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FROM COMMENTARY TO LITERARY CRITICISM: JIN SHENGTAN’S INFLUENCE ON VIETNAMESE CRITICAL WORKS OF VIETNAMESE LITERARY FIGURES NGUYỄN VĂN SIÊU, PHẠM QUỲNH, AND DƯƠNG BÁ TRẠC
Abstract
Jin Shengtan was a prominent literary critic in China during the Ming–Qing period. He laid the foundation for a personalized system of literary criticism that emphasized emotional response, aesthetic intuition, and humanistic values in engaging with literary works. This paper explores the influence of Jin Shengtan on Vietnamese literary critical thought in the 19th century through three representative figures: Nguyễn Văn Siêu, Phạm Quỳnh, and Dương Bá Trạc. By analyzing their commentaries, essays, and artistic perspectives, the study reveals how Jin Shengtan’s ideas were adapted and localized in the Vietnamese context. This process contributed to the development of a distinctively Vietnamese mode of literary criticism—emotionally rich and deeply humanistic.
In doing so, the paper sheds light on a pivotal transitional phase from traditional commentary to modern critical thinking in early 20th-century Vietnamese literature.
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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.46827/ejls.v6i1.597
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