DIỆN MẠO VĂN HỌC CÔNG GIÁO VIỆT NAM NỬA ĐẦU THẾ KỶ XX (1900-1945)

Abstract

Early twentieth-century Vietnam witnessed a significant efflorescence of Catholic literary production, distinguished by a heterogeneous authorship and a substantial textual corpus. This study reconstructs the literary field of 1900-1945 through a historical - cultural lens, complemented by statistical and classificatory methods. The corpus reveals two principal authorial constellations, clergy and laity, whose writings configure a literary space shaped by Catholic doctrine and evolving cultural consciousness. Across major genres: poetry, prose fiction, drama, and travel writing, the thematic field extends from didactic and devotional registers to interiority, existential interrogation, and spiritual transcendence. In particular, Hàn Mặc Tử’s poetic oeuvre manifests a heightened symbolic density and aesthetic intensity. The circulation of texts via periodical press, print networks, theatrical performance, and oral transmission facilitated broader reception and cultural dissemination. Taken together, this body of writing may be understood as both an articulation of lived Catholic experience and a contributory current within the modernization of early twentieth-century Vietnamese literature.