The Lu with the journalism of enlightenment ideology

Thế Lữ is one of the most talented writers of modern Vietnamese literature in the early 20th century. He was the poet who initiated the New Poetry movement, the first famous detective writer, and also a sharp journalist, with many outstanding contributions to the field of journalism before the August Revolution of 1945.

According to the yearbook of Modern Vietnamese Writers published by the Writers' Association Publishing House: Poet The Lu's birth name was Nguyen Thu Le, born in 1907 in Thai Ha hamlet, Hanoi ; hometown Phu Dong village, Tien Du district, Bac Ninh (now Phu Dong commune, Gia Lam district, Hanoi); founding member of the Vietnam Writers' Association in 1957. He died in 1989.

Poet The Lu

Photo: Document

In the book Vietnamese Poet , literary critics Hoai Thanh - Hoai Chan praised poet The Lu as follows: "At that time, new poetry had just been born. The Lu was like a star that suddenly appeared, shining brightly throughout the sky of Vietnamese poetry. Although later on, The Lu's fame faded somewhat, but people could not help but recognize the contribution The Lu made in creating new poetry in this country. The Lu did not discuss new poetry, did not defend new poetry, did not fight, did not give speeches, The Lu just quietly, just calmly took steady steps while in a moment the entire ranks of old poetry had to fall apart. Reading the verses in Remembering the Forest , no one has the right to curl their lips before the rising poetry revolution, we seem to see the words being pushed, tormented by an extraordinary force. The Lu was like a general commanding the Vietnamese language army with irresistible orders...". Thus, it is enough to know that The Lu was highly appreciated in the Vietnamese literary world when opening the New Poetry era.

Not only that, Thế Lữ's outstanding contributions to the field of journalism before the August Revolution showed that he was a core member of Tự Lực Văn Đoàn - a journalism organization with the most progressive enlightenment ideology in the period 1930 - 1945. He collaborated and wrote regularly for the newspapers Phong Hóa and Ngay Nay . In these two newspapers, Thế Lữ undertook many different columns: poetry, short stories, literary and artistic criticism, and even wrote serialized detective stories. At a time when Vietnamese journalism was changing, Thế Lữ contributed to promoting journalism to escape from the old, dramatic writing style, replacing it with natural, rhythmic language, close to modern Western literature, contributing to the innovation of the content and form of literary journalism.

The serialized story Gold and Blood is a typical work of Thế Lữ, not only marking his turning point from poetry to prose but also opening the modern horror-thriller genre in Vietnamese literature in the 1930s and maintaining its appeal until today. The work is not simply a scary entertainment story, but contains many layers of meaning about greed, human instinct, the value of honesty and the price to pay.

He also contributed to the creation of a modern, intellectual but easy-to-understand style of writing art criticism (theater, literature), thereby creating the premise for press criticism to develop and bring the spirit of reason - aesthetics - modernity into the language of journalism. Although he was a poet with a romantic tone, Thế Lữ worked in journalism with a sober mind. He wrote many articles on aesthetics, culture, personal ethics and criticized social vices, guiding readers to a conscious life and knowing how to appreciate beauty. In criticism, he was not afraid to argue but always maintained sharp arguments, elegant language, and respect for the interlocutor, true to the style of an educated journalist.

The Lu's writing style and style are full of literature, rich in images and tones. Although writing for newspapers, The Lu's writing style still retains poetry, rhythm, imagery and artistic flexibility. This makes the reader feel like they are reading a literary piece, gentle but no less profound. His social sketches or essays published in newspapers are often concise, concise but evocative and philosophical. The Lu does not write at length, he presents the issue quickly, clearly, rationally but rich in emotion. He always knows how to filter information, arrange logical arguments as an important characteristic for a journalist with sharp thinking and concise expression.

As an artist (he later became a famous stage director), Thế Lữ brought to journalism a writing style that was both theoretical and aesthetic, helping to elevate the content of journalism, especially in the field of cultural and artistic criticism. For Thế Lữ, journalism needed aesthetics, not just a tool for reporting news, through his pen, journalism became a channel to inspire art, ethics and aesthetics of life, thereby enhancing the cultural "taste" of readers.

Thế Lữ shows that journalists need reason and a cultured attitude when criticizing society, without being harsh. A strong article can be written in a gentle but still convincing tone, and maintaining ethical qualities in language is to maintain the prestige of journalism. He is a model of writing with the soul of a writer but the mindset of a journalist, enhancing the effective combination between emotion and reason, between art and information, and flexibly coordinating between literary quality and journalistic thinking. ( continued)

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/the-lu-voi-dong-bao-chi-mang-tu-tuong-khai-sang-185250621200723857.htm