The Self-Reliant Literary Group (,

chữ Hán ( , ) are the Chinese characters that were used to write Literary Chinese in Vietnam, Literary Chinese (; ) and Sino-Vietnamese vocabulary in Vietnamese language, Vietnamese. They were officially used in Vietnam after the Red River Delta region ...

: 自力文團, ) was a literary group in

Tonkin Tonkin, also spelled Tongkin, Tonquin or Tongking, is an exonym referring to the northern region of Vietnam. During the 17th and 18th centuries, this term referred to the domain '' Đàng Ngoài'' under Trịnh lords' control, including both the ...

during the 1930s.

History

The Tự Lực văn đoàn was an influential literary collective founded in 1932-1933 by

Nhất Linh Nguyễn Tường Tam (; chữ Hán: 阮祥三 or 阮祥叄; Cẩm Giàng, Hải Dương 25 July 1906 – Saigon, 7 July 1963) better known by his pen-name Nhất Linh (, 一灵, "One Spirit") was a Vietnamese writer, editor and publisher in col ...

and

Khái Hưng Trần Khánh Giư, pen-name Khái Hưng (1896 in Cổ Am village, Vĩnh Bảo, Hải Phòng – 1947 in Nam Định) was a Vietnamese novelist, member of Self-Reliant Literary Group, and a nationalist intellectual. As a boy, he studied at ...

. They were one of the most significant political and literary movements in twentieth-century Vietnam and published significantly via their two journals, ''Phong Hóa'' (Mores, 1932–1936) and ''Ngày Nay'' (Today, 1936–1940, 1945) as well as their own publishing house (Đời Nay). The group used these journals and novels to articulate their social and political ideals, as well as experiment with new literary forms such as the groundbreaking Thơ mới (New Poetry Movement), new modes of reportage, and the modern autobiography. The group promoted modernization and

Westernization Westernization (or Westernisation, see spelling differences), also Europeanisation or occidentalization (from the ''Occident''), is a process whereby societies come under or adopt what is considered to be Western culture, in areas such as industr ...

, rejecting

Confucian Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China, and is variously described as a tradition, philosophy, religion, theory of government, or way of life. Founded by Confucius ...

traditions which they deemed anachronistic. Tự Lực văn đoàn's core members included

Hoàng Đạo Hoàng Đạo (1907–1948) is a pen name for Nguyễn Tường Long, an influential essayist and novelist during the inter-war years in Vietnam. He was an important member of the literary collective Tu Luc Van Doan, Tự Lực văn đoàn and was ...

, Thạch Lam, Xuân Diệu, Thế Lữ, Huy Can, and Tú Mỡ.

Literary influence

For the Tự Lực văn đoàn, the

novel A novel is an extended work of narrative fiction usually written in prose and published as a book. The word derives from the for 'new', 'news', or 'short story (of something new)', itself from the , a singular noun use of the neuter plural of ...

as a genre was a vehicle for political and social change. It could be used not only to reflect and question social reality, but also to envision new revolutionized futures. The group's prose was characterized by

minimalist In visual arts, music, and other media, minimalism is an art movement that began in the post-war era in western art. The movement is often interpreted as a reaction to abstract expressionism and modernism; it anticipated contemporary post-mi ...

aesthetics, a sharp break away from the traditional erudite, rhetorical styles of classical prose and stilted rhyme.Tran, B. V. (2008). The politics of Vietnamese romanticism and literary history (PhD thesis, University of California, Berkeley, Fall) (pp. 1-352). California: University of Berkeley. Their novels were not meant to be didactic, or offer cosmically balanced poetic justice. Instead, the group adopted a mix of

romanticism Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century. The purpose of the movement was to advocate for the importance of subjec ...

and

realism Realism, Realistic, or Realists may refer to: In the arts *Realism (arts), the general attempt to depict subjects truthfully in different forms of the arts Arts movements related to realism include: *American Realism *Classical Realism *Liter ...

in their writing, producing a form of stylized aesthetics that set a precedent for the modern novel in Vietnam. The

New Poetry ''The New Poetry'' is a poetry anthology edited by Al Alvarez, published in 1962 and in a revised edition in 1966. It was greeted at the time as a significant review of the post-war scene in English poetry. The introduction, written by Alvarez, ...

lyricists were less concerned with conventional form and content and more interested in exploring their own subjectivity and individualism. Many of their literary works also engaged with

feminism Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

, for Tự Lực văn đoàn's members sought to reveal and critique the underlying social norms and practices that perpetuated women's traditional roles. However, some critics have also accused these writers’ works of being ideologically romantic and politically unrealistic, framing the writers themselves as out-of-touch bourgeois elites.

