Column
The Current Status and Future Potential of Introducing Korean Literature in Language Textbooks for Middle and High Schools in Vietnam
1. Introduction
Currently, the relationship between Korea and Vietnam is waiting to be promoted to a comprehensive strategic partnership in 2022, and since the establishment of diplomatic ties in 1992, the two countries have maintained close relations in various ways. In terms of policy, the two countries exist as key partners of each government, and there are numerous migrants of both countries living in the other country. As such, the introduction or description of Koreans and Vietnamese people to Vietnamese and Korean people respectively in textbooks can provide important information for future generations. In addition, it can be said that textbooks play a large role in that they have a great influence on the formation of relative perceptions.In 2021, Korean was designated as a first foreign language in Vietnam. This means that from third grade, students can choose to learn Korean. According to the current Vietnamese regular education system, elementary, middle, and high school education is carried out in a 5-4-3 system: elementary school is fiveyears, middle school is four years, and high school is three years.
Currently, Korean textbooks have been published, and we plan to start studying in earnest this year. Through this, students can have an awareness of Korea and Korean language from the middle years of elementary school, and it can be said that Korea and Koreans are receiving attention in elementary and secondary education courses in Vietnam. The starting point of this study is when Korean textbooks for elementary school students are introducing Korean literature, whether there is a possibility of other textbooks adopting Korean literature to increase an awareness of Korea. This study intends to examine the introduction or description of Korea in Vietnamese middle and high school textbooks, given the current situation where awareness of Korea is expanding.
There is a saying that in order to understand a country properly, one must first understand the literature of that country. If Korean literature is introduced in Vietnam in the same way that Koreans have been exposed since elementary school, Vietnamese students' perception of Korea can be expanded. This study examines how Korean literature is being introduced by focusing on the currently published middle and high school language textbooks in Vietnam. Furthermore, by introducing a comparative literature point of view, the study examines the possibility of introducing Korean literature in middle and high school language textbooks in the future.
Therefore, in this study, we will try to find the answers to the following three questions:
First, are Korean language and Korean literary works introduced in current middle and high school language textbooks in Vietnam?
Second, if Korean language and Korean literary works are currently introduced in middle and high school language textbooks, what kind of works are being introduced?
Third, which Korean literary works are appropriate to be introduced in the future revision of middle and high school language textbooks?
2. Introduction to Korean Literature in Middle and High School Language Textbooks
In this section, we will examine the introduction of Korean literature in textbooks currently used in middle and high schools. In the case of middle and high school textbooks in Vietnam, textbooks are newly written and published according to the newly revised curriculum in 2020. The publication of new textbooks for 6th grade (the first year of middle school) in 2020 and 7th grade (the second year of middle school) in 2021 has been completed. Three textbooks have been published: Canh dieu, Chan troi sang tao, and Ket noi tri thuc voi cuoc song. These texts are summarized in a table as follows:[Table 1] Status of revision of middle and high school textbooks in Vietnam
| School | Year | Textbook | Note | |||
| Ministry Issued | Canh dieu | Chan troi sang tao | Ket noi tri thuc voi cuoc song |
|||
| Middle School | 6 | V | V | V | V | - |
| 7 | V | V | V | V | - | |
| 8 | V | Being issued | Being issued | Being issued | 2023-2024 applied | |
| 9 | V | Not issued | Not issued | Not issued | 2024-2025 applied | |
| High School | 10 | V | Not issued | Not issued | Not issued | - |
| 11 | V | Not issued | Not issued | Not issued | - | |
| 12 | V | Not issued | Not issued | Not issued | - | |
In order to examine the current status of Korean literature introduction in middle and high school language textbooks used in Vietnam, this study investigated and analyzed all textbooks currently in use.
