The Perception of I.A. Bunin’s Work in Vietnam

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Introduction

The name of Ivan Bunin, a famous Russian writer, several times had appeared on the pages of Vietnamese newspapers and magazines before his stories were published in Vietnamese. Thus, the article “Prominent Writers and the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1901 – 1965”, published in Saigon “Literature” magazine (No. 50, November 15, 1965) [Những khuôn mặt lớn 1965], Ivan Bunin was for the first time mentioned as a master of artistic language, who had been awarded the Nobel Prize in literature in 1933. The most complete recent survey of the writer’s life and work, in particular, of his emigration period, is the article «Who Decides the Fate of Bunin’s Literary Legacy?” by Do Quyen issued in “The Art” newspaper (No. 13, March 31, 2001), read by broad audience. [Đỗ Quyên 2001]. The research paid special attention to the latest works of the writer. A year later the same newspaper (#12, March 23, 2002) published an informative article “Ivan Bunin, the Nobel Laureate of 1933 from Russia” by P. Hallström (translated by Tan Don and Tran Viet Hung) [Hallström 2002], later re-printed in the book “The Russian Writers, Nobel Laureates” [Đoàn Tử Huyến 2006]. The author of the article gave a grounded assessment of the ideas, artistic originality and importance of Bunin’s stories in particular and his work in general.

For the first time Vietnamese readers got acquainted with Bunin’s works translated by Ha Ngoc in 1987 [Bunin 1987]. That stories’ collection was re-edited in 2013 and entitled “Dark Avenues” [Bunin 2013]. A year later Phan Giang Hoang translated several stories more and published them in the collection “Lika” [Bunin 1988]. This collection was re-edited in 2006 and entitled “The Light Breath” [Bunin 2006]. In 2002, in Vietnam there appeared rather voluminous selected works by Bunin with both poems and stories (including those translated by Ha Ngoc and Phan Hong Giang) [Bunin 2002] (Fig. 1). In the sequent years the writer’s stories, which had not been translated before, were published in the “Foreign Literature” magazine [Bunin 2003; 2011a] and in Internet in translations by Nguyen Thi Kim Hien [Bunin 2003; 2011b]. Recently, in the collection “The Grammar of Love. Selected stories of Russian Writers of the 20th and 21st centuries” (2017) there was published “The Grammar of Love”, another brilliant work by Bunin, translated by Dao Tuan Anh [Đào Tuấn Ảnh 2017]. Nowadays, 34 Bunin’s stories have been translated into Vietnamese (see Application). This is a rather modest figure, when taking into account the fact that the Complete Works of I.A. Bunin in 13 volumes edited in Russian in 2006 contains 188 stories which made up six volumes in total.

Fig. 1. Translations of works by I.A. Bunin, published in Vietnam.

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For the first time, stories by Ivan Bunin were published in Vietnamese more than thirty years ago, but yet the writer’s work has not been studied deeply enough. In the SRV, as compared with Russia and many other countries, there have been published no monographs devoted to his literary legacy. On the whole, research-works on Bunin are represented with short prefaces to collections of his stories and with articles by Vietnamese authors in literary dictionaries and magazines, as well as with several articles by foreign specialists translated into Vietnamese. Textbooks on history of Russian literature for students of higher education institutions give a very poor survey of the writer’s life and work. Probably, the reason is “the simplicity” and at the same time “the incredible depth” of his stories and poems: “the comprehension of Bunin’s works demands not only for thoughtful reading, but also for broad open-mindedness, mental and spiritual concentration, ability to think of Russia, of its past, present and future, of correlation of individual daily, “private” life, and large-scale historic and social events” [Bunin 2013: 7]. In a special issue of “Foreign Literature” magazine, dedicated to the 50th anniversary since Ivan Bunin’s death, translator Pham Quoc Ca wrote in the preface to the section of short stories and essays: “The greatest intellect of a humanist thinker and the gift of a master of words have merged in his literary talent admiring many great writers” [Bunin 2003: 5]. Perhaps, this is the most difficult task for Vietnamese researchers and literary critics from abroad in the study of Bunin’s works.

Evaluating the writer’s work, many specialists mentioned, first of all, Ivan Bunin’s importance in the development of Russian culture and the Silver Age literature: continuing the traditions of Leo Tolstoy and Anton Chekhov, he at the same time, pointed new directions in the development of Russian literary process of that time.