Political beliefs

Similar to other leftist groups, the group subscribed to

historical materialism Historical materialism is Karl Marx's theory of history. Marx located historical change in the rise of Class society, class societies and the way humans labor together to make their livelihoods. Karl Marx stated that Productive forces, techno ...

, and saw economics as the tool to achieve transformative political and social change. However, the group was cautious of the excesses of capitalism, and also advocated for ways to mitigate the resultant inequalities. The group espoused an

egalitarian Egalitarianism (; also equalitarianism) is a school of thought within political philosophy that builds on the concept of social equality, prioritizing it for all people. Egalitarian doctrines are generally characterized by the idea that all h ...

vision of Vietnamese society, and sought to integrate marginalized groups such as women and the rural peasantry. The group's calls for political reforms echoed throughout their literary and journalistic publications, ranging from ''Phong Hóa'' to ''Ngày Nay''. Its republican politics centered around a few main ideas: its support for representative democratic institutions, linguistic and cultural nationalism, belief in eventual

self-determination Self-determination refers to a people's right to form its own political entity, and internal self-determination is the right to representative government with full suffrage. Self-determination is a cardinal principle in modern international la ...

, defense of personal freedoms, and complete rejection of the

monarchy A monarchy is a form of government in which a person, the monarch, reigns as head of state for the rest of their life, or until abdication. The extent of the authority of the monarch may vary from restricted and largely symbolic (constitutio ...

. The group sought to achieve these republican ideals via

centre-left politics Centre-left politics is the range of left-wing political ideologies that lean closer to the political centre. Ideologies commonly associated with it include social democracy, social liberalism, progressivism, and green politics. Ideas commonly ...

, practicing a brand of moderate mainstream

socialism Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

that most closely aligned with

social democracy Social democracy is a Social philosophy, social, Economic ideology, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achi ...

. They synthesized classical French republican values of

democracy Democracy (from , ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which political power is vested in the people or the population of a state. Under a minimalist definition of democracy, rulers are elected through competitiv ...

and

freedom Freedom is the power or right to speak, act, and change as one wants without hindrance or restraint. Freedom is often associated with liberty and autonomy in the sense of "giving oneself one's own laws". In one definition, something is "free" i ...

, and moderate socialist objectives of decreasing inequality and promoting social cohesion through state participation. Although the group did not necessarily believe in overthrowing

colonialism Colonialism is the control of another territory, natural resources and people by a foreign group. Colonizers control the political and tribal power of the colonised territory. While frequently an Imperialism, imperialist project, colonialism c ...

, and outrightly rejected violent revolution, they demanded that the French colonial administration live up to their republican ideals by granting the people of

certain political and legal rights. The group rejected

orthodox Marxist Orthodox Marxism is the body of Marxist thought which emerged after the deaths of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels in the late 19th century, expressed in its primary form by Karl Kautsky. Kautsky's views of Marxism dominated the European Marxist ...

ideas of passivity and

economic determinism Economic determinism is a socioeconomic theory that economic relationships (such as being an owner or capitalist or being a worker or proletarian) are the foundation upon which all other societal and political arrangements in society are based. T ...

, instead championing for a third way between

laissez-faire capitalism ''Laissez-faire'' ( , from , ) is a type of economic system in which transactions between private groups of people are free from any form of economic interventionism (such as subsidies or regulations). As a system of thought, ''laissez-faire' ...

and

Soviet communism Before the perestroika reforms of Mikhail Gorbachev that promoted a more liberal form of socialism, the formal ideology of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) was Marxism–Leninism, a form of socialism consisting of a centralise ...

via a strong socialist state that could tame the excesses of

capitalism Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their use for the purpose of obtaining profit. This socioeconomic system has developed historically through several stages and is defined by ...

. The group also had a strong

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

agenda and advocated for women's emancipation. Their interest in the plight of oppressed women extended across classes, encompassing not merely urban intellectuals but also brothel madams and rural peasant women. Beyond proposing changes to women's fashion, the Tự Lực văn đoàn also encouraged women to write for their papers, and even had a column dedicated to discussing women's issues.

