NMT : Before 1975, the government of the Republic of Vietnam imposed censorship and had firm measures to deal with transgressions exhibited in papers and other publications.  The present communist authority is more strict and more oppressive in this area of cultural activities.  Let me ask you, what do you think about the situation among the Vietnamese Diaspora?  Is there actually some unofficial channel of censorship which is very influential as has been mentioned by many writers?

NTV : For a moment I was surprised at this question.  Is there really a system of censorship among overseas Vietnamese?  But then I knew what you mean.  Though living in a country full of freedoms, the writer is still under constant pressure from the public, from fellow Vietnamese immigrants.  In extreme cases, the pressure is expressed in the form of a gun that immediately and effectively silences the voice of the writer.  Less violent are newspaper articles and radio messages carrying heavy criticism, ascribing political colors that are not there in his work.  Even more deplorable is the practice of labeling the writer a communist sympathizer.  But in so far as I am concerned, if one believes in what one writes, if one believes in justice with all sincerity, and if one does not nurture the bad intention of doing harm to others, why should one be afraid and influenced by outside pressure?  And to submit oneself or not to outside influence depends on the strength and spirit of oneself as a writer.

Looking into the overseas Vietnamese press, one recognizes that there really are very subtle forms of censorship or sanction.  One such is through manipulating the survival of the paper in question: reduction and withdrawal of advertisements.  That kind of threat is real when it comes from those groups having financial and economic power.  Concerning this, one should remember that this phenomenon happens not only within the limits of the new Vietnamese community; the American mass media is not free from the control of capitalist forces.  The second type of censorship is achieved through monopolization of a paper by a person or group of persons who publish only their own articles and publicize their own opinions, who even in the name of freedom and democracy assume exclusive right to criticism and at the same time block and reject a dialogue with any other voices in their forum.

In life, even in American society supposed to be most free, the choice of a particular attitude always comes with a price you have to pay.  I'm thinking much about the circumstances of a Phan Nhat Nam, a Nhu Phong, a Doan Quoc Sy – those writers with an eventful past, none of them struggling in the communist prisons for less than 10 years.  Had they died in prison they might have been honored as heroes; unfortunately, to use the word of author Thao Truong, after they survived the ordeal and chose to live abroad, they would easily be abused if what they expressed were not exactly to conform to what a number of people among the Diaspora expect.

When in prison, at least it was clear to these writers where they stood, one position or its opposite, black or white.  Now that they are back in the outside world, they have stepped into a gray area amidst shouts of applause and of disapproval.  Their paths suddenly become complex and much more difficult to tread.  Thus, in no time and in no place is there a secure refuge for writers.  A writer with a chosen attitude finds every circumstance a challenge.

NMT : Even today, the demarcating borderline between nationalism and communism still exists in both the thought and the actions of a number of people.  How about yourself?  Have you ever had the feeling that you are a stormy petrel, a bird that forewarns the coming of a storm, when your intuition predicted a few tragic events that befell our people?

NTV : What borderline are you alluding to: the Ben Hai river, the 38^th parallel, or the Berlin wall?  Is there really an orthodox communist regime, or is it simply a feudalistic authoritarian system in Vietnam at present?  Communism is dead, and the capitalist model cannot serve as an example for Vietnam at the threshold of the 21^st century.  If you look toward the Asian dragons – Taiwan, South Korea, and Singapore – which model do you think fits Vietnam most?  There's a very clear borderline between democracy and dictatorship, including the kind of dictatorship promulgated by those who call themselves nationalists but who appear to be no less inclined to violence than did the communists previously.  A writer stands on neither side of that artificial divide.  Instead, he must look forward to the future.  If he is not one endowed with the power to foresee things, he should not be an obstructing force that blocks new visions for a renewed Vietnam. 

NMT : When writing do you ever see yourself standing on one side opposing the other side?  A writer must be a fighter also, must he not?

