DETECTIVE STORIES IN THE PROCESS OF MODERNIZATION OF VIETNAM’S LITERATURE

Abstract

Detective stories are works of narrative prose that take the purpose of criminal investigation conducted by detectives (protagonists) in their search for the truth as the centre of the writer’s artistic interest. Detective stories function as a form of entertainment literature; consequently, they have received little attention from researchers. However, in reality, detective stories have always been a source of irresistible allure for part of the public; besides, compared to other literary genres, their birth and development deserves great attention in terms of literary history. This paper focuses on an in-depth insight into the detective stories in the process of modernizing Vietnam's literature with a view to clarifying the historical position and contribution of this genre to the narrative prose line in the first half of the twentieth century.