THE CONCEPTION “THE TEXT TO THE READER” IN LITERARY CRITICISM THEORY IN SOUTHERN VIETNAM (1954-1975)

Abstract

In the period 1954-1975, due to conditions in the country’s history, there were differences and distinctions in literature between the South and the North. Compared to the North, the South had an earlier chance to receive the influence of Western literature in terms of both theory and practice. Especially, approaching the Constance School of Reception Aesthetics helped the reader occupy a firm position in the literary criticism theory of the South. The reader was discussed in genre theories, and considered in the correlation between authors and their writings… Although it did not become a system theory of literary reception like what happened in the post-1986 period, compared to the North, the literary criticism theory on the reader in the South was earlier in mentioning major issues in the relationship and interaction among the author – the text – the reader, particularly the conception “the text to the reader” (Tran Huu Ngu).