Assessments and Research on Phan Khoi's Influence on National Language

In 1973, Thieu Son in Art and Life, in addition to praising Phan Khoi's writing in the Vietnamese press around 1930 when his articles were paid 5 times higher than other articles, also affirmed his unique personality when analyzing the articles with sharp arguments, expressing Phan Khoi's modern thoughts: "Confucianism is considered the golden rule, the marrow of national morality. Mr. Phan Khoi, an orthodox Confucian scholar, wrote a series of articles to criticize Confucianism, calling it a conservative, anti-evolutionary religion... [141, p. 355]

Do Lai Thuy praised Phan Khoi in the aspect that Phan Khoi always dared to raise issues for debate (2003). According to Do Lai Thuy, "Phan Khoi's role was to change the viewpoint of criticism and debate - from dictatorship and tyranny to the power of democracy and intelligence . Thanks to that, the debate changed from a monologue to a dialogue" [161, p. 94]. Similar to this viewpoint, Huynh Hung in the article "From Phan Khoi's polemics", in Xua va nay , issue 451 also praised the spirit of "always valuing reason, using reason to debate in order to defend one's point of view" [57, p. 20].

When discussing the reception and application of Western literary criticism methods, Dao Duy Hiep (2006) praised Phan Khoi's ability to cover social issues, including literature and language. Dao Duy Hiep also assessed that "Phan Khoi had a very broad and deep intelligence and knowledge of both Chinese and French characters as well as the culture and literature of these two countries" [55, p. 65].

Evaluating Phan Khoi as a critical theorist who contributed to the discovery of Vietnamese feminist consciousness, Ho Khanh Van in the article "Feminist consciousness and the initial development of Southern women's literature in the process of national cultural modernization in the early 20th century", in Literary Research No. 7, (2010) , said: "Phan Khoi has taken the step of receiving literature from the light of feminist thought, (...) entering purely literary issues, belonging to literature. The discoveries

Maybe you are interested!

Phan Khoi's openness has great value for criticism and research in this direction" [196, p. 81].

The article “Phan Khoi, the imperial historian of the literary world” by Nguyen Dang Diep (2008) concluded: “In the first few decades of the 20th century, Phan Khoi was an active and outstanding writer. He was known as the “imperial historian of the literary world”. Phan Khoi’s articles on literature and culture were sought after by many people because in those articles, people would find some interesting things. Perhaps, they were interested because of the carefulness of a Confucian scholar discussing Confucianism, because of his rational spirit and sharp analysis of issues, perhaps because of the critical spirit permeating his writings and also, perhaps, because of Phan Khoi’s very “crazy” way of speaking. Phan Khoi’s efforts were to accelerate the process of innovation, to contribute a strong voice for the idea of reform” [30, p. 5]. Thus, this can also be seen as an opinion affirming Phan Khoi’s role in terms of ideological innovation.

In particular, Do Lai Thuy in his essay on artistic portraits, Waving into the Endless (2014), affirmed that Phan Khoi had made significant contributions in the academic field, especially as a journalist. However, Do Lai Thuy believed that, like other scholars, Phan Khoi also carried within himself a tragedy, and the greatest tragedy was his thoughts, ways of thinking, and ways of acting, which were somewhat incompatible with the times he lived in. Such an assessment meant that Do Lai Thuy implied that in Phan Khoi, innovative thoughts that transcended the times were always present and Phan Khoi never stopped worrying about that.

1.2.2.2. Assessments and studies on Phan Khoi's influence on national languages

Most opinions acknowledge Phan Khoi's contributions in this aspect. However, there are also some critical opinions, especially pointing out specific shortcomings in Phan Khoi's Vietnamese language research .

When Van Tan presented "Some opinions on Phan Khoi's book "Vietnamese Language Research"", he did not agree with Phan Khoi's approach to many issues in his research work on this language:

- disagree that Vietnamese is a monosyllabic language but has many polyphonic words.

- disagree with the strict, mechanical distinction of grammatical structure because it will lose the meaning of language.

- disagree that Vietnamese does not have neutral pronouns

- Disapprove that Vietnamese only describes in chronological order

Through analysis of evidence in Vietnamese language research , Van Tan commented that Phan Khoi "showed great admiration for foreign languages, especially French" [150, p. 30].

Different from Van Tan's point of view, in 1997, in Hop Luu , No. 33, Doan Xuan Kien had an article evaluating "Phan Khoi's research on Vietnamese language". The author commented that Phan Khoi's research on Vietnamese language "although not a coherent book, but only a collection of some separate research articles on some Vietnamese grammar issues..." but "Phan Khoi's modest book marked a turning point in the research of Vietnamese linguistics in the beginning. Today, looking back at the book to see the steps forward on the path of search, at that time, in difficult circumstances, Phan Khoi did an important pioneering work " [76, pp. 55-56; NCS emphasized].