“History of Russian literature” textbook shows Ivan Bunin a representative of Russian critical pre-revolutionary realism; his “life was much more difficult even as compared with Kuprin’s life” [Đỗ Hồng Chung 2003: 483]. In the introduction to the writer’s stories collection translator Ha Ngoc cites O.N. Mikhaylov, a Soviet literary critic, who calls Bunin’s work “the separate chapter in the development of Russian literature of this century” [Bunin 2013: 7]. Also, Vietnamese researcher Vu Cong Hao wrote: “It will be the greatest missed opportunity, if I do not mention Ivan Bunin’s (1870–1953) great contribution to both Russian realist literature of the early 20th century and to the world literature” [Vũ Công Hảo 2008: 9]. In his article “Russian Literature after the Reform” which appeared in “Literature” magazine (#3, 1995) in the translation by Tran Nho Thin, A.G. Sokolov mentioned: “High spirituality is typical of Bunin’s work, which absorbed the quint-essence of the Silver Age […] and of pre-revolutionary literature” [Sokolov 1995: 24]. In his discourse of Russian literature in emigration, Gleb Struve called Ivan Bunin its “chief pride”, emphasizing: “Bunin’s death was symbolically perceived as the end of the literature abroad” [Struve 1995: 29]. Vietnamese researcher Pham Gia Lam in his work “Transformations of Artistic Thought in Russian Prose in the Late 19th – Early 20th Centuries” expressed the view that Bunin had introduced a new bold experience of impressionism to realist literature, making for its colorfulness: “Bunin like an experimenter unites realist traditions and structural principles congenial to impressionism” [Phạm Gia Lâm 1997: 14]. Literary critic Do Hai Phong wrote something of the sort in “Russian Literature” textbook: “Bunin began working as a realist in “Chekhov’s style”, but by the end he had reached the direction close to impressionism” [Đỗ Hải Phong 2015: 10-11]. Also, the researcher Vu Cong Hao mentioned: “Influenced by Henri Bergson’s intuitivism, Bunins’ works, especially in the exile, are a flow of natural and infinite consciousness, reproducing Russian landscapes and Russian people” [Vũ Công Hảo 2008: 9].

Phan Hong Giang, one of Bunin’s first translators in Vietnam, unconditionally included the writer in the rank of great Russian masters of artistic language of the 19th and 20th centuries, whose works belong to the Treasury of world literature, equally with Pushkin, Lermontov, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Gogol, Chekhov, Kuprin etc. He says that Ivan Bunin can be considered “the last typical representative of Russian classic realism, having contributed to literature the eternal values of beauty: the beauty of nature, soul, literature and, first of all, of human life” [Bunin 2002: 5]. Also, Ha Van Luong in his article “The Artistic Features of Ivan Bunin’s Stories”[2011] emphasized the role of landscape in the Russian writer’s works, paying attention to beautiful landscapes as a distinguishing feature of the artistic style of his psychological stories. Comparing Ivan Bunin with other Nobel Laureates in literature, such as Ernest Hemingway and Gao Xingjian, Dao Ngoc Chuong saw his work through the prism of the “return” motive. In his opinion, the topics of the writer’s works were the return to his Motherland, return to his love and return to his youth in memories. That is why the researcher argued: “The pictures of Russian nature, of Russian village, as well as of Russian soul in Bunin’s stories are penetrated with nuances of dreams. Reading them, we feel as if wandering on the spaces of delightful sorrow and suddenly aware that we are dreaming, even when the events appear absolutely realist” [Đào Ngọc Chương 2010: 57].

This author, the worshipper of Russian literature and Ivan Bunin, wrote a number of articles, researching such aspects of the writer’s work, as his sensory perception, plot building, characters and artistic style of his stories: “The Evolution of Narrative in Ivan Bunin’s Stories “The Gentleman from San Francisco”, “Antonov Apples”, and “Sunstroke”» [2016b], “Ivan Bunin and Russian literature of the Silver Age” [2016a “Ivan Bunin’s Stories from the Cultural Point of View” [2017], “The Place of Ivan  Bunin’s Stories among Russian Short Stories of the Late 19th – Early 20th Centuries” [2018a], “Female Characters in Ivan Bunin’s Stories: Women or Rebels” [2018b], “Lyricism in Ivan Bunin’s Stories” [2019].

