Patriotic urban literature in Southern Vietnam during the anti-American war period.

From 1955 onwards, after the French colonialists accepted defeat and withdrew. After withdrawing its troops from our country, the American imperialists stepped in to replace them in the South, establishing a regime opposed to the revolutionary government, and the South remained under the control of that regime. During this period, cultural invasion was "both the key means and the strategic goal of the American imperialists," aiming to "conquer hearts and minds," and "destroy the greenness in the Vietnamese soul," with literature and art being a powerful weapon.

This point was entirely new and even more profound than the old colonialism, which merely restricted education and the dissemination of books, especially those capable of awakening the soul, character, and will of the Vietnamese people. Many writers with anti-revolutionary ideas were gathered under the banner of urban arts in the South to serve the political agenda of the pro-American regime.

However, in the enemy-occupied territories for those twenty years, the flame of patriotism and revolutionary spirit of true Vietnamese people remained unextinguished. A large number of writers rallied under the patriotic and revolutionary banner of our Party, creating a literary front right in the heart of the Southern cities, going against the current, opposing, and not within the orbit of "neo-colonial literature"...

From the 1950s onwards, the South witnessed the rapid emergence and maturation of many young writers. These individuals were primarily students, who, although previously unknown in literature and art, possessed a fervent love for the nation's traditional values, were educated and cultured, and were aware of the value of struggle through their writing. Their pens engaged in all fields: poetry, prose, theory, criticism... including figures like Tran Quang Long, Phong Son, Dong Trinh, Chinh Van, Vo Truong Chinh, Ly Chanh Trung, Tieu Dao Bao Cu, Yen Minh, Lu Phuong, Ky Son, Tran Trieu Luat...

Overcoming the fear of terrorist acts and violence, there were times when patriotic writers from the South, with the National Cultural Protection Front (1966) as the core force, gathered for seminars. They even managed to publish their own magazine (Tin Van) and have their own publishing house (Do Chieu). Behind them, both materially and spiritually, was the strong and enduring support of the city's student movement, the guidance and assistance of revolutionary artists and Party cadres operating secretly in Saigon.

Like literature throughout the country during the French colonial period, this literary trend exhibited a rich and diverse range of activities. Progressive writers thoroughly exploited the public literary scene whenever conditions permitted. Under President Ngo Dinh Diem, they had their own publication, the newspaper Nhan Loai, and under President Nguyen Van Thieu, the newspaper Tin Van. They could cooperate with other publications to promote their ideas and spirit, fighting promptly and directly against the enemy. For example, the collaboration between the Viet group, comprised of young writers, and the newspaper Doi Dien, run by some Catholic intellectuals. Or, like Vu Hanh, one of the most renowned writers of patriotic revolutionary literature in South Vietnam at that time, who appeared quite frequently for a long time in the magazine Bach Khoa – a magazine considered "not very progressive".

Similar to the resistance literature of the North, the patriotic and revolutionary literature of the South at this time was considered by artists and writers as the most effective propaganda weapon. Therefore, everything they wrote was a choice of the shortest path for their thoughts and perceptions to reach the minds and hearts of readers. First, in terms of genre. We know that before each turning point in history, that is, before the transformation of reality, to quickly access the newly formed reality, artists and writers often sought genres that were easy to write and remember, with the main characteristic being short length or rhyming. Therefore, the spearhead genres of patriotic and revolutionary literature in the South were primarily short stories, reportage, essays, and poetry. In terms of content, depending on the political situation and specific periods, literature addressed different themes and topics with a consistent strategic orientation: thoroughly rejecting the neocolonial regime, strongly condemning the traitors and aggressors, affirming the aspiration for national liberation and reunification, and calling for struggle.

Under Ngo Dinh Diem's ​​rule, writers avoided direct confrontation with the ruling government, instead using allusions and indirect language by borrowing from "world affairs" or writing about the past. Readers can see this in the subtle and discreet voices of Vu Hanh, Vien Phuong, Ly Van Sam, Giang Nam, Le Vinh Hoa, and others. The voice of struggle became stronger, more vibrant, and more direct under Nguyen Van Thieu, with a model of rule and a social atmosphere that was nonetheless more democratic. This was also the period when the revolutionary struggle spread throughout the South. The voice condemning the rulers during this period rose even more powerfully and passionately through lengthy journalistic pieces such as Dung Tam's "The Power of the Dollar," and Nam Dinh and Phan Chan's "On the Streets of Saigon"...

And while the same theme prevailed, the literature of the South, which we commonly call bourgeois, expressed an existentialist spirit through the depiction of a life of positive enjoyment, while our writers viewed life as a process of decay, completely contrary to the spirit of building a vibrant, healthy society for tomorrow that the revolution was striving for. On the other hand, the pen of struggle was directed towards the invaders. From the perspective of the Americans in the unjust war, the artists and writers exposed their plundering nature, reflecting the resentment and humiliation that the people of the South were suffering under their political oppression. This is one of the poems describing the crimes of the enemy with an indictment and condemnation stemming from a specific event:

American soldiers

The steel helmet

Carry a long gun

Beastly heart

They fired on our homeland.

They fired relentlessly at My Lai.

They fired indiscriminately at the children.

They unleashed a barrage of attacks on history.

(My Lai, blood, tears and resentment, SHV)

Or, to call for and encourage patriotism by recreating a history of unwavering resilience:

I want to give these to people who appreciate antiques.

A defiant sword of the Ly family.

A Cao Thang rifle, unwavering in its resolve.

Offering the whole heart of the nation.

I want to give this to those who love literature.

A copy of the Proclamation of Victory over the Wu, with ink still fresh.

Written in the blood of the Ming army of yesteryear.

A book teaching the principles of military strategy.

The brilliant strategic brilliance of the Bạch Đằng River

The more enemies there are, the more blood will be spilled.

Two hundred thousand Mongol soldiers were left without a single piece of armor.

(Growing Up Continuously – Historical Records)

Overall, the literary struggle in South Vietnam during this period was a harmonious coordination of voices opposing the Americans and the local government, from two literary regions of South Vietnam: the liberated and the temporarily occupied. The efforts of literature and artists in those regions at that time made a significant contribution to the struggle for the liberation of South Vietnam and the reunification of the country.