Vietnamese Children's Literature: Still Many Big Gaps

Despite renewed interest in the field with many awards, specialized councils, and efforts to rebuild it from publishing units, Vietnamese children's literature is still facing large gaps in authors, works, and readers.

Much but not enough

Children's books are currently highly appreciated for their rich quantity, but it seems that the quality is still not commensurate, causing this special literary field to fall into a situation of "a lot but not enough".

Many here are about the number of books printed and published each year, but most of them are translated books, picture books, skill books... As for the artistic quality, genuine literary value and ability to accompany childhood of domestically created works, these are issues worth discussing.

Phenomenon Nguyen Nhat Anh is still one of the very few Vietnamese authors writing for children who are capable of creating works that are both artistically valuable and touch the hearts of readers of many generations.

With more than 100 books and nearly 50 years of persistent writing, he has become a beloved "brand" of children's literature.

However, the very few names that become symbols show the lack of successors. Poet Tran Dang Khoa once frankly said: "Nguyen Nhat Anh is a phenomenon, but only a single phenomenon."

In many seminars and workshops on children's literature, experts have pointed out the fact that many authors do not consider writing for children a serious and lasting career; many writers still consider writing for children as "writing for fun", "writing for fun", so their works lack depth and have not been carefully invested in structure, characters, ideas, and artistic aspirations.

If domestic works are not of good quality and cannot win over children, they may gradually become alienated from their own souls and the environment around them. This is a kind of gradual rootlessness that we often neglect or subjectively fail to realize.

Associate Professor, Dr. Van Gia

As a result, most of the works only stop at telling stories or conveying moral lessons and life skills, failing to awaken deep emotions and empathy, lacking a language approach suitable for childhood psychology, and especially lacking the intrinsic appeal of literature.

Having been a judge for the De Men Children's Award for many years, Associate Professor, Doctor Van Gia once warned: "If domestic works are not of good quality and cannot win over children, they may gradually become alienated from their own souls and the living environment around them. It is a kind of gradual rootlessness that we often neglect or subjectively fail to recognize." According to him, children need to read for fun and to grow up with their souls, emotions, and understanding of themselves and of life.

Once a “child prodigy of poetry”, poet Tran Dang Khoa, in his role as Vice President of the Vietnam Writers Association, carries with him a deep concern for the writing force. Besides adults writing about children’s topics, we cannot fail to mention the young writers writing about their own world .

Young talents are like fragile seeds. Without good soil, light, water and constant care, they will wither. Poetry prodigies are still out there, it’s just that no one has awakened them yet.

Poet Tran Dang Khoa

Poet Tran Dang Khoa raised the question of the absence of literary talents that brightened the literature from the 1960s to the early 1980s. During that period, there was no shortage of young authors, such as Hoang Hieu Nhan, Phan Thi Vang Anh, Cam Tho, Chu Hong Quy... who appeared with great promise.

According to poet Tran Dang Khoa, it is not that the literature lacks talent, but that the system of discovering, nurturing, guiding, and protecting it properly is not effective. “Young talent is like fragile seeds; without good soil, light, water, and persistent care, they will wither on their own. Poetry prodigies are still there, it’s just that no one has awakened them,” he emphasized.

Need proper encouragement

The previous generation of artists still have a positive spirit, encouraging the children's literature playground. The bright spot is shown in the movements of the Vietnam Writers Association to establish the Children's Literature Council; promote the De Men Children's Award and many innovative and creative activities with the viewpoint that children deserve to have experiences and fair recognition from the country's literature.

It can be seen that children's literature is receiving more attention from all levels, sectors and the publishing industry. A series of awards such as the De Men Children's Award, writing competitions of foreign embassies in Vietnam, publishing houses, private units, etc. have opened many favorable doors for new works, while discovering and honoring writers for children. The increase of professional councils is also a positive sign.

On the reader's side, although technology devices are taking up most of children's time and space, reality shows that when exposed to good works and participating in book exchanges, many children are still passionate about reading, even wanting to try their hand at writing, and many families have invested in and paid attention to reading culture.

Book introductions at Book Streets in both regions of the country, weekend reading corners organized by publishers, etc. always attract a large number of participants from children to parents. These are signs that readers, especially young readers, have never turned their backs on books, if the books truly touch their souls.

Children’s literature, as writer Ly Lan once said, is “the nourishment that nourishes the soul” and also the place that preserves the purest things. If ignored, literature will gradually lose its ability to connect with future generations.

There is no shortage of potential and opportunities for children's literature, but to exploit them effectively, we cannot just rely on a few "fire-keeping knights" like Nguyen Nhat Anh or Tran Dang Khoa, but need a comprehensive strategy such as: Investing in funds to support writing, training young writers, sponsoring publishing and communication for children's literature; making children's literature a serious training major; writers must change their thinking to challenge their creativity in language, art, and technique with this literary field.

Children’s literature, as writer Ly Lan once said, is “the nourishment that nourishes the soul” and also the place that preserves the purest things. If ignored, literature will gradually lose its ability to connect with future generations.

Article and photos: LU MAI

Source: https://nhandan.vn/van-hoc-thieu-nhi-viet-nam-van-con-nhieu-khoang-trong-lon-post884371.html