THE LATIN-BASED NATIONAL LANGUAGE PRESS AND ITS ROLE IN ESTABLISHING AND DEVELOPING THE NOVEL IN COCHINCHINA AT THE TURN OF THE 20th CENTURY

Abstract

Modern Vietnamese literature rose from the Latin-based national language press. This press has been considered a "skillful midwife" for the literature in the national language, giving birth to Vietnamese modern literature of today. It is important to note the great contribution to this press by Truong Vinh Ky with his writings in the first national language press like Gia Dinh Bao or Thong loại khoa trinh. The beginning of the 20 century saw the mushroomings of other national language newspapers such as Nong Co Min Dam, Lục tình tan van, Nam Ky dia phan, Cong luan bao, Phu nu tan van, etc, and with them the appearance of a new generation of novelists. Many of the famous writers in Cochinchina such as Tran Chanh Chieu, Ho Bieu Chanh, Le Hoang Muu, Phu Duc, Buu Dinh had been journalists before they became novelists. Many of their works had appeared in newspapers in serialised form before they were published in book form. The national language press provided the best environment for writers to practise their writing skills, stimulating their creativity and helping them to quickly understand the reader's taste. The press also helped establishing the notion of genres and diversifying different types of novels at the beginning of the 20th century. On the other hand, the press also left some negative influences on the art of writing of novelists in Cochinchina. As they were writing only to the reader's taste and the demand of the publisher, these novels written in serialised form still had a number of limitations in terms of theme choice, structure, and diction.