Also in Hop Luu , issue 33 (1997), Bui Vinh Phuc in the article “Comments on Phan Khoi’s “Vietnamese Language Research”” shared the same opinion as Doan Xuan Kien: “ Vietnamese Language Research does not actually have the system of a thorough research work on Vietnamese. It is only a collection of twelve articles, raising a number of issues about Vietnamese language and writing. However, the issues raised by Phan Khoi – and especially his perspective, thoughts and research as well as

His interpretations of the issues raised – have shown that they are unique issues” [117, p. 67].

In 2007, in terms of affirming Phan Khoi's contribution in the role of protecting and developing the Vietnamese language, "making our Vietnamese language gradually progress to perfection", the article "Scholar Phan Khoi with Vietnamese language research" published in the magazine Xua va Nay by Nguyen Van Khang synthesized and analyzed Phan Khoi's Vietnamese language research works and argued that he was a wise scholar, who soon recognized the movement of language, recognized the specific problems of cognitive linguistics in Vietnamese, recognized the temporal characteristics of Vietnamese, paid attention to the "problematic" areas of Vietnamese... and from there researched and made significant contributions to the cause of Vietnamese linguistics [66, p. 4].

In 2008, when evaluating Phan Khoi as an outstanding Vietnamese linguist, Nguyen Trung Tin, in an article on “Scholar Phan Khoi – Loving Vietnamese language, loving Vietnam”, commented: “...He did everything to expand the cultural space for contemporary society on the basis of preserving good ancient capital…” [165, p. 23]. According to Nguyen Trung Tin, Phan Khoi expanded the cultural space through his own choices, “trying to rely on the national soul and national essence, taking that as the basis for further thinking to adapt to the times” [165, p. 23].

Through these opinions, it can be seen that, from a linguistic perspective, researchers have affirmed Phan Khoi's contributions in the process of protecting and developing the language, "making our Vietnamese language gradually move towards perfection" - this is the premise to promote literature to progress rapidly on the path of modernity.

1.2.2.3 . Evaluations and studies on Phan Khoi's role in modern literary forms (New Poetry, novels, criticism...)

* Assessments of Phan Khoi's role in the renewal of modern Vietnamese poetry:

Also in 1960, there were some opinions that did not appreciate the content and artistic value of Phan Khoi's poem " Old Love" , and especially did not consider this a new poem.

The first noteworthy comment is that Minh Kha (in the section “Literary Anecdotes”, published in Pho Thong , issue 26, 1960) had an article “Phan Khoi’s Poetry” which, although he did not deny his role as the pioneer of the new style of poetry, according to Minh Kha, the poem “ Old Love ” was “read only for… laughter, because it was just a poem, not containing any “poetic” taste” [65, p. 21]. Minh Kha even said that in Old Love , Phan Khoi used all “Nom” words, sentences 7 and 8 were incorrect in terms of grammar, “proving that Mr. Phan Khoi was not a “genuine” poet” [65, p. 21].

Following Minh Kha's opinion, Phuong Hai in the article "What is new poetry and free poetry" (published in Pho Thong , issue 35, 1960) intended to deny that Phan Khoi's poem Tinh Gia was new poetry. Phuong Hai thought that it "is not a poem, but just a rhymed piece because it does not have the charm of a muse, but why do people often mention it? Is it because it is the pioneer of New Poetry?" [42, page 87]. This shows that Phuong Hai does not evaluate Tinh Gia in terms of its contribution to ideology and art, but evaluates it in terms of its pioneering role in the New Poetry movement.

Partly agreeing with Phuong Hai, Nguyen Vy in a revelation in the article “Tuan, a young man of Vietnam, 1910-1960” published in Pho Thong No. 164 recounted the details of meeting Phan Khoi in Hanoi (in the office of the Phu Nu Thoi Dam newspaper ). When discussing the poem Tinh Gia , Phan Khoi officially rejected the opinion that Tinh Gia was new poetry. Phan Khoi firmly affirmed that he wrote this poem in the style of ancient Chinese poetry. So through this detail, Nguyen Vy seemed to want to present an evidence to refute the notions that Phan Khoi's Tinh Gia was new poetry.

Besides, some other opinions emphasize Phan Khoi's role in innovating modern poetry.

In 1942, Hoai Thanh - Hoai Chan in the article "An era in poetry" of the work Vietnamese Poets affirmed Phan Khoi's position as "a general" in the revolution that changed Vietnamese poetry, because the appearance of Tinh Gia made "a large number of young people in the country suddenly see a corner of the sky open because their boldness in concealment was openly acknowledged by a senior in the literary world" [154, p. 20].

