Socialist Realism in Vietnamese Literature

In Vietnam, socialist realism is by nature more
political than literary; in the domain of politics,
it is more nationalistic than socialist; and in the
domain of literature, it is more neoclassical than
realist. It was consolidated during the wars against
the French and the Americans but was strongly
challenged in peacetime - after the 1954 Geneva
Agreements and after the 1975 victory by the two
best known dissident movements: the Nhan Van - Giai
Pham affair and the perestroika-styled Doi Moi
campaign.
Although the Vietnamese government still holds a
monopoly on publishing, and is trying to keep its
strict control over literary life, socialist
realism, both as a doctrine and a movement, has
died. This death resulted from two non-literary
elements: globalization and the market-oriented
economy which has been adopted by the Vietnamese
Communist Party since the late 1980s. It can be said
that socialist realism was born of communism,
nurtured by nationalism, developed at war,
challenged in peacetime, and killed by the force of
a free economy and globalization.

Autorentext
Tuan Ngoc Nguyen is a lecturer in Vietnamese language and studies at Victoria University, Australia. Under the penname Nguyen Hung Quoc, he is the author of many books on Vietnamese literature. His research interests include Vietnamese literature, war culture, and diasporic identity.

Klappentext
In Vietnam, socialist realism is by nature more political than literary; in the domain of politics, it is more nationalistic than socialist; and in the domain of literature, it is more neoclassical than realist. It was consolidated during the wars against the French and the Americans but was strongly challenged in peacetime - after the 1954 Geneva Agreements and after the 1975 victory by the two best known dissident movements: the Nhan Van - Giai Pham affair and the perestroika-styled Doi Moi campaign. Although the Vietnamese government still holds a monopoly on publishing, and is trying to keep its strict control over literary life, socialist realism, both as a doctrine and a movement, has died. This death resulted from two non-literary elements: globalization and the market-oriented economy which has been adopted by the Vietnamese Communist Party since the late 1980s. It can be said that socialist realism was born of communism, nurtured by nationalism, developed at war, challenged in peacetime, and killed by the force of a free economy and globalization.