Creative freedom does not mean infinite, endless

Reporter (PV): Recently, some opinions have said that the reason we do not have great literary and artistic works that reflect the scope of the renovation cause and have a positive impact on the development of the country and people is due to the lack of environment and creative space. What do you think about this opinion?

Associate Professor, Dr. Pham Quang Long: I think that creative environment and space are necessary for all workers, especially individual creative workers such as artists and scientists. If someone thinks that it is only because of the lack of environment and creative space that there cannot be top-notch works, if not intentionally accusing something, then it is an incorrect perception and an unobjective assessment.

Literature and art in any era are both subject to the influence of social laws and the orientation and control of political relations, orthodox ethics, cultural traditions... of the institution, but they also operate according to their own creative laws. Because it is a special activity, the person who creates it is a member of society, but the product that person makes is only his. It is the result of personal searches, a unique, special product that cannot be mass produced.

Associate Professor, Dr. Pham Quang Long.

Artists are attached to their time, live in their time, are influenced and bound by the multi-dimensional relationships of the time, but they seek a path for society (through their works), so they are always concerned about the problems of the time and go ahead of the time through premonitions that sometimes only flash once in their lives. Did Nguyen Trai, Nguyen Du, Nguyen Cong Tru, Nam Cao have freedom in their time to leave behind great works for posterity? A. Pushkin was exiled by the Tsar; F. Dostoyevsky was sentenced to death and then released; L. Tolstoy was excommunicated by the church, yet they still wrote works that all of humanity admires. Giving these examples is to say that artists really need freedom and creative space because those are necessary premises for their work, but to have great works or not, many other factors are needed.

In our country’s history, there have been kings who were very literate, loved literature, and wrote a lot. They had almost absolute freedom, but did they leave behind any great works? Artists must live on the joys and sorrows of their people, their country, and even of humanity in general, have ideas that are ahead of their time, and also need outstanding talent to hope to write masterpieces.

PV: As a writer and playwright, during the process of creating literary works, do you ever feel limited or constrained in your creative thinking by some invisible pressure?

Associate Professor, Dr. Pham Quang Long: My main job is teaching and researching literature; writing is a hobby, a personal need, but personal needs are never separated from responsibility to society, from the requirement to follow social and personal standards. When standing in class or writing something, I must be aware of who I am, what I am doing, and what I say and write must be within standard frameworks, at least not violating the law and not causing harm to society. That is the awareness of complying with the law, morality, and scientific requirements. That is the pressure, but the true joy is also there, because I contribute to bringing positive values ​​to others, to society.

PV: You are the author of the literary script “The Great Mandarin Returns to the Village” which deals with a hot and painful topic of life, which is the degeneration of officials with embezzlement and corruption. Did you encounter any difficulties when writing this stage script?

Associate Professor, Dr. Pham Quang Long: I wrote the play “Quan thanh tra” (when staged, it was changed to “Quan lon ve lang”) based on the inspiration of the play by Russian writer N. Gogol (1809-1852). Between the literary script and the stage script, there were some additions and subtractions to make it possible to perform. Director Doan Hoang Giang told me “we must move the setting back to before 1945 so that the play has more depth”. We changed the setting but still said what needed to be said. So we had to edit both the ideas and the details ourselves so as not to violate the general regulations. But changing the setting allowed us to be more creative and free. I will tell you this detail: When performing the play “Quan lon ve lang” in a district of Thai Binh province, the district leaders initially came to watch in large numbers, but later they gradually withdrew, perhaps because they “touched the nail”. The people were very excited because it touched on the issue of anti-corruption. The play was awarded the Gold Medal at the 2011 National Cheo Theatre Festival. That said, writing about complex, sensitive topics can touch upon officials at all levels, but the important thing is that the creator must know how to convey positive, meaningful messages to serve the common values ​​of the community, society and country.

PV: The great French writer H. Balzac once said: “I write in the light of two eternal truths: God and absolute monarchy”. From that concept, some people believe that creative space does not mean endless, infinite, but also needs to be illuminated and guided by certain ideals, standards, and rules. Does this contradict the guarantee of creative freedom for artists, sir?

Associate Professor, Dr. Pham Quang Long: That is absolutely true and no one should have any illusions about absolute freedom. In reality, there is no such thing. Even religion does not have absolute freedom. Catholicism has burned at the stake those who speak against their faith, so there is no institution that allows its citizens to be free to go beyond the law, because an institution cannot exist without laws to regulate social relations. Religion gives people the freedom to choose to act according to their faith, but at the time of death, they must still accept the judgment of the Supreme Being on the good-bad, right-wrong of each person.

