Author Dinh Thi Thanh Thuy (second from left) at the book launch.
Writer Son Nam is known as a Southern scholar. Besides his valuable cultural research and collections, most of his works contribute to completing the picture of social life and people in the South in the 19th and 20th centuries. Author Dinh Thi Thanh Thuy has studied and researched 134 stories by writer Son Nam including novels (long stories), short stories, notes, memoirs, research papers, articles in newspapers, magazines... and then the book "Southern temperament through Son Nam's stories" was born.
The book is 296 pages long, from “Introduction” to “Son Nam’s literary career”, “Southern culture in Son Nam’s stories”, “Southern people in Son Nam’s stories”. Through that, readers can have a general idea that the writer Son Nam’s stories represent the cultural and social issues of the South in many aspects in the 19th-20th centuries full of historical fluctuations, and at the same time represent a typical Southern literary style. He is also an author of revolutionary patriotic literature. In the contemporary social context, the late writer made great contributions to the progressive revolutionary patriotic literature of the period 1954-1975 in the South.
Commenting on the research of author Dinh Thi Thanh Thuy, Professor Huynh Nhu Phuong wrote: “To carry out this topic, in addition to knowledge of Literary Theory and Literary History, the author also had to cultivate her knowledge of General Cultural Studies and Southern Culture. The author has covered a large amount of documents, especially the very rich short stories and novels of Son Nam. She directly met and learned about the writer and many contemporaries who understood his works to add to the archive of documents about Son Nam”. According to writer and journalist Le Minh Quoc: “What makes Son Nam’s brand, Son Nam’s name, the most core factor is that he is also a “Customologist” of the South with a unique style that has been present in all of his works, from short stories, novels to research works. Author Dinh Thi Thanh Thuy has “zoned in” to learn more thoroughly about the nature of customs, “the land has its own customs, the countryside has its own customs” of the South, through Son Nam’s perspective...”.
This project took 20 years to complete and launch. Author Dinh Thi Thanh Thuy shared: “I wrote the work with the intention of sharing with readers my reflections on the temperament, character and personality of the Southern culture and people through Son Nam's stories. One difficulty is that writer Son Nam did not preserve his own works. But fortunately for me, I met Mr. Dao Tang, Mr. Dinh Cong Tam, Mr. Chinh Van, writer friends of writer Son Nam, who supported me a lot in the process of finding literary works and doing research. When I transferred the collection to writer Son Nam to review, he happily commented: "You have collected more than I remembered." From the Master's thesis with the guidance of Professor, Dr. Huynh Nhu Phuong, later with the suggestion of Mr. Le Trung Hung; the encouragement, urging and enthusiastic support of poet Le Minh Quoc and colleagues of Ho Chi Minh City General Publishing House; fortunately, the book has reached readers."
The book also depicts the characters of writer Son Nam, although they have typical Southern characteristics, they are gathered into the image of Vietnamese people full of national character. The Southern character is born from the national origin, experiencing all the hardships and challenges in the process of reclaiming and establishing villages. The Southern character is closely linked to the history of the formation of the Southern land, knowing how to promote traditions and quintessence on the new land, the Southern people shine with the noble virtues in the spiritual and cultural values of the Vietnamese people: simple, straightforward, generous, open-minded, benevolent, chivalrous and dynamic, creative.
Author Dinh Thi Thanh Thuy is the former Director - Editor-in-Chief of Ho Chi Minh City General Publishing House for the period 2015-2023. Published books, written separately include "Famous museums and monuments in Ho Chi Minh City" (2005); written together include "Preserving and promoting national cultural identity - The role of research andeducation " (1999), "Preserving and promoting intangible cultural heritage in Ho Chi Minh City" (2002), "Changes in cultural life in Ho Chi Minh City 1986-2006" (2011), "Cultural heritage - preservation and development - architectural topic" (2011).
Article and photos: QM
Source: https://baocantho.com.vn/-khi-chat-nam-bo-qua-truyen-son-nam-cong-phu-va-nhieu-tu-lieu-quy-a187329.html
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