Đời Nay Publishing House

Đời Nay Publishing House was founded by the Tự Lực Văn Đoàn in 1933 to address the poor production quality of books and the exploitation of writers by publishers. The house published ''Phong Hóa'' and other serialized novels from 1933 until its eventual demise in 1946. The Tự Lực Văn Đoàn sought to use publishing as a vehicle to advance their modernist reform projects. The group wanted to transform Vietnamese readers’ reading habits and prove that the Vietnamese were capable of producing books similar to those of the great publishing houses in Europe and America. Their early books were known for quality printing and use of high-end paper. Some of their books were so well-designed that some were even displayed at Hanoi's 1935 Salon in the Indochinese Fine Arts University. In 1936, the group shifted to printing paperbacks in line with increasing populist sentiments following the rise of the Popular Front government in France. The first paperback series introduced were Green Books, which aimed to democratize literature by allowing families of all incomes to build their own family library. The first Green Book published was

’s Đoạn Tuyệt (A Severance of Ties). The book was a huge commercial success and sold over 1,000 copies in three days. In 1937, they announced another book series, “Nắng Mới” (New Sun), which was targeted at those with little schooling or who did not know French. Thus, Đời Nay aimed to reach the most intellectually neglected and underprivileged groups, particularly women.Nhị Linh, “Viết Sách, Xuất Bản Sách” Phong Hóa no. 101, 8 June 1934, p. 1; “Xuất Bản Sách” hong. Hóa no. 103, 22 June 1934, p. 1-2; “Tủ sách gia đình” However, the onset of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

led to significant financial strain on the Tự Lực Văn Đoàn, and the group decided to dismantle Đời Nay publishing house in 1945. By the

August Revolution The August Revolution (), also known as the August General Uprising (), was a revolution led by the Việt Minh against the Empire of Vietnam from 16 August to 2 September 1945. The Empire of Vietnam was led by the Nguyễn dynasty and was ...

, even the publishing house ceased to operate.

''Phong Hóa''

Phong Hóa was a dynamic and versatile journal that covered a wide variety of topics ranging from current affairs to literature to humor to fashion advice. Phong Hóa's founder,

, was influenced by the literary and journalistic publishing world of the metropole and modeled Phong Hóa after journals such as ''

Le Canard Enchaîné (; English: "The Chained Duck" or "The Chained Paper", as is French slang meaning "newspaper") is a satirical weekly newspaper in France. Its headquarters is in Paris. Founded in 1915 during World War I, it features investigative journalism ...

'' and ''

Le Rire ''Le Rire'' (, "Laughter") was a successful French humor magazine published from October 1894 until its final issue in April 1971. Founded in Paris during the Belle Époque by Felix Juven, ''Le Rire'' appeared as typical Parisians began to ach ...

''. The magazine positioned itself vis-a-vis its Southern counterpart ''Nam Phong'', attacking it for its pedantic and didactic style and neo-traditionalist views which the Tự Lực Văn Đoàn outdated and inappropriate for Vietnam. Instead, Phong Hóa tried to distinguish itself from its journalistic predecessors in form, tone, ideology, and content. The magazine quickly became known for its use of

satire Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of exposin ...

to discuss social and political events. The magazine represented the first

satirical Satire is a genre of the visual arts, visual, literature, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently Nonfiction, non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ...

newspaper of its kind in Vietnam and revolutionized the use of humor in magazines and newspapers. Prior to Phong Hóa, humor was compartmentalized as separate joke columns distinct from main articles, where its levity was seen as opposed to the gravity of serious intellectual discussions. Phong Hóa was so successful that it not only spawned further satirical papers, it also inspired efforts by other serious journals to include humor columns of their own. A key character that emerged from Phong Hóa was that of Lý Toét. Lý Toét is often depicted as a bumbling country bumpkin encountering manifestations of "modernity" in rapidly evolving Vietnam. These include new technologies, fashion, spaces, and behaviours characteristic of urban cities like

Saigon Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) ('','' TP.HCM; ), commonly known as Saigon (; ), is the most populous city in Vietnam with a population of around 14 million in 2025. The city's geography is defined by rivers and canals, of which the largest is Saigo ...

and

Hanoi Hanoi ( ; ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Vietnam, second-most populous city of Vietnam. The name "Hanoi" translates to "inside the river" (Hanoi is bordered by the Red River (Asia), Red and Black River (Asia), Black Riv ...