2.1. Introduction to Korean Literature in Middle School Language and Literature Textbooks
As a result of examining the introduction of Korean literature in Vietnamese middle school language textbooks, there is no introduction to Korean lanugage or Korean literature in the existing language textbooks issued by the Vietnamese Ministry of Education. However, in the Ket noi tri thuc voi cuoc song and Chan troi sang tao textbooks, one can find works written by Korean authors and Korean folk tales.
Below is the introduction to Korean literature in the Ket noi tri thuc voi cuoc song textbook. In the case of middle school language textbooks, learning contents are made by presenting specific topics for each type of writing in order to develop students' reading comprehension and writing skills. A total of 10 units are to be studied in one academic year, and they are divided into the first volume 'Language 6-1', which is studied in the first semester, and 'Language 6-2', the second volume studied in the second semester. The structure of the unit is largely composed of four parts: 'Reading' - 'Writing' - 'Speaking and Listening' - 'Organization'. In the 'Reading' and 'Organization' parts, various Vietnamese and foreign literary works are introduced.
First, the book in which Korean literature was introduced in the Ket noi tri thuc voi cuoc song textbook is the 'Language 6-2' textbook, the second volume of the 6th grade language textbooks. You can check the book cover and table of contents through the following:
As mentioned above, Ket noi tri thuc voi cuoc song 'Language 6-2' is a textbook for the second semester and consists of 5 units like 'Language 6-1' studied in the first semester. Following 'Language 6-1', it consists of Units 6 to 10. Let's summarize the contents of Lesson 8 of 'Language 6-2' in order to examine the contents of the unit in detail.
[Table 2] Unit composition of Lesson 8 of Ket noi tri thuc voi cuoc song 'Language 6-2'
[Table 2] Unit composition of Lesson 8 of Ket noi tri thuc voi cuoc song 'Language 6-2'
| Bài 8. Khác biệt và gần gũi | [Unit Title] Lesson 8: Differences and Commonalities |
| Đọc | Reading [Editorial text definition, description of features] |
| Xem người ta kìa! (Lạc Thanh) | [Three texts (literary works) are presented, consisting of activities before and after reading. Among them, the 'before reading activity' is composed of questions related to the topic of the text to arouse students' interest, and the 'post-reading activity' is a practice problem related to the content. Exercises relate not only to the content of the text, but also to specific vocabulary and expressions.] |
| Thực hành tiếng Việt | |
| Hai loại khác biệt (Giong-mi Mun) | |
| Thực hành tiếng Việt | |
| Bài tập làm văn (trích Nhóc Ni-cola: Những chuyện chưa kể, Rơ-nê Gô-xi-nhi và Giăng-giắc Xăng pê) | |
| Viết | Writing |
| Viết bài văn trình bày ý kiến về một hiện tượng (vấn đề) mà em quan tâm. | [Introduction to the writing stage and model answers are provided so that students can write their own article.] |
| Nói và nghe | Speaking and listening |
| Trình bày ý kiến về một hiện tượng (vấn đề) đời sống. | Practice speaking about social phenomena (problems). |
| Củng cố, mở rộng | Summary of content |
| Thực hành đọc | Expanded Reading (Reading Literature) |
| Tiếng cười không muốn nghe (Minh Đăng) |
From Table 2 and Photo 2, it can be confirmed that part of the 'difference' by Korean author Youngmi Moon in the textbook of the newly published Ket noi tri thuc voi cuoc song 'Language 6-2' is being translated and introduced into Vietnamese. The translated version of 'Difference' by Youngmi Moon is introduced in the 'Reading' part. This work is classified as a type of writing, 'discourse', and various questions are presented in 'activity before reading' and 'activity after reading' so that students can grasp the characteristics of an editorial while reading the translated version. Although it is a translation in Vietnamese, the vocabulary and expressions in the translation contain a significant amount of practice problems. Through practice problem solving activities, students can recognize the importance of proper vocabulary selection and sentence structure in writing texts.
