Literary managers must study film.

The draft decree on literary management lacks provisions encouraging sponsorship and public-private partnerships – aspects already included in the Film Law.

Pre-audit or post-audit?

Managing writing competitions and literary works was one of the topics discussed at a consultation workshop on the draft Decree on encouraging the development of literature (held yesterday, April 4th, in Hanoi ). According to the draft decree, Vietnamese and foreign organizations in Vietnam wishing to organize writing competitions must notify the competent authority and wait for a response (if there is no response, the competition can proceed). Furthermore, after the competition concludes, they must submit a report on the results to the managing authority.

Deputy Director of the Performing Arts Department, Tran Huong Duong, introduced the draft Decree on encouraging the development of literature.

PHOTO: BTC

According to Associate Professor Pham Xuan Thach (Vietnam National University, Hanoi), this is unreasonable. As someone who closely observes writing competitions, Professor Thach noted the large number of such competitions. "Even a single university can have a writing competition. With so many universities organizing writing competitions, this regulation is unnecessary. A regulation requiring transparent and public announcement of the competition information would suffice," said Associate Professor Pham Xuan Thach. He believes this would avoid large-scale pre-auditing, especially since the organizing units are already taking good responsibility for the organization of these competitions.

The question of whether to pre-approve or post-approve online literature is also being raised. In this draft decree, it states that the dissemination of literature on the internet must comply with legal regulations on information technology, cybersecurity, etc., and telecommunications companies are responsible for blocking access to infringing literary works at the request of state management. Thus, while competitions are currently subject to "pre-approvement," online literature will be managed through "post-approvement."

Subjectivism and a lack of policies to encourage literature.

The draft also outlines policies to support authors in literary creation, with specified themes and topics. It includes four groups of themes and topics that have been "finalized." Regarding this, writer Vu Thanh Lich, Deputy Director of the Department of Culture and Sports of Ninh Binh province, argues that listing themes so specifically as in the decree is inappropriate because life, in the eyes of a writer, is very rich and has its own unique value. "If a work doesn't fall within the scope of the decree, does that mean it won't receive support, investment, recognition, or promotion?" asked writer Vu Thanh Lich.

Associate Professor Dr. Xuan Thach highly appreciated the draft's inclusion of state investment and support for the creation of high-value works, but he also regretted that the support was limited to pre-defined themes and topics. He noted that the list clearly specifies topics serving political purposes. "However, over time, the Party and State's guidelines and policies are constantly evolving, so should we really amend the decree then?" Dr. Thach questioned. He also cited the example of the state's strong emphasis on religious policy, and the recent establishment of a Ministry for Religious Affairs. However, the decree does not address this aspect of religious topics.

In relation to the Film Law, Associate Professor Thach commented: "While the Film Law has very clear provisions encouraging the development of film theory, criticism, and research, this content is extremely vague in the literary decree."

Associate Professor Pham Xuan Thach believes that the draft decree should envision literature as an activity of the entire society with the participation of many social components. Therefore, the decree should not focus solely on the activities of state management agencies. The draft should also include specific policies to mobilize all social resources to participate, rather than focusing solely on state investment. This is also what Vietnamese cinema is currently doing by attracting both public and private investment.

Meanwhile, Ms. Dang Thi Thuy, M.Sc., writer and Vice President of the Hai Phong Union of Literature and Arts Associations, mentioned the need to ensure financial resources, human resources, and infrastructure for the decree to be implemented effectively. She suggested more specific regulations on a transparent financial mechanism for literary activities, as well as a balanced and sufficient allocation of financial resources from the central and local governments for literature.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/quan-ly-van-hoc-phai-hoc-dien-anh-185250404230741679.htm