Langues, écritures et littératures au Viêt-nam

Abstract

From the 13th century to the beginning of the 20th, Sino-Vietnamese literature coexisted alongside Norn literature. Due to its eminently ideological and political functions, Sino- Vietnamese literature established itself as the standard form of written expression whereas Norn literature, composed entirely in verse, was relegated to the role of entertainment. The author explains this paradoxical situation by the preponderant influence that Chinese language and writing continued to exert on Vietnamese culture a thousand years after its independence, as they permeated the most important institutions of Vietnamese society, affecting ideology, education, mandarinate, and administrative practices. With the use of romanized writing imposed by the French colonial administration, a new literary form based increasingly on prose emerged and rapidly blossomed in the wake of profound social, economic and cultural transformations.