnam but has not studied in depth about each specific author
In the work of Tran Dynasty Storm, the work and public opinion (2006)published by the Women's Publishing House collected many articles from writers,researchers and historians, which confirmed the unique style of the writer HoangQuoc Hai as well as the success of this historical novel in respect of objectivity,faithful reproduction of characters, historical events from the historical truthsublimated into artistic truth
Trang 10The author, Vuong Tri Nhan has an article entitled "History of CreativeInspiration" in Van Nghe Newspaper (No 16, April 21, 2007) also emphasizesthe writer's freedom of creative imagination when reflecting history Next, in thearticle "Please do not confuse between the novel and history in the Artsnewspaper (No 45, 8/1/2008) to writer - Cao Duy Thao, the author - Dinh Kinhsaid that history is the core element of historical novel but cannot identify artistictruth with the history.
The author, Nguyen Van Dan, in the essay of Contemporary Vietnam's Historicalnovel, some major trends (2006), which just confirmed the historical truthfulness ofhistorical novel, on the other hand, he said that he had to acknowledge the " blending truthand novel when recreating historical figures ”, shortening the epic distance
The Author, Pham Quy Binh in the article of historical characters in modernliterature (Literature Magazine No 36, September 2008) and the article discussing onnovel (2012), the author - Hai Thanh all uphold the authenticity of history in historicalnovel Sharing the same point of view, the author, Nguyen Dang Diep in the thesisleading the Workshop on the topic of history and culture - Nguyen Xuan Khanh'sartistic look (2009) also acknowledges the complexity, richness and diversity ofHistorical novel as a literary genre In Nghe An Culture newspaper on March 17,
2012, the author, Ngo Thoi Tan wrote the article: "The Four Great Wonders" ofChinese classical novels: the name - the text - the author summarized the greatachievement of four classical Chinese novels (Romance of the Three Kingdoms,Water Margin, Journey to the West, Kim Binh Mai) and the relationship betweenhistory and literature This work reminds us of many valuable ideas in approachingand studying historical novels in the national culture
In the work "History and culture, Nguyen Xuan Khanh's artistic look" (2012)
of the Literature and Women's Publishing House published a more objective view
of the success and limitations of Nguyen Xuan Khanh's historical novel andcontemporary Vietnamese historical novel in general In the report leading theNational Scientific Conference "Creative literature and art on historical topics" inHanoi on December 15, 2012, the researcher, Phan Trong Thuong emphasized therelationship between historical events with artistic novel, the issue of artisticcreation principles on the subject of history
The dissertation of Vietnamese historical novel from 1945 to now by NguyenThi Tuyet Minh has extensively identified the movement, development andcharacteristics of historical novel from 1945 to the present Recently, in theMagazine of Literary and Art Critical Review, No 4/2018, page 12 has an articleentitled "On a historical perspective in contemporary novel" by Tran Mai Hanh alsospecifies that although historical theory is a work of art, it is impossible to escapefrom the fact that history has the value to convince readers
All of these views acknowledge the complexity, richness and diversity ofhistorical novel as a literary genre But most of the ideas are just proposing an
Trang 11approach to the art world of historical novel and decoding history from a subjectivepoint of view into a comprehensive and solid system of scientific theory.
1.2 Researching situation of Lan Khai and his historical novel
1.2.1 About the writer – Lan Khai
Before 1945, there were many research works on Lan Khai and his writingcareer of typical authors such as Truong Tuu, Hai Trieu, Tran Huy Lieu, Vu NgocPhan, Pham Manh Phan, etc Almost contemporary writers all appreciate LanKhai's abundant creative and writing talent, typical of Truong Tuu and Vu NgocPhan's comments on Lan Khai's forte in historical topics
From 1945 to 1965, Lan Khai's name on the literature was almost absent.From 1965 - 1985 on some books in the North such as "Critical real-life literaryissues" by Nguyen Duc Dan, "The story of modern writers" (Episode 2, 1972,edited by Tran Van Giap) ) gave some false information about him
Next, we must mention the memoirs entitled our misogyny story (1989) of thewidow - Ha Minh Kim who briefly recorded the life of revolutionary activities and literature
of Lan Khai associated with the movements of national history (from 1926 - 1945)
The author, Gia Dung in the article: "A few things about the writer - Lan Khai"(Van Nghe newspaper at last week of August, 1990) provided some more importantand new details about Lan Khai's life and career through searching understand therelatives of the writer - Lan Khai in the prewar period At the same time, in the article
"Pilgrimage to the resistance capital" (1990) by writer Hoang Minh Tuong recreatedthe life and career of Lan Khai as well as his talent and personality
Next is the appearance of memoirs about Lan Khai of the contemporaries of thewriter Works of burning old incense burner (1992) (Publishing House of Khanh Hoa)
by Ngoc Giao, a pen friend of Lan Khai wrote: "Lan Khai with strange forest road" and
"Playing books" (1996) promoted the topic Lan Khai's creativity and artistic qualities aswell as his unjust death
In the work of the poet poet, Hanoi Publishing House, a 1994 reprint of Nguyen
Vi with two articles: "Lan Khai" and "The plum of Lan Khai" has published a lot ofinformation about personal life and writing personality by Lan Khai The author shows
a deep understanding of Lan Khai's people and career and affirms that writing historicalnovels is his forte of artistic creation
In the Dictionary of Vietnamese Cultural Writer and Historical CharacterDictionary (1996, many authors) provided documents about Lan Khai's life and literarycareer, and mentioned some his historical novels but briefly
Especially, from 2000 onward, elaborate research works on - Lan Khai bythe author - Tran Manh Tien such as Lan Khai - Research, theory and literary criticwork (2002), Lan Khai - Forest Road Story (2004) written with Nguyen ThanhTruong, Lan Khai, the writer of outstanding realism (2006); Lan Khai collection (2
Trang 12episodes, 2010), etc collected and summarized artistic achievements in Lan Khai'swriting career This is a proven and reliable resource for us to study Lan Khai'scomprehensive writing and career system, especially the historical novels of LanKhai as well as Lan Khai's contributions to Vietnam's modern literature in the earlytwentieth century.