NTV : I like the simple, almost rough sentence expressed by author Hoang Khoi Phong in an interview conducted by the journal The Ky 21 (21^st Century): "Just to be a writer is enough."  It's not necessary to affix a label or any phrase to a writer.  The debates that have wasted so much paper and ink, like that between "art for art's sake" and "art for life", or literature of commitment versus literature of fantasy, all are rather contrived, not of any help to both the writer and his audience.  Whether he likes it or not, the author's written lines are seen to embody his chosen attitude essentially born of independence and freedom of expression, two ingredients that also mark his dignity as of a writer. 

NMT : What do you think about cultural exchange between Vietnam and Vietnamese Diaspora?  Unilateral or bilateral?  At present and in the future?

NTV : Whether it's a one-way or two-way exchange, we don't need any traffic policemen on either side to monitor the communication process.  The most important quality of literature and the arts is freedom of expression; therefore, any restrictions imposed by whichever side deserve condemnation.  To have published overseas those works that are banned in Vietnam is meant to not only serve the limited readership outside the country, but partially also to reach the reading public inside the country through avenues provided by current information technology.  Everyone can see that freedom of literature and the arts is not a gift that one waits to be given by the government; no matter where he might be, a writer has a price to pay for his chosen attitude. 

NMT : Have you read any works published in Vietnam?  Can you give us your general impression?

NTV : Before 1975, during my student years and later, I always tried to search out and read books and papers published in the North, including books on literature.  Honestly speaking, to a certain extent, the North Vietnamese produced a number of good research works in the social sciences.  It was due to a collective effort on their part, coupled with direct financial support from their government.  Putting aside the so-called Marxist-Leninist research viewpoint, one should recognize that those published volumes contain a vast amount of data valuable to objective research works in the future.

However, in so far as literature is concerned, in which creativity is of the essence, we cannot but notice that the contrivance of socialist realism has killed off real talent in the generation of writers and artists of the pre-World War-II period and their successors.  Having to create under constraints, adhering to the Party's ideology, it's not surprising that what they produced is a type of conformist literature, a whole garden of nothing but uniform marigolds, to quote Phan Khoi who was a member of the Nhan Van Giai Pham group of dissident writers and poets in the North in the late 1950s.

Recently, in Vietnam one talked about Doi moi, or Renovation, then Coi Troi, or removal of restrictions, from writers and artists.  I like what writer Mai Thao said with regard to this phenomenon, that artists and writers are not pigs and chickens to be tied and untied.  Fortunately, at whatever place you can always find courageous writers who either form a movement like that created by the Nhan Van Giai Pham group, or who are independent individuals.  Even though they are not successful in their attempt to affect changes, they represent the light at the end of the tunnel, those who nurture hope and plant seeds of protest which mature later on.

In the book entitled Thu cho Me va Quoc Hoi (Letters to Mother and the National Assembly) by Nguyen Van Tran, published by Van Nghe, an overseas publisher, in 1995, there is mention made of a gathering of "members of the Club of Former Resistant Fighters in South Vietnam, where forty men commemorated one man who had been of the Nhan Van Giai Pham group: poet Phung Quan who had died on the 22^nd of January 1995.  The living members prayed that the departed soul bear his anger while resting assured that the struggle for human rights and for freedom and democracy was being pursued without slackening." (p. 18)

Someday, when a free and democratic Vietnam comes into being, people will not be able to forget the courage and sacrifice of writers.  I'm thinking in this regard of a memorial for the Nhan Van Giai Pham group built right in the cultural capital Ha Noi, at the exact place where the Lenin sculpture was previously set.  That would be a symbol of freedom for Vietnamese culture.  It would also serve to warn against and to challenge potential young dictators in the future.

NMT : In your opinion, have there been changes related to literature in Vietnam following the economic and social changes?

