International scientific conference: Poet Ho Xuan Huong - Cultural celebrity and heritage value

Panorama of the International Scientific Conference: Poet Ho Xuan Huong (1772-1822) - Cultural celebrity and heritage value. Photo: Pham Bang

LITERARY PHENOMENON: TALENTED, MANY MYSTERIES

At the 41st session of the General Assembly, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) adopted Document 211 EX/30.INF, Decision No. 211 EX of the Executive Board and Resolution No. 41C/15 (Resolution No. 41C/52): UNESCO honors and participates in the celebration of the 250th anniversary of the birth (1772-1822) of Vietnamese poetess Ho Xuan Huong in 2022 (with the support of India, Japan, Korea and Thailand).

Resolution 41C/15 of UNESCO identified 7 core points about the famous person Ho Xuan Huong: Ho Xuan Huong has a profound humanistic ideology with the core being the struggle for the right to live for humans - humans as entities existing on earth with all the needs and aspirations of earthly life; Ho Xuan Huong is a special cultural - aesthetic phenomenon with a unique system of concepts through her poetic works.

Provincial leaders visit the exhibition of works by poetess Ho Xuan Huong. Photo: Pham Bang

Ho Xuan Huong has made great contributions to feminism and women's equality; Ho Xuan's legacy is not only poetry, but also a system of behavior - spirit - consciousness for a good progress; Ho Xuan Huong not only fights and protects but also has the awareness to warn, criticize, oppose and deny what hinders human progress; Ho Xuan Huong and her legacy have a strong vitality, can spread and inspire many peoples and many countries; Ho Xuan Huong's works have been recognized by researchers in many countries and translated into their own languages.

The international scientific conference is a practical and meaningful activity in the series of activities to honor and celebrate the 250th anniversary of the birth and 200th anniversary of the death of Poet Ho Xuan Huong, and at the same time to fulfill Vietnam's commitments when submitting the dossier to UNESCO to jointly honor and participate in the celebration of the 250th anniversary of the birth and 200th anniversary of the death of the famous person Ho Xuan Huong.

Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Hoang Dao Cuong delivered the opening speech at the Workshop. Photo: Pham Bang

In his opening speech at the workshop, Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Hoang Dao Cuong emphasized that after more than 200 years of appearing in the literary world, Poet Ho Xuan Huong is still a talented literary phenomenon but contains many unsolved mysteries. Ho Xuan Huong's style and unique creative personality will certainly continue to be an attractive issue for future research projects.

With love for Poet Ho Xuan Huong, enthusiasm for honoring, protecting and promoting the cultural heritage associated with her, the conference is expected to synthesize and evaluate comprehensively and deeply the stature of Poet Ho Xuan Huong in the history of Vietnamese and world literature, at the same time have many new and valuable discoveries about the life and career of the celebrity, as well as propose many good ideas and initiatives to help Nghe An province preserve and promote the cultural heritage of Poet Ho Xuan Huong in her homeland.

Chairman of Nghe An Provincial People's Committee Nguyen Duc Trung delivered a keynote speech at the Workshop. Photo: Pham Bang

Speaking at the opening of the workshop, Chairman of Nghe An Provincial People's Committee Nguyen Duc Trung emphasized that, with the spirit of not only honoring, showing gratitude, and learning, but more importantly, absorbing and promoting the heritage value of Ho Xuan Huong in today's era, the purpose of the Scientific Workshop is to announce and widely publicize UNESCO's honor and participation in the celebration of the 250th anniversary of the birth (1772-2022), 200th anniversary of the death (1822-2022) of the cultural celebrity Ho Xuan Huong; at the same time, creating a new spiritual atmosphere in learning, researching, receiving and promoting the cultural heritage value of the female poet - celebrity Ho Xuan Huong.

At the same time, the workshop reviewed and re-evaluated the history of reception of Ho Xuan Huong and the value of her heritage both domestically and internationally; announced a number of new collections, studies and researches on the person, life, career and works of the famous Ho Xuan Huong; announced new studies and proposals on the contributions, stature and position of Ho Xuan Huong and ideas and projects on promoting the heritage value of the famous person in the new context.

Comrades in the Provincial Party Standing Committee and Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee attended the Workshop. Photo: Pham Bang

UNESCO representatives in Vietnam and international scientists attending the workshop. Photo: Pham Bang

PROMOTING THE VALUES OF HO XUAN HUONG IN THE PRESENT ERA

At the conference, domestic and international scientists focused on discussing and clarifying the position, stature and history of reception and translation of Ho Xuan Huong; the issue of Ho Xuan Huong's background, hometown and era; Ho Xuan Huong in her relationships with national culture, regional culture and human culture; issues of poetics, artistic style and the appeal and spread of Ho Xuan Huong's poetry...

