AN INACCURACY IN VIETNAMESE LITERARY HISTORY: IDENTIFYING THE TRUE DISCOVERER OF NGUYEN TRONG QUAN’S THAY LAZARO PHIEN
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Abstract
Based on published sources, Thầy Lazaro Phiền (1887) by Nguyễn Trọng Quản is considered the first modern quốc ngữ novel in Vietnam. Many scholars have credited Nguyễn Văn Trung with the discovery of this significant work, as he provided an in-depth and enthusiastic introduction to it in 1987. However, the actual discoverer was Bùi Đức Tịnh, who had already mentioned the novel 12 years earlier in his work Những bước đầu của báo chí, tiểu thuyết và thơ mới (The First Steps of Journalism, Novels, and New Poetry). This article explores the pioneering value and historical position of Thầy Lazaro Phiền in Vietnamese literary history while also examining the reasons why Bùi Đức Tịnh’s contribution has received little scholarly attention and why Nguyễn Văn Trung has often been mistakenly credited with discovering Vietnam’s first modern novel.
Keywords
Bui Duc Tinh, first quoc-ngu modern novel, Nguyen Van Trung, Thay Lazaro Phien