In recent years, there have been many Master's dissertations in all three regions
of the North, Central and South The research on Lan Khai's work has mentioned hisbackground and career with respect and respect for talents and his dedication to themodern but not yet systematic Vietnamese arts So far, it is necessary to havecomprehensive and in-depth studies on Lan Khai to have an objective assessment ofhis career and creative achievements, especially Lan Khai's innovations in the form ofhistorical novel
1.2.2 For historical novel of Lan Khai
1.2.2.1 Before 1945
Famous contemporary scholars like Truong Tuu, Truong Chinh and Vu NgocPhan are interested in and appreciate Lan Khai's historical novels Researchers pay moreattention to Lan Khai's breakthrough factors Typically, such as the article "Lan Khai andhistorical novel" (No 82, Thursday, December 1935) in Lao newspaper in the section
"Modern Vietnamese literature" of Truong Tuu has affirmed Lan Khai is "a historicalnovelist" talented and conscientious and artistic ” However, also with the traditional view,
he disagreed with the character building of Lan Khai "for people in the previous century
to live emotions and thoughts only in the twentieth century"
In the book "Under my eyes (1939) of Truong Chinh through critique of 5 novels
of Chaotic Girl, The throne, Che Bong Nga, Ai to Cat Street, Lan Khai's plum seed bytraditional conception, the author - Truong Chinh also did not sympathetic to the way thecharacter building not follow Lan Khai's "historical prototype" of Lan Khai just as thecritic - Vu Ngoc Phan in the book of Modern Writer (1942) commented: "He is a writerwho tries to find new ways"
In the book of Modern Writer, item about Lan Khai (part IV of the book,1942), Vu Ngoc Phan agrees with Truong Tuu although he has not agreed withLan Khai in using modern language but still appreciates the talent of Lan Khaithought that only Lan Khai was actually a historical novelist while other writerssuch as Nguyen Trieu Luat, Phan Tran Chuc, Truc Khe Ngo Van Trien, etc onlyfavored the narrative history
1.2.2.2 After 1945 until now
For about twenty years (from 1946 to 1965), except for some writers such asPham The Ngu and Nguyen Van Xung in the South, mentioning Lan Khai in a number
of editing works, and Lan Khai's name in the regional literature seems to be absent.Only a few articles mention some of the events and characters of his historical novel in
a rough, uncompromising and systematic manner, even ignoring Lan Khai's importantcontributions to the practice in the process of novel innovation of contemporaryliterature
Trang 13From 1965 onward, the research situation of Lan Khai's works took placeunevenly in each period and in the whole country The appreciation of Lan Khai andhis work is not consistent in both the South and the North The appearance of articlesabout Lan Khai in the North from 1965 to before 1990 of Hong Chuong writers(Some theoretical issues on literary criticism, Literature Publishing House, Hanoi,1965), Nguyen Duc Dan (Some issues of critical realistic literature), Tran Van Giap(Vietnamese authors' story, 1972), Phan Cu De (Modern Vietnamese novel, 1975) made misleading remarks, a glimpse of Lan Khai's writing All comments are for thehistorical novel of Lan Khai according to the "romantic tendency", considering it thereverse of national literature.
In the book of General Literature (1972) (New Life Publishing House, Saigon),the author - Nguyen Van Xung affirmed the important position of Lan Khai inliterature and praised Lan Khai's historical novel writing technique with a clear andfresh style of writing ”This view is also consistent with the opinion of Lan Khai 'stalent from the researcher - Truong Tuu and Pham The Ngu
From 1990 onward, the articles on Lan Khai's writing came out in turn with
a more open view The author - Ngoc Giao in Portrait and anecdote (1992) alsoobjectively evaluated the artistic ideology of Lan Khai in the genre of historicalnovel in Lan Khai's article "Strange forest story" In the book of "War poet"(Hanoi Publishing House, 1994), the articles "Lan Khai" and "The plum of LanKhai" by Nguyen Vi also affirm that writing historical novel is a forte of LanKhai's artistic creation
In the textbook of Vietnam Literature history (2000) (Publishing House ofNational University), the authors mentioned the "historical novel with strongromantic characteristics" of Lan Khai and Review of Vietnamese literature of thetwentieth century (2002) of the Literature Institute (National Political PublishingHouse) also affirmed the position of "expert pen - Lan Khai" in such as: Trongcon binh lua Ai len pho cat, Treo buc chien bao By Hoai Anh, in the article aboutLan Khai, from the romantic tendency to escape to social reality (2001) alsodiscussed Lan Khai's historical novels in comparison with the genre of historicalnovels in general Also with the traditional view, the author disagrees with theway of Lan Khai's character building about the content and art in Lan Khai'shistorical novels following the aesthetic tendency of artistic literature
The research works of the author - Tran Manh Tien from 2000 onward haveshown Lan Khai's bold artistic innovations in the genre of historical novels,deserving to be "a pioneer in the journey of novel innovation”
In addition, during the past twenty years, a number of Master's thesis havementioned some typical artistic achievements in Lan Khai's historical novels oncharacters, themes, ideas and historical approaches of the writer but still briely.The research works are quite plentiful but not comprehensive, Lan Khai'smassive system of historical novels with many unpublished works as well as notmentioning new points in the historical novels of Lan Khai Therefore, the