So, we see that Vietnamese researchers and translators have managed to evaluate Bunin’s importance both in Russian and in the world literature. Having analyzed the writer’s works more intently, many literary critics make valid conclusions on the lyricism of Bunin’s narrative, attaching unique recognizable style to his stories. In his introduction to the collection of stories by Ivan Bunin, Phan Hong Giang wrote: “Introducing Ivan Bunin’s work to the readers once again, we have chosen the stories with clearly seen lyricism; every story can be called a history of love” [Bunin 2002: 11]. Earlier the translator had spoken of “interdisciplinarity” of the writer’s work: “Bunin was neither a musician, nor an artist, but visuality (a special talent to create landscapes and portraits) is always present in his works, as well as the melodiousness of flowing delightful prose. That is why he is one of the few Russian writers highly recognized as the master of artistic language” [Bunin 2002: 6]. Also, the researcher Dao Tuan Anh wrote of “melodiousness” of Bunin’s stories as of their typical feature (“The Literary Dictionary”, new edition): “By the 1890s Bunin’s prose style had been formed, its laconicism was achieved by means of melodiousness and rhythm. Bunin himself considered the prose, where he desired to achieve melodiousness and metaphors, the continuation of his poetry” [Đỗ Đức Hiểu 2004: 172]. Sharing the point of view of Dao Tuan Anh and Phan Hong Giang, translator ha Ngoc was of the opinion that “every his [Bunin’s] story is both prose and poetry” [Bunin 2013: 7].

Perhaps, the most complete information on Ivan Bunin is given in the book “Russian Writers, Nobel Laureates”. Its authors devote a separate chapter to the Writer-Laureate. Its subsections are as follows: “Biography”, “The Nobel Speech and Acknowledgement”, “Works (mostly well-known stories)”, and “K. Paustovsky’s Essay about Ivan Bunin”. It should be specially mentioned that the book contains a rather complete list of Bunin’s works emphasizing those having been translated into Vietnamese. Due to this list, one can get an idea of history of the Russian writer’s work’s perception in Vietnam. A strong impression is made by Bunin’s speech, where he thanks the Swedish Academy for “the nice gesture”, i.e., the awarding of the Nobel Prize in literature to an exile. And the article by K. Paustovsky on Ivan Bunin allows to get the exhaustive idea not only of spiritual image of the writer, but also of the artistic features and style of Bunin’s prose. Paustovsky told that before writing Bunin should “have looked for the sound”: “As soon as I have found it, the rest comes quite naturally. […] “To find the sound” means to find the rhythm of the prose and to find its leitmotiv. While the prose possesses the same internal melody like poetry and music” [Đoàn Tử Huyến 2006: 100]. Paustovsky managed to describe thoroughly Bunin’s rich language: “Bunin’s language is simple, nearly sparing, pure and picturesque. But at the same time, it is extraordinary rich in its images and sounds, - from cymbal singing to the ringing sound of the spring water, from measured rhythm to surprisingly delicate intonations, from a light melody to thundering Biblical curses, and then – to the apt, smashing tongue of Oryol peasants…” [Đoàn Tử Huyến 2006: 101].

Recently in Vietnam there appeared two research-works on Russian literature of the 20th century and literature of emigration, with rather full information on Ivan Bunin’s work. They are: “Russian Literature of the 20th Century” textbook by Vu Cong Hao and “Literature of the Russian Emigration: the Process, Features and Perception” by Pham Gia Lam. The both authors pay special attention to the concept “lyricism”, separating it as a typical feature determining the image of Bunin’s stories. As far as artistic features of Ivan Bunin’s work are concerned, Vu Cong Hao analyses consequently his poetry, love stories, and novel. In the part devoted to the love stories the researcher argues: “Simple subject matter, open unexpected end and the indissoluble combination of “down-to-earth, daily” life and “the tragic poetry” of the Russian soul are typical of his stories” [Vũ Công Hảo 2015: 124]. Analyzing separate typical works by Bunin, Vu Cong Hao emphasized: “Extremely realistic stories are nevertheless full of poetry, lyricism of high thought and sensitive soul, which is fond of life, values people and notices with tremble the tidiest changes in nature” [Vũ Công Hảo 2015: 127].

“Literature of the Russian Emigration: the Process, Features and Perception” by Pham Gia Lam [2015] is indeed, a valuable research-work for Bunin’s and Russian literature worshippers. In chapter 6 devoted to Ivan Bunin, the author argues that the distinguishing feature of his artistic style is “philosophically lyric” nuance of the narrative. The researcher shows the two main stages of the writer’s work differing with the object of philosophical lyricism: “philosophically lyrical description of life and Russian people in the time before the October revolution” and “philosophically lyrical description of love and nostalgy for Russia in the years of emigration”. The researcher analyses each of these conceptions on the ground of the most typical works of these two stages: “Antonov Apples” (the story of the pre-October period) and “Cursed Days”, “The Rose of Jerico”, “Mitya’s Love”, “The Life of Arseniev”, “Pure Monday”, “The Liberation of Tolstoy” (the works of the post-October period).