. Although Lý Toét aspires to be civilized and act in “modern” ways, he always fails. Lý Toét's character proved widely popular, and assumed a life of its own outside of Phong Hóa. Beyond entertainment, Phong Hóa also hoped to serve as a public whistleblower by revealing the incompetencies and corruption of the Tonkinese Chamber of Representatives. Through their coverage of the chamber, they hoped to improve democratic institutions and processes by holding their officials accountable. They also hoped to construct a civil society via their writing by their readers with the right values and habits. However, the group may have gone to far in its attacks on the mandarinate, for in May 1935 the paper was suddenly suspended for 3 months after French censors withdrew the paper's authorization.

''Ngày Nay''

Following the success of Phong Hóa, the Tự Lực Văn Đoàn decided to launch another newspaper in January 1935, entitled Ngày Nay (These Days). Ngày Nay had a more explicit political bent than Phong Hóa, and featured biting social commentary. Ngày Nay was also one of the earliest forums for photojournalism and featured several photographs. However, the journal proved expensive and time-consuming to upkeep, and the paper closed after only 13 issues. After Phong Hóa's three-month closure by French censors, the Tự Lực Văn Đoàn decided to close Phong Hóa permanently and reinstated Ngày Nay on July 12, 1936. The revived Ngày Nay combined Phong Hóa's trademark humor and literature with social commentary from its earlier incarnation. This new version of the paper signalled Tự Lực Văn Đoàn's emboldened activism, as the Tự Lực Văn Đoàn's discourse became increasingly political, especially during the French Popular Front period and the resultant Indochinese Congress and Indochinese Democratic Front movements. During this time, the Tự Lực Văn Đoàn began interacting with external political parties, including the

Indochinese Communist Party The Indochinese Communist Party (ICP) was a political party which was transformed from the old Vietnamese Communist Party () in October 1930. This party dissolved itself on 11 November 1945. It is considered the first stage in the history of th ...

. Ngày Nay also functioned as the primary information organ for the League of Light, the public housing philanthropic organization started by Nhat Linh.

League of Light

The League of Light ội Ánh Sáng or Đoàn Ánh Sángwas a public housing philanthropic organization founded by the Tự Lực văn đoàn to address unsanitary housing conditions in urban and rural areas. The League was officially sanctioned by the colonial government in October 1937, although League members had begun organizing and mobilizing for support a year prior. The League's president,

, and its principal architects all trained at the Indochinese Fine Arts University, and were likely influenced by European discourses of

environmental determinism Environmental determinism (also known as climatic determinism or geographical determinism) is the study of how the physical environment predisposes societies and states towards particular economic or social developmental (or even more gener ...

and urban reform. The League aimed to construct sanitary and affordable housing in populous areas, as well as dig wells, build roads, manage sewage, and establish modern hamlets in villages. League houses would also include common spaces such as communal laundry areas and wells, reading rooms, playgrounds, and first aid clinics. Beyond material intervention, the League also aimed to intervene morally by encouraging and teaching its inhabitants to upkeep the houses. This education was targeted at women, whom the League held responsible for bettering the family household and applying home economic principles. Apart from improving living conditions for impoverished Vietnamese, League leaders also wanted to carve out a pluralistic public space for collective civic action. The League's organization and community practices reflected its spirit of egalitarianism and inclusion. For instance, League members relinquished all pronouns that reflected hierarchical or professional status. In line with the Tự Lực văn đoàn's feminist agenda, League members also made the recruitment of female members a high priority. Like the Đời Nay Publishing House, League activities eventually came to a halt around 1939 due to the onset of World War II and

’s abandonment of writing and social reform for political activism. Although the League was only active for a few brief years, it represented an important early attempt to establish civil society groups in Vietnam and provided critical social services that the colonial state failed to provide.

Members

Thế Lữ Thế Lữ (June 10, 1907 – June 3, 1989; born Nguyễn Đình Lễ or Nguyễn Thứ Lễ) was a Vietnamese poet and author. He became known as one of the pioneers of the Thơ Mới Movement with several critically acclaimed and popular poems. ...