In the case of Chan troi sang tao textbook, Korean literature works are introduced in lesson 2 of 'Language 6-1', which is studied in the first semester. The topic of Lesson 2 of 'Language 6-1' is a traditional fairy tale, and the reading part introduces the story of 'Heungbu and Nolbu', a Korean folktale, along with Vietnamese fairy tales.
[Table 3] Unit composition of Lesson 2 of Chan troi sang tao 'Language 6-1'
[Table 3] Unit composition of Lesson 2 of Chan troi sang tao 'Language 6-1'
| Bài 2. Miền cổ tích | [Unit Title]: Traditional fairy tales |
| Đọc | Reading [Fairy tale definition, description of characteristics] |
| Sọ Dừa (Truyện dân gian Việt Nam) | [Two fairy tales are presented. Before and after reading, related practice questions are also presented in the content of the work. Exercises relate not only to the content of the text, but also to specific vocabulary and expressions. The Korean fairy tale 'Heungbu and Nolbu' is introduced and practice problems are presented.] |
| Em bé thông minh (Truyện dân gian Việt Nam) | |
| Chuyện cổ nước mình (Lâm Thị Mỹ Dạ) | |
| Thực hành tiếng Việt | |
| Non-bu và Heng-bu (Truyện dân gian Hàn Quốc) | |
| Viết | Writing |
| Kể lại một truyện cổ tích | [The writing steps and model answers are presented so that you can write an article based on the contents of a fairy tale.] |
| Nói và nghe | Speaking and listening |
| Kể lại một truyện cổ tích | Tell a fairy tale |
| Ôn tập | Summary of content |
As can be seen from Table 3 and Photo 4, the subject of Lesson 2 is traditional fairy tales. 'Heungbu and Nolbu' The full text of the traditional fairy tale has been translated and introduced into Vietnamese. In addition, traditional Korean houses and old Korean clothes are illustrated as illustrations, suggesting that the living culture of Koreans is indirectly introduced to Vietnamese students. Unlike 8 of Ket noi tri thuc voi cuoc song 'Language 6-2', there are two major exercises related to the story of 'Heungbu and Nolbu' as follows.
How are the characteristics of traditional fairy tales expressed in the story of 'Heungbu and Nolbu'?
What lessons did you learn after reading 'Heungbu and Nolbu'?
2.2. Introduction to Korean Literature in High School Language and Literature Textbooks
Unlike middle schools, currently high school textbooks in Vietnam are used only with textbooks issued by the Ministry of Education, without any newly revised textbooks. As a result of examining the status of introduction of Korean literature in language textbooks from 10th to 12th grades of high school, literary works from various countries are being introduced, but Korean literature is not. The current status of foreign literature introductions in high school language textbooks in use can be summarized in the table below.
[Table 4] a list of foreign literature introduced in high school language textbooks
As can be seen in Table 4, most foreign literary works introduced in high school language textbooks are works from Western countries or major Asian countries, such as country, Russia (3), China (2), India (2), USA, UK, Japan, etc. This can be said it is due to socialist countries's influence such as Russia (USSR) and China and Western-centrism. In the current global era, it is necessary to have a perspective on regional literature, focusing on national literature, and further expand it to global literature. Therefore, in this study, it is necessary to introduce Southeast Asian literature or East Asian literature in the high school language textbook to be revised in the future, raising the current problem that Western literature or literature of major Asian countries is mainly introduced in Vietnamese high school textbooks. . In particular, considering that Korean literature can be sufficiently introduced, the researcher intends to examine Korean literary works that can be included in Vietnamese high school language textbooks.
On the other hand, high school language textbooks are characterized by focusing on the development process of Vietnamese literary history. In the 10th grade, Vietnamese oral-classical literature, the 11th grade medieval and modern literature (until 1945), and the 12th grade are mainly introduced. From this point of view, focusing on the history of literature, I think that Korean literature that is located in the same East Asian region and that has literary history and cultural commonalities can be sufficiently included. The possibility of introducing Korean literature will be considered in the next section.
