Writer Nguyen Cong Hoan combines journalism and satirical literature.

Writer Nguyen Cong Hoan was born in 1903 in Van Giang, Hung Yen, in a family of Confucian scholars. Since childhood, he had heard and memorized many poems, antithetical couplets, and satirical anecdotes criticizing the mandarin class. That strongly influenced his later literary style.

In 1926, Nguyen Cong Hoan graduated from a teacher training college and worked as a teacher in many places ( Hai Duong , Lao Cai, Nam Dinh...) until the August Revolution succeeded. He wrote early, his first work Kiep Hong Nhan (written in 1920, published by Tan Da Thu Diem in 1923) was a contribution to Vietnamese prose in Quoc Ngu script. Before 1945, he was already a sharp journalist, constantly publishing short stories with social current events in famous newspapers such as: Phong Hoa, Ngay Nay (Tu Luc Van Doan); Tieu Thuyet Thu Bay, Trung Bac Chu Nhat, Ban Dan; Ich Huu, Ha Thanh Ngo Bao, Dong Tay ...

Writer Nguyen Cong Hoan

Photo: Document

Nguyen Cong Hoan is a storyteller who exposes social reality, and many of his short stories are highly journalistic, because they speak directly to contemporary issues, reflecting social realities in a concise, humorous yet painful way. We can review some of his famous short stories such as Kep Tu Ben ( Phong Hoa , 1935) describing a playwright who has to "laugh" on stage while his mother is dying under the theater. The work criticizes an indifferent, inhumane society that turns artists into entertainment tools regardless of their own pain. Although it is a short story published in a newspaper, it has a very clear social current event when the lives of artists are cheapened, their professions are commercialized and distorted.

In the short story A Heart ( Ngay Nay , 1937), with a cold satirical tone, Nguyen Cong Hoan tells the story of a soldier who beats his wife to death because he "loves her too much". The work reflects the distorted feudal thinking and violence disguised in the name of morality. This is a form of "news article in short story" that both reflects social reality and evokes silent indignation in the reader.

With a tragicomic tone, the short story Tinh Than The Giac ( Saturday Novel , 1939) tells the story of an entire village being forced to "practice physical exercises" following a formalist movement. The weak, the sick, even the dying, were forced to practice to make "achievements". The work exposes the formalization, the machinery, and the absurd humor in the governing apparatus during the French colonial period. His tragicomic and realistic pen reflects a society that is "acting" instead of living. Nguyen Cong Hoan's journalistic language is characterized by a sharp satirical smile and a sharp, simple, dramatic writing style. He does not use flowery literature, but uses short, clear, easy-to-understand, but dramatic everyday writing. The situations in his journalistic stories are often introduced very quickly, bringing readers right into "social conflicts" in just a few lines. This style is very close to the modern journalistic narrative style of focusing on an impressive introduction and quickly getting to the topic.

With a satirical, ironic but humane tone, Nguyen Cong Hoan has a talent for satire without being cruel. His writing style is like a magnifying mirror, highlighting the ridiculousness of the wrong, the false, the absurd, so that readers can laugh at themselves and realize the problem. The satirical style does not aim to defame individuals, but to expose the corrupt system from mandarins, law, health care toeducation ...

Nguyen Cong Hoan's works show that journalism must hit the absurd and the artificial. He teaches that journalism must not only reflect "real stories" but also expose the "truth underneath", especially the crazy values, formalities, and hypocrisy in society. To do so, journalists need to observe deeply and have a sober sense of humor. He often uses laughter to move, without using sensational language, letting the situation speak for itself with ironic laughter. This is a lesson for journalists that journalistic language does not need to be noisy, just needs to be in the right place and at the right time to be convincing enough.

Another characteristic is that journalistic writing also requires the art of storytelling, and Nguyen Cong Hoan skillfully combined journalism with literature and theater, making each story published in the newspaper like a dramatic sketch reflecting social life.

Nguyen Cong Hoan is a master of realistic satirical journalism, using short stories as a means of social criticism, fighting against absurdity and degeneration with intelligent laughter. His journalistic language is not colorful, not empty, both sharp and humane, always standing on the side of the weak and powerless.

In the context of today's press sometimes falling into superficiality, the journalism lesson from writer Nguyen Cong Hoan is a reminder: an ordinary story, if written correctly and truthfully, can become the most eloquent indictment of social injustice. (to be continued)

Writer Nguyen Cong Hoan has been a member of the Vietnamese Labor Party since 1948. In 1951, he worked at the Education Department's Reprinting Camp, compiling textbooks and books on Modern Vietnamese History from French colonialism to 1950 for grade 7 of the nine-year system. After 1954, he returned to writing as President of the Vietnam Writers' Association (first term 1957-1958), Standing Committee Member of the Executive Committee of the Vietnam Writers' Association in the following terms. He was also a member of the Executive Committee of the Vietnam Union of Literature and Arts, editor-in-chief of the weekly Van (the predecessor of Van Nghe newspaper). Nguyen Cong Hoan died in 1977 in Hanoi . He was awarded the Ho Chi Minh Prize for Literature and Arts, first term in 1996.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/nha-van-nguyen-cong-hoan-ket-hop-bao-chi-va-van-hoc-trao-phung-185250615224215692.htm