While Korean popular culture named “Hallyu” resounds through the world, Korean literature is not widely known to Vietnamese. Introduction and research of Korean literature in Viet Nam are facing many difficulties. There are not many Korean literat...
While Korean popular culture named “Hallyu” resounds through the world, Korean literature is not widely known to Vietnamese. Introduction and research of Korean literature in Viet Nam are facing many difficulties. There are not many Korean literature works translated and introduced to Vietnamese readers compared with other languages such as Engligh, Chinese, Japanese and French. Korean literature is being taught as one subject of Korean Studies at some Vietnam Universities. Korean literature research is conducted by two different generations who know and does not know Korean language. Now it needs to improve Korean literature teaching, research and translation both in quality and quantity.
The translation of Korean literature in Vietnam began from 1992, after two countries began diplomatic relations. However at the first stage, Korean literature was executive from the third language and only a few books, all of which were children (classic/folktale) or social and economic contents. From 2000s literary works of Korean literature began to be translated directly from Korean language in earnest. Most of works especially have been translated and published under the support of Literature Translation Institute of Korea (LTI) and the influence of Korean Wave. Introduction of Korean literature in Vietnam is increasing steadily from 2010. The translation genres have become diverse, including poetry, fiction, essay, classic, autobiography, picture-novel, and children books.
Though Korean language researchers in Vietnam are from Korean language and Korean studies major, researchers in Korean studies such as Korean culture, society, economy, politics as well as Korean literature research are still divided into older generations (other majors) and new generations (Korean studies related major). Studies on Korean economy, culture and society are more important than Korean literature, and more than half of researches done by who are in other majors. Since emergence of researchers from Korean Studies major recently, number of researchers is increasing and research papers have become diversified about the subject and methodology, be extensive from oral literature to contemporary literature, from Korean poetry to essay, from literary theory to literature education. Korean literature research in Vietnam after 2010 accomplished both quantitative and qualitative achievements compared to the previous period. However, there still remains the gap between two research generations.
In the near future, to promote the introduction and research of Korean literature in Vietnam, it is necessary to develop professionals, establish domestic and foreign research networks, and raise awareness of the status of Korean literature.