Thus, in any aspect, people do not have freedom in the sense of going beyond all constraints and restrictions of society and of themselves. To say that it is necessary to ensure the freedom of creation for artists is to talk about the attitude of respecting their profession and the nature of their work within the framework of the law, not using extra-legal administrative measures to limit freedom by interfering in their work when they do not violate the law. I say that because artistic activities are inherently dependent on the law and regulations of the institution, to say otherwise is incorrect.

Fame is important to artists, but more important is to be loved by the people.

PV: What do you think when in recent years some artists have lost their dignity as true scholars and eroded the noble mission of literature and art through works that are poor in emotion and ideological content, but contain messages that are detrimental to the common cause?

Associate Professor, Dr. Pham Quang Long: That is very regrettable. If literary and artistic creations are combined with impure personal motives or are associated with narrow-minded, biased purposes, then the artists themselves have not fulfilled their duties as true scholars.

Artists have always been respected and honored by the world because their talents and intelligence are often more abundant and full than the public. The cultural, artistic and spiritual values ​​that artists bring to the people and the country are always warmly welcomed and are one of the levers and driving forces to promote social development, progress and civilization.

In the spirit of innovation of the whole society over the past four decades, artists have had the opportunity to “bathe” in the creative atmosphere that the Party and the State have created and encouraged them to constantly strive to explore and contribute to the people and the country with works that beautify life and contribute to enriching cultural values ​​for people. However, all creativity of artists also needs to be expressed from the conscience, responsibility and duty of a citizen. Because artists are first and foremost citizens, they must behave with the capacity and responsibility of a citizen towards society and the State. Deliberately not understanding or distancing themselves from that, artists can easily separate themselves from the majority of the community and sometimes become isolated, even opposed to their fellow human beings.

Artists perform in a show. Illustration photo: Hanoimoi.com.vn

PV: Loyalty is one of the noble qualities of a gentleman. In your opinion, how should we understand the loyalty of today's artists to the Fatherland, the people and the political-social regime that our nation has chosen and is moving towards?

Associate Professor, Dr. Pham Quang Long: There are many perspectives on this issue. It is not only in the field of arts. Recently, I heard that football clubs also reward players for their loyalty to their clubs. People have talked about this for a long time, but its scope is quite wide. For example, talking about the loyalty of gentlemen to those who have done them favors as gratitude, that is a good attitude. But many people show loyalty at the wrong time and place, which has brought ridicule from the world.

Loyalty is not only a moral attitude, a moral choice, but also a perception. I would like to discuss from a small angle like this: Artists, by nature, always aim for beauty, goodness and humanistic ideas. From that, they attach their lives and work to the people, the country, to noble social and human ideals. No true artist would betray their people and their country. Their mission and destiny is to use their activities to serve the country and the people. Fame is also important to them, but more importantly, they are loved by the people through their works and the loyalty they dedicate to the people and the country.

The great poet Nguyen Trai once said: "Repay the farmer with the food he earns." This is a specific saying, but in a broader sense, the people nourish them and are the source of energy for them to serve through their works. Going against this is betraying the people and destroying themselves. If artists do not love their people and their country, do not consider the happiness and sadness of the people and the country as their own, then the concept of loyalty cannot be talked about here. Looking at history, we see this everywhere: Dedicating one's entire life, intelligence, and passion to the people, not only will the people of the time recognize this, but history will forever remember this.

PV: To form social awareness and responsibility, we need to go through a process of awareness. For young artists who are training their professional skills, forming their philosophy of life and creative worldview, what do you think we need to do to contribute to fostering and enhancing the civic responsibility of young artists?

Associate Professor, Dr. Pham Quang Long: Young or old artists are similar in one point: they try to create to serve life and affirm their position in the hearts of the people. So they must understand the needs and aspirations of the people. The people here can be the majority, can be the minority, but always represent the development trend and the future of the country. Understanding this, meeting this, artists will gain the respect and love of the people. Poet Che Lan Vien sometimes wondered and regretted that what he wrote had nothing in common with the people (of course he said a bit too much but it was not wrong) and he wanted to "from the horizon of one person to the horizon of all" (French poet Paul Eluard). The concept of all here means the general public, the country and the people. Any artist is the same, if he does not understand this, it will be difficult to reach the destination!

PV: Thank you very much!

“Focus on enhancing ideological and artistic values, while ensuring freedom and democracy in literary and artistic creation; encourage new explorations to enrich Vietnamese cultural identity; limit deviations and manifestations of following trivial trends.”

(Documents of the 13th National Congress of the Party)  

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THIEN VAN - HAM DAN (performed)