Analyzing and clarifying the position of Ho Xuan Huong's poetry in the world literary tradition, Professor, Doctor, People's Teacher Tran Dinh Su said that her poetry expresses a deeply humanistic/humanistic thought with the core being the struggle for human rights; creating a sudden phenomenon of the third stage in expressing erotic content in Nom stories and Nom poetry.

Prof. Dr. People's Artist Tran Dinh Su presented a paper on "Ho Xuan Huong's poetry in the world literary tradition". Photo: Pham Bang

"Ho Xuan Huong is a multi-talented poet. Her Chinese poetry is good, but her Nom poetry is even better, somewhat surpassing her Chinese poetry. She can write many different types of poetry, and each one is skillful, and when read, it moves the soul. Romantic poetry in particular has a long tradition in East Asian poetry, but still has its own unique features that express the personality of Vietnamese poets," emphasized Professor, Doctor, People's Teacher Tran Dinh Su.

As the translator of Ho Xuan Huong's poetry into Slovak, Ms. Eva Antoshchenko Muckova - Poet and translator of the Slovak Republic said that in her poems there is a sensual tone, full of satire and irony; or in her lyrical poems, the female poet left behind a literary treasure of the late 18th - early 19th century, not only in Vietnam but also around the world.

Lady Borton - Writer, Researcher, Translator from the United States believes that Ho Xuan Huong is an unusual, extraordinary phenomenon. Photo: Pham Bang

Ms. Eva Antoshchenko Muckova - Poet and translator of the Republic of Slovakia introduces the book translated from Ho Xuan Huong's poetry. Photo: Pham Bang

And Mrs. Lady Borton - Writer, Researcher, Translator from the United States believes that Ho Xuan Huong is an unusual, extraordinary phenomenon. And like all other poets, she is a unique phenomenon. But she is not alone because her life and poetic career must have been anchored in the genealogy of typical Vietnamese female poets as teachers.

Delving deeper into the female symbolism and feminism in Ho Xuan Huong's poetry from a semiotic perspective, Associate Professor, Dr. Dinh Hong Hai - Asian Semiotics Association, International Semiotics Association believes that Ho Xuan Huong's poetry is a wonderful protest through her pen, through her outstanding literary talent, not through the rebellion of sexual freedom like the 60s of the 20th century or the revealing and provocative clothing of the 21st century.

Associate Professor, Dr. Dinh Hong Hai - Asian Semiotics Association, International Semiotics Association believes that Ho Xuan Huong's poetry is a wonderful protest through the pen. Photo: Pham Bang

Representative of the Ho Family Council of Vietnam, Mr. Ho Huy emphasized that the fact that Poet Ho Xuan Huong was honored by UNESCO and participated in the commemoration of her birth and death anniversary is a source of pride for the Vietnamese people in general and the Ho family in particular. From here, the Ho family and the general public will be more aware of protecting and promoting the heritage that Ho Xuan Huong left behind.

"On behalf of the Ho family of Vietnam, I would like to sincerely thank the Vietnam National Commission for UNESCO - Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Nghe An Provincial People's Committee, Nghe An Department of Culture and Sports; and sincerely thank the researchers, individuals and organizations who have accompanied and contributed to the campaign to honor Poet Ho Xuan Huong, Queen of Nom poetry," said Mr. Ho Huy.

Mr. Christian Manhart - Chief Representative of UNESCO in Vietnam emphasized the great values ​​of Ho Xuan Huong heritage. Photo: Pham Bang

Speaking at the workshop, Mr. Christian Manhart - Chief Representative of UNESCO in Vietnam emphasized that Ho Xuan Huong was an activist for gender equality, her ideas later became the ideas and principles of UNESCO. Organizing the workshop is also an opportunity to promote her legacy worldwide.

In his closing remarks at the workshop, Associate Professor Dr. Bien Minh Dien - Senior Lecturer of Vinh University affirmed that the workshop had achieved its goals and objectives and was a great success. The workshop created a new atmosphere in the research work on Ho Xuan Huong, proposing new projects to promote the value of Ho Xuan Huong in today's era.

Associate Professor Dr. Bien Minh Dien - Senior Lecturer of Vinh University delivered a closing speech at the Conference. Photo: Pham Bang

The workshop also clarified general issues of the history of reception and translation of Ho Xuan Huong; about the life, hometown and era of Ho Xuan Huong; about the poetics and artistic style of Ho Xuan Huong and about approaching Ho Xuan Huong - Cultural celebrity and heritage value.