Vietnamese national language travel writing about the world: content and characteristics (survey of travel writing works from the late 19th century to 1945).

PHD. DISSERTATION INTRODUCTION

Title: Vietnamese national language travel writing about the world: content and characteristics (survey of travel writing works from the late 19th century to 1945).

Major: Literary theory

Code: 62220120

Candidate’s name: Võ Thị Thanh Tùng

Supervisor: Assoc. Pro. Dr. Lê Giang

Name of Institute: University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University Ho Chi Minh City.

Abstract

With the topic "Vietnamese national language travel writing about the world: content and characteristics (survey of travel writing works from the late 19th century to 1945)", the research object of the thesis will be the characteristics of content and artistic form of the Vietnamese national language travel writing about the world in the late 19th century to 1945. Besides that, the author of the thesis will attempt to establish a possible definition of travel writing as well as find the basic characteristics of the travel writing genre. Accordingly, the thesis will apply many different research methods at each level, in which, the following methods are prominent: The group of specialized methods include: Literary history method, Typological method, Poetics method; The group of interdisciplinary methods include: Cultural-historical methods, Sociological methods; The group of complementary methods includes: Synthetic analysis method, Comparative comparison method.

The thesis contributes to establishing the position of Vietnamese national language travel writing in the process of literary modernization in the context of Vietnamese society from the late 19th century to 1945. Identify travel writing in terms of genre and establish the place of this genre in relation to other genres in memoirs.

The topic has the meaning of comprehensively surveying the travel writing genre in general and the national language travel writing about the world from the second half of the 19th century to 1945 in particular. At the same time, studying national language travel writing about the world during this period also contributes to highlighting the world's cultural and political picture, thereby, contributing to explaining the awakening of intellectual classes when they set foot in civilized and progressive countries.

Studying the innovations of travel writing in terms of artistic form helps to see the important contributions of this genre in the early days of the modernization of national literature.

On that basis, the author aims to solve the core objectives of the thesis:

Chapter 1: Overview of the research situation of travel writing about the world in Vietnam: explore the research situation of East Asian travel writing about the world and the research situation of Vietnamese national language travel writing about the world, emphasizing the research situation of Vietnamese national language travel writing about the world.

Chapter 2: Vietnamese national language travel writing about the world from the end of the 19th century to 1945 – genre issues and historical development: exploring genre issues and historical development of travel writing. In which, the author will try to give a possible definition of travel writing and clarify the genre characteristics of travel writing in relation to other genres in memoirs. The author will also try to outline in the most general way the development process of Eastern and Western travel writing from its inception to the present day, as well as study the situation of documents of Vietnamese national language travel writing about the world from the end of the 19th century to 1945.

Chapter 3: Vietnamese national language travel writing about the world from the late 19th century to 1945 - journeys of discovery: explore the aspects that Vietnamese travelers regularly observed and recorded during their journeys of world discovery. The journey of discovery of material culture and spiritual culture is reflected through aspects such as: life, politics - education, industry - trade, culture - history. From there, we can see the enlightening role of the Vietnamese national language travel writing about the world from the late 19th century to 1945.

Chapter 4: Vietnamese national language travel writing about the world from the late 19th century to 1945 - contributions in terms of artistic form: explore the artistic contributions of this part of travel writing through analyzing the structure, author - narrator and use of language. Thereby, we can see the pioneering role of national language travel writing about the world in particular and Vietnamese travel writing in general on the journey of modernizing national literature in terms of artistic form from the late 19th century to 1945.

The results of dissertation

         There is still no specific research work related to the thesis. Therefore, the research results of the thesis have contributed to making the picture of travel writing research more multifaceted, helping to gain a deeper and more specific understanding of the part of Vietnamese national language travel writing about the world in the period from the second half of the 19th century to 1945.

         Regarding the travel writing genre: the thesis explores three important aspects that make up the identity of travel writing, which are travel writing as a narrative prose genre, travel writing as a non-fiction genre, and travel writing as a type of trip recording genre. From there, a possible definition of the travel writing genre is created.

         On the formation and development of the travel writing genre: the thesis explores the development of travel writing in the process of Western, Chinese and Vietnamese literature. While the West and China have had a tradition of writing travelogues since ancient times, in Vietnam travel writing appeared later. However, with the tireless efforts of travelers, Vietnamese travel writing in the second half of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century have left important marks, laying the first bricks for the modernization process of national literature.

         The journeys of discovery of Vietnamese travelers opened up a new horizon of different lands in the world. The picture of life, politics - education, industry - trade, culture - history throughout Asia, Africa and Europe helped the Vietnamese people at that time have the opportunity to broaden their horizons. As intellectuals with a deep love for their homeland, in addition to admiring the beautiful scenery of foreign lands, Vietnamese travelers constantly compared and associated "looking at others and thinking about ourselves", in order to express their thoughts on the prominent issues of the nation at that time.

         Regarding artistic form: the greatest contribution of travel writing during this period was the experimentation of new ways of expression. The innovation in artistic form was expressed through aspects such as non-plot structure, the expansion of many types of space, especially everyday space, the narrative time associated with the series of explored spaces, helping travelers perceive the steps of time and the way people existed during that time.

         The image of the author - the narrator has a transitional nature when they are not professional writers. Travel writers appear vividly with many types: authors are simple tourists, authors are people on duty, authors are pilgrims, authors are people with the spirit of discovery and innovation. Because they are not professional writers, their language is also very honest, simple and extremely natural. However, the language of travel writing in this period also still has many old expressions as an inevitable consequence of historical transition. Appearing in the transitional period, influenced by Western culture, in travel writing about the world, many foreign languages ​​appear. Due to studying and being influenced by French sentences, Vietnamese sentences in this period also gradually became neat and clear.

         Practical applications/ capabilities or outstanding problems needs to continue researching  

            Practical applications/ capabilities

            The application of specialized and interdisciplinary methods to study national language travel writings about the world from the second half of the 19th century to 1945 in terms of genre, historical development, innovations in content and artistic form has helped to make the view of this part of travel writing clearer and more specific. From there, we can recognize the pioneering role of travel writings in the process of modernizing national literature as well as connecting and exchanging cultures between Vietnam and the world. For that reason, the research results of the thesis can be used as reference materials in researching, studying and teaching literature and culture in the transitional period.

Open research issues:

Within the scope of the study, the thesis leaves open the comparison of travel writing about the world during the colonial and modernization period of Vietnam with other countries in the region such as China, Japan, and Korea.

In addition, the thesis also suggests further research topics such as: national language travel writing about the world from a postcolonial perspective, the central and peripheral issues in travel writing, travel writing from a gender perspective, travel writing and ethical issues, travel writing and racial issues, travel writing and autobiographical elements, travel writing and the inner journey, etc.

In short, Vietnamese national language travel writing about the world from the second half of the 19th century to 1945, with innovations in content and artistic form, not only laid the foundation for the modernization of national literature, but were also considered "new books" with the mission of enlightenment. The revival of the travel writing genre contributed to making the literary picture of the transitional period more vivid. Literature no longer focused on traditional genres such as poetry but began to expand into prose with content oriented towards real experiences, reflecting the changes of the world.