The rise of Thanh Hoa literary and artistic theory and criticism

In recent times, Thanh Hoa's literary and artistic criticism (LLPBVHNT) has had many positive changes in both quantity and quality. One of the most remarkable marks is that 4 Thanh Hoa authors were awarded prizes for their LLPBVHNT works published in 2023.

Critic Trinh Vinh Duc (3rd from left) receives the award for LLPBVHNT works published in 2023.

If the arts and literature are “a very important and particularly delicate field of culture”, then the LLPB of the arts and literature is an organic element in the life of the arts and literature. There, the LLPB of the arts and literature plays the role of a special whip, the creations are the horses; the whip must be whipped hard for the horses to rear up and gallop. Thanh Hoa is one of the localities with a large creative team, active and enthusiastic in almost all fields of the arts and literature.

In order to be able to “accompany” and, more importantly, to orient and pave the way for creation, those working in the field of LLPBVHNT of Thanh Hoa always uphold their role, enthusiasm and responsibility in each work. The LLPBVHNT Board (Thanh Hoa Literature and Arts Association) has performed well its functions and tasks as a place to gather, encourage and create a “playground” for members to satisfy their passion and creativity, thereby creating many valuable works and projects and winning many awards from the province and the Central Government, contributing to raising the status of Thanh Hoa Literature and Arts.

Looking at the LLPBVHNT awards in recent times, it can be said that the LLPBVHNT activities of Thanh Hoa have been and are having many improvements. In fact, for quite a long time, the LLPBVHNT Thanh Hoa has been "absent" from awards at the central level. In 2016, LLPBVHNT Thy Lan, Editor-in-Chief of the Thanh Hoa Literature and Arts Magazine, won the C prize of the Central LLPBVHNT Council and the B prize of the National Committee of the Vietnam Union of Literature and Arts Associations with the book "Undercurrent of Words" which is considered to have "quenched the thirst" of the LLPBVHNT Thanh Hoa. In 2022, the LLPBVHNT Thanh Hoa continued to be named with the B prize - the Literature and Arts award of the Vietnam Union of Literature and Arts Associations with the book "Tri am con chu" by Trinh Vinh Duc. In 2024, the Thanh Hoa Literature and Arts Association really made a deep impression when 4/25 authors were awarded by the Central Literature and Arts Association Council for their works published in 2023, including 1 level C and 3 encouragement levels. Specifically: Author Trinh Vinh Duc with the work "Literary rendezvous" (level C); author Nguyen Minh Khiem with the work "Criticism and essay" (encouraged level); author Tran Dam with the work "The stars beside me" (encouraged level); author Le Quang Sinh with the work "Autumn sediment" (encouraged level)... Of which, 3/4 of the authors awarded the prize are members of the Literature and Arts Association Council.

It is known that in the 2023 awarding round, there are 118 works (including 34 books and 84 articles) submitted by agencies and units for the council's consideration. In order to select, evaluate and decide to award annual awards to high-quality LLPBVHNT works, the council especially values ​​the academic quality, novelty, approach and research methods of the authors when addressing specific issues, phenomena, trends or literary and artistic cases, especially the contribution of the award-winning work to creative practice; theoretical research, criticism; promotion and reception of the value of the work.

Critic Trinh Vinh Duc is one of the writers who has gradually asserted himself in the field of PBVH in Thanh Hoa in particular and the whole country in general. As a person who loves writing, he started to try his hand in many fields such as writing, journalism, cultural and historical research, and poetry composition since the 90s of the 20th century. However, for critic Trinh Vinh Duc, his passion and greatest love is always for PBVH research.

Previously, due to his professional work, then his responsibility as an educational manager, which took up most of his time, critic Trinh Vinh Duc mainly focused on researching and improving his knowledge of LLPBVHNT through reading books. Since his retirement, he has devoted himself to writing, transforming the knowledge he has acquired through each page. From 2019 to now, in addition to participating in writing the content for the book "LLPBVHThanh Hoa from 2010 to present", critic Trinh Vinh Duc has published 2 books specializing in LLPBVHNT. Notably, both of these books have received the attention of readers, high appreciation from many "literary friends", professional councils, and won awards for literature and arts at the provincial and central levels. In 2022, the book "Tri am cung con chu" won the B prize - the Literature and Arts award of the Vietnam Union of Literature and Arts Associations. In 2024, the book "Literary Rendezvous" was awarded the C level prize by the Central Council for Literature and Arts. Critic Trinh Vinh Duc shared: "No success comes easily, but requires the will to strive with passion, enthusiasm, creativity, and constantly improve research skills. In particular, the writer must know how to apply and synthesize the specific knowledge of each genre, thereby finding his own unique features in the operations, identification, analysis, commentary, and evaluation that are correct and appropriate to the research object".

With a comprehensive and general view, besides the positive signals, critic Trinh Vinh Duc cannot help but have concerns and worries: "Although in the past time, the LLPBVHNT board has had many effective solutions to develop and expand its membership, recruiting more young writers with spirit, enthusiasm, and a solid foundation. However, if we do not have a plan to foster and promote in a timely manner, the "gaps" will always exist." Therefore, in order for Thanh Hoa Literature and Arts in general and Thanh Hoa Literature and Arts Association in particular to increasingly "upgrade", with more and more authors and works winning high awards at the provincial and central levels, critic Trinh Vinh Duc pointed out: “First of all, members of the Literature and Arts Association need to continue to research and invest in implementing general and in-depth topics. Research and works must be systematic, need to apply operations combining basic theory with artistic intuition; grasp the critical viewpoint, find the good and beauty of literary works, guide readers to the values ​​of truth - goodness - beauty. Importantly, each person needs to find their own uniqueness to affirm their own personality, towards the big issues that need to be expressed. Along with the efforts of writers, Thanh Hoa Literature and Arts Association needs to focus on promoting literary and artistic works; organize more seminars, book launches, and large-scale workshops with the participation of central writers”.

Article and photos: Hoang Linh

Source: https://baothanhhoa.vn/khoi-sac-ly-luan-phe-binh-van-hoc-nghe-thuat-thanh-hoa-nhin-tu-cac-giai-thuong-trung-uong-234313.htm