Decree regulating the encouragement of literary development:

Strategic document for literary development

Literature is one of the pillars of spiritual life, contributing to shaping the national cultural identity, nurturing the human soul and reflecting social values. At the workshop, Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Ta Quang Dong emphasized that in today's era, when the world enters the digital age, literature is undergoing strong changes. Electronic publishing platforms, digital books, online literature, artificial intelligence, etc. are posing new challenges and opportunities for writers. Literature is not simply pages of paper but has expanded to more diverse forms of expression, reaching a wider audience, but at the same time also poses requirements for preserving artistic values and creative orientation in a volatile environment.

In recent times, the State has issued many important policies to encourage the development of literature such as resolutions, policies to support writing, organizing writing camps, literary awards... to honor and encourage writers.

However, in reality, there are still gaps and challenges in encouraging literary development, such as the lack of a strong enough funding and commissioning mechanism to create conditions for writers to pursue major topics of high ideological and artistic value; writing camps have not really been effective; activities to promote and popularize literary works are still limited...

Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Ta Quang Dong speaks at the workshop. Photo: Tran Huan

“In the context of international integration and the fourth industrial revolution, building a legal corridor to encourage literary development has become urgent, to ensure that literature both maintains its traditions and approaches new creative trends. The promulgation of the Decree on encouraging literary development is not only a correct policy but also an urgent requirement in the face of new movements in social life and literary creation,” Deputy Minister Ta Quang Dong affirmed.

Through the development process, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has issued the second draft of the Decree regulating the encouragement of literary development, including 34 articles in 7 chapters; applicable to Vietnamese organizations and individuals, foreign organizations and individuals participating in or related to literary activities in Vietnam.

The draft Decree affirms that the State supports and invests in literary creation activities; organizes literary creation camps; organizes literary creation competitions; national literary awards; introduces and promotes literature; translates literature; and disseminates literature. The draft stipulates basic contents on state management of literature; stops organizing literary activities, revokes awards and funding for literary activities.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism is the agency responsible for organizing annual literary creation camps; specifying the content of the Literary Creation Camp Regulations and the Literary Creation Camp Professional Council. The draft also stipulates the national literary awards; clearly affirming the role of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism in selecting works of high artistic value worthy of being honored with national awards.

The draft also stipulates criteria for selecting representative works of Vietnamese literature to introduce, promote and support participation in fairs and exhibitions abroad; introducing quality works representing Vietnamese literature to participate in prestigious international literary competitions and awards; building an electronic information page on Vietnamese literature, etc.

Need strict and practical regulations

At the workshop, most researchers, writers, representatives of publishing units, and those working in the field of literature affirmed that the policy of building a Decree regulating the encouragement of literary development is necessary to promote sustainable development of Vietnamese literature, with many valuable works. However, the content of the regulations must be strict, practical, and consistent with the current system of legal documents.

Associate Professor, Dr. Bui Hoai Son, Standing Member of the National Assembly's Committee on Culture andEducation, commented. Photo: H. Hoang

Associate Professor Dr. Bui Hoai Son, Standing Member of the National Assembly's Committee on Culture and Education, commented that when drafting the Decree, the Drafting Committee should consider literature as a cultural industry. Because literature not only contributes to the publishing industry, it is also an input for the film, theater, music, dance industries, etc. According to Associate Professor Dr. Bui Hoai Son, the content of the Decree must aim to build a literary ecosystem, including creative activities, creative support, work promotion, and connection with other cultural industries; at the same time, pay attention to investing in technology for creative activities and dissemination of literary works.

At the conference, many delegates agreed and expressed their joy at having a national literary award as stated in the draft Decree. Poet Nguyen Viet Chien (Hanoi Writers Association) said that this would be a specialized literary award, having a great impact on the country's literary life.

Sharing the same view, poet Tran Dang Khoa highly appreciated the establishment of the national literature award, and at the same time recommended that clear regulations be needed to avoid duplication with other awards such as the Ho Chi Minh Award, the State Award for Literature and Arts, or the National Book Award, etc.

Head of the Department of Art Management (Hanoi Department of Culture and Sports) Do Kim Oanh commented. Photo: Tran Huan

People's Artist Vuong Duy Bien, Vice President of the Vietnam Union of Literature and Arts Associations, suggested that the Drafting Committee should review some activities that overlap with the tasks of literature and arts associations, such as organizing creative camps to avoid overlap...

Writer Dang Thi Thuy, Vice President of the Hai Phong Literature and Arts Association, said that the draft Decree has not mentioned specific mechanisms, policies, and regulations for encouraging, discovering, training, and nurturing literary talents. For example, the policy of granting scholarships and supporting learning for students, trainees, and pupils with literary talent to study literature and creative writing majors; supporting funding for young writers, authors with potential and good development prospects to participate in writing camps, conferences, training courses, and fostering at home and abroad. This needs to be studied and supplemented...

Head of the Department of Arts Management (Hanoi Department of Culture and Sports) Do Kim Oanh requested the Drafting Committee to clarify and supplement the authority of the agency receiving, organizing or stopping the organization of literary activities, and revoking literary awards, to facilitate the implementation of the Decree after its promulgation...

Source: https://hanoimoi.vn/nghi-dinh-quy-dinh-ve-khuyen-khich-phat-trien-van-hoc-huong-toi-xay-dung-he-sinh-thai-van-hoc-ben-vung-697888.html