Later, when discussing Phan Khoi's role in the development of Vietnamese poetry in Non Nuoc Magazine (2002), Huynh Van Hoa also affirmed: "Phan Khoi's initiatives, explorations, and concerns contributed to shaping the appearance of poetry in the period 1932-1945" [56, p. 84]

In particular, Vu Gia in the work Phan Khoi - Vietnamese language, press and

New Poetry (2003), through 15 articles, has conducted a comprehensive and elaborate survey of the role of journalist, culturalist, writer, and poet of Phan Khoi - an outstanding son of Quang - "a legend of a time" [36, p. 7]; a person who "mastered his ego" to embark on a famous journalism career with a series of articles that caused breakthroughs in terms of ideology such as discussing "The issue of the struggle for women's rights", "Debate on Confucianism", "Debate on national studies", "Debate on Idealism - Materialism"; and especially there have been articles and comments about Phan Khoi in the role of a "poet with solid talent", "protector of language", "creating a clear impression in the hearts of readers" with his works of poetry, short stories and translations. Evaluating Phan Khoi in terms of poetry, Vu Gia also said: "The poem Tinh Gia was not only controversial academically throughout the three regions of the South, Central, and North, but also suggested attractive topics for prose writers to roam on paper" [36, p. 300].

In addition, in September 2007, in Xua va Nay , Nguyen Q. Thang also affirmed that "Phan Khoi was the proponent of New Poetry" by presenting a series of Phan Khoi's contributions to the literary field from 1908 to 1955. Through analysis, the author affirmed that Phan Khoi was "a unique and daring writer in the history of Vietnamese literature in the early 20th century" [157, p. 10].

Also in Xua va Nay September 2007, Le Minh Quoc in the article “Thinking about Phan Khoi” stated: “It is strange for the history of Vietnamese poetry to choose a journalist with a lonely life, a sharp theorist like Phan Khoi to be entrusted with the task of opening the New Poetry movement. In other words, the Quang Nam people had the first merit in creating the path for modern Vietnamese poetry” [126, p. 22]

Thus, the series of research papers mentioned above all unanimously affirm Phan Khoi's position as the proponent of the New Poetry movement. However, the most complete and noteworthy collection is the work Phan Khoi in Vietnamese, Journalism and New Poetry by Vu Gia.

Sharing the same point of view but with a different way of expression, Nguyen Huu Son, in the article Phan Khoi's position in the New Poetry movement - seen from the reality of New Poetry 1932-1935 , after detailing the social effects from Phan Khoi's poem Old Love , also affirmed that: 'Of course, if there was no Phan Khoi, there would still be the New Poetry movement, but thanks to Phan Khoi's support, Phan Khoi's push, Phan Khoi's intuition, Phan Khoi's talent, the new poetry movement had its day of birth, opening a new era in Vietnamese poetry (...) [137, pp. 305-306].

Discussing the role of Phan Khoi in the New Poetry movement , Lai Nguyen An has given very detailed explanations on the issue of whether Phan Khoi was the initiator of the New Poetry movement or not. Through analyzing Phan Khoi's behavior

During the development of the new poetry movement, the critic concluded that: "Phan Khoi initiated and promoted the new Vietnamese poetry movement not primarily as a poet looking for a linguistic space for his own creativity, but primarily as a cultural activist who realized the need to free Vietnamese poetry from the limits of old frameworks, opening the way to find new linguistic spaces, suitable for expressing the lyrical emotional world of Vietnamese people at that time who were beginning to enter modern life" [137, p. 350]

In particular, on October 6, 2014, on the occasion of the 127th anniversary of Phan Khoi's birth, the conference Phan Khoi and his contributions to the field of national culture was held with the support of the Vietnam Historical Science Association, the Vietnam Institute of Literature in coordination with the Union of Science and Technology Associations of Quang Nam province. Nearly 50 presentations, along with discussion opinions contributed to honoring and affirming Phan Khoi's great contributions to the fields of journalism, literature, language and enlightening thought, social science criticism from the late 19th century to the 1940s. Among them, there were opinions referring to the role of Phan Khoi in the process of literary modernization, specifically in the New Poetry movement such as: journalist Vu Duc Sao Bien with the article Phan Khoi - The pioneer of new poetry ; Ngo Van Huy with the article The poem "Old Love" - a creation with great influence on Vietnamese poetry ; Le Quang Thai with Phan Khoi's poem "Old Love" is New Poetry? Vu Gia with Phan Khoi's poem with satirical poetry and journalism ... Most of the comments tend to affirm that Phan Khoi is the pioneer, the guide, the one who enlightened the new national and modern poetry, bringing Vietnamese poetry to truly enter the period of East-West integration...

* Opinions on Phan Khoi as a critic: