Tản Đà (1889–1939) and the making of new literature in colonial Vietnam

ABSTRACT In addressing the emergence of the modern writer in the north of Vietnam at the dawn of the twentieth century, this article offers a reading of the itinerary of Tản Đà (1889–1939), a Confucian scholar who became one of the founders of the new literature movement. Caught midway between the end of the literature-as-sacred era and the colonial period where it became a consumer product, without having completed his studies in Chinese or in French, he embraced quốc ngữ (romanized script) as an opportunity to innovate and discovered his vocation for the pen. To what extent can his work be considered an indictment of the mandarin recruitment system and a plea in favour of the emancipation of literature in relation to political power? How did Tản Đà articulate his own destiny with historical events to create the fable of the modern writer? In his case, what does ‘modern’ mean? How and in what way does his commitment allow us to consider the literature of his generation in terms of transition rather than hiatus?