* Thạch Lam *

Tú Mỡ Tú may refer to: * Tú (Canadian band) * "Tú" (Noelia song), 1999 * "Tú" (Shakira song), 1998 * "Tú", an habanera written by Eduardo Sánchez de Fuentes * "Tú", a 2016 song by Allison * "Tú", a 2008 song by Belle Perez * "Tú", a 1987 song ...

* Huy Cận * Trọng Lang * Đoàn Phú Tứ * Đỗ Đức Thu * Trần Tiêu * Thanh Tịnh * Phạm Cao Củng *

Nguyễn Khắc Hiếu Nguyễn (阮) (sometimes abbreviated as Ng̃) is the most common surname of the Vietnamese people. Outside of Vietnam, the surname is commonly rendered without diacritics as ''Nguyen''. By some estimates 30 to 39 percent of Vietnamese peopl ...

Tô Hoài Tô Hoài (Birth name: Nguyễn Sen; September 27, 1920 – July 6, 2014) was a Vietnamese writer, playwright, screenwriter, journalist and correspondent. The pen name Tô Hoài is derived from the names of Tô Lịch River and Hoài Đức di ...

Nguyên Hồng Nguyễn (阮) (sometimes abbreviated as Ng̃) is the most common surname of the Vietnamese people. Outside of Vietnam, the surname is commonly rendered without diacritics as ''Nguyen''. By some estimates 30 to 39 percent of Vietnamese peopl ...

* Đinh Hùng *

Nguyễn Công Hoan Nguyễn (阮) (sometimes abbreviated as Ng̃) is the most common surname of the Vietnamese people. Outside of Vietnam, the surname is commonly rendered without diacritics as ''Nguyen''. By some estimates 30 to 39 percent of Vietnamese peopl ...

Vi Huyền Đắc Vi Huyền Đắc ( Hải Ninh, today part of Quảng Ninh, 18 December 1899 - 16 August 1976) was a Vietnamese playwright. His early works were similar to those of Nam Xuong, poking fun at the Francophile Hanoi bourgeoisie, in 'Ông ký Cóp,' ...

* Nguyễn Tường Bách *

Nguyễn Gia Trí Nguyen Gia Tri or Nguyễn Gia Trí (Chương Mỹ, Hà Tây 1908 - 1993) was a Vietnamese painter best known for his lacquer paintings.''Insight Guides - Vietnam'' 2002 Page 110 "While Nguyen Gia Tri's works continue to generate acclaim for tra ...

Tô Ngọc Vân Tô Ngọc Vân (蘇玉雲, 15 December 1906 or 1908 – 17 June 1954), also known as Tô Tử, was a Vietnamese painter. Several of his paintings are being displayed at the Vietnam National Museum of Fine Arts. He taught a resistance art cla ...

* Nguyễn Cát Tường * Lê Phổ *

Lê Thị Lựu Lê Thị Lựu (黎氏榴, 19 January 1911 – 6 June 1988) was a Vietnamese woman painter. She was one of the first women and rare notable female alumni of Victor Tardieu's École des Beaux-Arts de l’Indochine in Hanoi, becoming the schoo ...

* Đái Đức Tuấn *

Nguyễn Nhược Pháp Nguyễn (阮) (sometimes abbreviated as Ng̃) is the most common surname of the Vietnamese people. Outside of Vietnam, the surname is commonly rendered without diacritics as ''Nguyen''. By some estimates 30 to 39 percent of Vietnamese peopl ...

* Phạm Hầu * Nguyễn Cát Tường

Contributing editors

Lê Văn Đệ Celso-Léon Lê Văn Đệ (24 August 1906 – 16 March 1966) was a South Vietnamese painter who designed the South Vietnamese flag. Early life and education A Roman Catholic, he was born in Mỏ Cày, Bến Tre, and was in charge of Asian Arts ...

* Lê Minh Đức * Vi Kim Ngọc * Nguyễn Thị Nội * Nguyễn Thị Hậu * Nguyễn Hòa Vân * Huguette Tholance * Nguyễn Thị Vân * Vũ Thị Hiền * Hồ Thị Môn Chi

References

;Bibliography * * * *

External links

Le « Groupe littéraire autonome » au Vietnam des années 1930
Bibliothèque nationale de France. {{DEFAULTSORT:Self-Reliant Literary Group Vietnamese writers' organizations