NTV : The term Doi Moi is no more than a figure of speech referring to an inevitable transformation process of communist societies, when the most important leaders themselves no longer believe in communist dogma.  In order to survive, they alter and patch up their inconsistent doctrines, and combine socialism with a market economy, like mixing water with oil, no matter how vigorously you stir them they refuse to blend.  But on the political level, it would be quite naïve of us, almost like wishful thinking, to demand or expect that they peacefully and smoothly transfer power to the people.  Who should be people in this context if not political organizations with real strength, both internal and external?

The experience of Poland in Eastern Europe deserves our consideration.  Walesa, the renowned founder and leader of the Solidarity movement that organized free non-communist trade unions, was elected President of the Republic of Poland in 1990, winning victory over the communist party.  But only five years later, that very hero of the people was defeated, ironically through a democratic election, by a young former communist of a not-much-distinguished background.  But everyone knows that even though the communists returned to power in that country, there is no chance of restoring the old communist regime, because the communists themselves realize what has transpired is an irreversible process.

Coming back to your question regarding changes in literature "after" economic and social changes in Vietnam: in my view, it isn't as if there were no writers as precursors to the renovation movement, though admittedly they were few.  Of note was the exuberant movement of the Nhan Van Giai Pham group that exploded on the scene at that point in time when the socialist stronghold was at its most solid stage.  Though the movement was crushed, in practice it succeeded in planting seeds of doubt not only among the public but also right in the ranks of cadres who were members of the Party.  From the Nhan Van Giai Pham group to subsequent dissident writers and artists, they all were stormy petrels, and in that light they truly and practically preceded renovation and helped propel the collapse of communism.  Of course, I don't take into account the type of writers serving the communist government, those who only put on the cloak of renovation on orders from comrade General Secretary.

NMT : What do you think about overseas Vietnamese literature?  Are you pessimistic or optimistic about it?  And what's your projection of its future?

NTV : Why should there be pessimism?  I have a habit, probably shaped by my medical profession, of looking at the half of a glass full of water instead of at the other half which is empty.  While still in Vietnam, could you ever have imagined such a scene of variegated publishing enterprises and activities in literature and the arts, in Vietnamese, as currently exists wherever the Vietnamese Diaspora concentrate and live?  Vietnamese press, television and radio stations all have developed spontaneously and independently, without any need for support from any government.

Some people make a value judgment on the confused nature, the commercialization, and the low cultural level of those mass media activities.  But to be fair, we should give due credit to those activities for their role in maintaining and developing the Vietnamese language as it is used overseas.  Gradually we will have better newspapers and radio programs, and books of various genres that are more beautiful in both content and form, either produced by overseas writers or brought out from Vietnam.  Furthermore, we have the book-promotion reception that occurs rather frequently, every month, and sometimes even every week, which is a good tradition, one that  helps to foster the author-audience relationship.  That is to say nothing of the influential effect that such activities have on cultural life inside Vietnam.

Given the electronic facilities for information transmission these days – the computer, the fax modem, and the Internet – when Vietnamese books and articles have begun to appear online, I believe that all efforts of censorship from whichever side will become ineffective.  Therefore, I have a very optimistic vision of the future.  The Vietnamese language network on the Internet can't possibly run without inclusion of Vietnamese literature.  I want to suppose that if there was a second Nguyen Chi Thien, he would not have to risk his life running into the British embassy where he would seek help smuggling out of the country Hoa Dia Nguc (Flowers from Hell), a collection of his poetry of protest.  By the most simple method, he would be able to use a small diskette which stores not only his manuscript but also all available literature of dissent written by people inside Vietnam, and there would not be any difficulty exporting it abroad.  As for posting works on the Internet…Well, as an electronic expert yourself, certainly you have clearly visualized what that projected future is likely to be.

Now, with a vision of "The Road Ahead" (to borrow the title of a book by Bill Gates), it's not too early for us to ask ourselves how to use that great freedom on the information-technology superhighway to our benefit.  Wouldn't this be a very interesting subject for the second round of interviews you will conduct in the year 2000? MORE

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