Recently Bunin’s work was the theme of senior and master theses in Vietnamese universities. For example such senior theses like “Artistic Time and Space in Bunin’s Stories” by Dao Thi Bich Thuy (2005), “Psychologism in Ivan Bunin’s Stories” by Do Thi Thu Huong (2007), “Beauty in Ivan Bunin’s Stories” by Banh Thi Le Huong (2009), “Love in Ivan Bunin’s Stories” by Nguyen Thi Thuy (2013), and the following master theses: “Impressionism in Ivan Bunin’s Stories” by Ha Hong Nhung (2005), “Symbolic Models in Bunin’s Prose” by Dang Thu Huong (2008), “Descriptions in Ivan  Bunin’s Stories” by Do Thi Thu Huong (2009), “Impressionism and Female Characters in I.A. Bunin’s Stories” by Hoang Thi My (2009), “Liveliness of Descriptions in Ivan Bunin’s Stories as compared with G.G. Markes’ Stories” by Nguyen Thi Van Anh (2010), “Nostalgy in Ivan Bunin’s Stories” by Banh Thi  (2011), “The Traces of Modernism in I. Bunin’s Prose” by Tran Thai Nhung (2014).

The mentioned senior and master theses were mostly devoted to the research of descriptions (nature, things, characters) in Bunin’s stories. Also, the theses on impressionism, nostalgy and modernism in the writer’s works paid great attention to the art of descriptions and picturesqueness of Bunin’s prose. These research-works evidence the intense influence of Ivan Bunin’s work (or of his stories, to be exact) and his attractiveness for the Vietnamese youth.

The survey of the existing materials on I.A. Bunin allows the following conclusion: Ivan Bunin is a highly esteemed writer in the world. There have been published numerous special researches on his work. However, in Vietnam the quantity of literary studies devoted to the famous master of artistic language is not much, though Bunin's works have been translating in Vietnamese since the end of the 20th century. The first steps in perception of the Russian writer’s work by “elitist” Vietnamese readership (students, translators, researchers) allow to assess its important place, role and influence in Vietnam. Bunin is a great writer. His works reflect general problems of mankind. But the love for a woman and to the motherland are the two brilliantly developed themes in his work. They are clear to the Vietnamese reading audience. It is patriotism that draws the two peoples together. The Vietnamese appreciate the beauty of Russian nature, the power of Russian culture and the strength of Russian national character in Bunin’s stories. The Vietnamese reader is captured with the writer’s creativity in describing deep feelings and sensuality. On the other hand, they appreciate some traces of French culture in Bunin’s work, too, while France has made a distinctive mark on history and literary culture of Vietnam. At the same time, the translation, popularization and research of Bunin’s literary legacy in the SRV is still the rich soil. The further introduction of the writer’s works to broad readership demands for more enthusiasts, both readers and translators.

Application

I.A. Bunin’s stories translated into the Vietnamese language

1. “Antonov Apples” (Những quả táo Antonov)
2. “Meliton” (Meliton)
3. “A Little Romance” (Một truyện tình nho nhỏ)
4. “The Good Life” (Cuộc đời tươi đẹp)
5. “The Last Rendez-Vous” (Lần gặp gỡ cuối cùng)
6. “The Last Day” (Ngày cuối cùng)
7. “Lean Grass” (Cỏ gầy)
8. “The Chalice of Life” (Chiếc cốc đời)
9. “The Dreams of Chang” (Những giấc mộng của Trang)
10. “The Gentleman from San Francisco” (Quý ông từ San Francisco đến)
11. “Bast-Shoes” (Đôi hài)
12. “The Book” (Sách)
13. “The Grammar of Love” (Ngữ pháp tình yêu)
14. “The Light Breath” (Hơi thở nhẹ)
15. “The Son” (Đứa con trai)
16. “In the Night Sea” (Trên biển đêm khuya)
17. “Sunstroke” (Say nắng)
18. “Ida” (Ida)
19. “Dark Avenues” (Những lối đi dưới hàng cây sẫm tối)
20. “Caucasus” (Kavkaz)
21. “The Late Hour” (Canh khuya)
22. “Russia” (Russia)
23. “Calling Cards” (Những tấm danh thiếp)
24. “Tanya” (Tanhia)
25. “In Paris” (Ở Paris)
26. “Galya Ganskaya” (Galia Ganskaya)
27. “Natalie” (Natali)
28. “Upon a Long-Familiar Street” (Ở một phố thân quen)
29. “Cold Autumn” (Mùa thu lạnh)
30. “The Raven” (Con quạ)
31. “The Swing” (Chiếc đu)
32. “Pure Monday” (Ngày thứ Hai trong trắng)
33. “Chapel” (Nhà mồ)
34. “Bernar” (Bernard)

About the authors

Thi Huong Do

Author for correspondence.
Email: huongvhnnvvh@gmail.com

Ph.D. (Philology), Researcher, Institute of Literature

References

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2. Fig. 1. Translations of works by I.A. Bunin, published in Vietnam.

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