The concept of world literature has emerged in the current global era to such an extent that the borders between countries have collapsed due to the development of science and technology. World literature is created when the global dimension in which literature is distributed and the local dimension in which literature is born and made are intertwined.n other words, in the global era, national literature can be seen as having global universality and regional specificity as world literature. Comparative literature is an activity that compares the literary works of two countries, and this study focuses on comparative literature. Contrast research is a perspective based on the commonalities between the literatures of two countries, and this study aims to explore the comparability of Korean and Vietnamese literature based on literary commonalities.
In order to consider the possibility of introducing Korean literature to Vietnamese high school language textbooks in the future, this study will examine the modern and contemporary literary history of the two countries, which is the premise of comparing Korean and Vietnamese literature. This study will then extract comparable works.
3.1. History of Modern and Contemporary Literature in Korea and Vietnam
In order to prepare the premise of comparability of Korean and Vietnamese literature, we will examine the modern and contemporary literary history of Korea and Vietnam. In modern history, Korea and Vietnam have both experienced similar historical flows such as colonization, Civil War, and industrialization. Before considering literary comparisons, let's briefly review the historical backgrounds of Korea and Vietnam during these periods:
① Colonial period: In general, Vietnam was a French colony for about 60 years from 1884 to 1945. From 1941 to 1945, the Japanese government concluded various treaties with the French regime under armed political influence at the time. to indirectly control Vietnam. Thus, Vietnam's colonial period was under the French from 1858 to 1941 and under the French and Japanese from 1941 to 1945. On the other hand, Korea was a Japanese colony for about 36 years from 1910 to 1945, a somewhat shorter period of time than that of Vietnam. The colonial period in Vietnam is only called the French colonial period, but the Korean colonial period is known as the 'Japanese colonial period,' the 'Japanese dark period,' the 'Japanese rule period,' the 'fixed period', etc. The literary history of the colonial period in Korea and Vietnam that this study intends to examine will be limited to the period from 1920 to 1945, which exhibits the process of modernization of literature in both countries in earnest due to the influx of Western literature.
② War time: Both Korea and Vietnam mutually experienced civil wars. Shortly after the end of World War II, Korea and Vietnam were freed from Japanese rule, but each faced another war. As war is an important historical event in the history of both countries, it includes not only wars with foreign powers, but also wars between the two Koreas.
In the case of South Korea, after liberation in 1945, according to international demands, North Korea was under Soviet rule, while South Korea was under US control, with the 38th parallel dividing the North and South becoming a temporary demilitarized zone. Afterwards, the South Korean government was established on August 15, 1948, and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea was established in North Korea on September 9, 1948. The Korean War broke out in 1950 and lasted for three years until 1953. Accordingly, this study considers the period from 1945 to 1953 as the period of the Korean war and examines the history of Korean literature from 1945 to the end of the 1950s.
Meanwhile, the situation in Vietnam was more complicated than in Korea. Although freed from Japanese aggression in 1945, the French government tried to control Vietnam as a colony again from that year, and Vietnam continued a war with France until 1954. After the war with France ended in 1954, Vietnam was divided into South and North, and another period of war with the United States continued until 1975. Therefore, in this study, the war period in Vietnamese literary history is regarded as the period from 1945 to 1975, including the wars with France and the United States.
③ Industrialization period: Korea and Vietnam went through a period of industrialization in which national development took place after the respective civil wars ended. In the case of Korea, industrialization progressed in earnest from the 1960s to the 1970s and 1980s after the end of the Korean War. During this period, export-oriented economic development policies were promoted under the leadership of the government, and via this process, the Korean people had to endure oppressive and painful times.
On the other hand, Vietnam was at war until the mid-1970s, and in 1975, South Vietnam and North Vietnam were unified into one country. From 1986 onwards, Vietnam started industrialization in earnest and achieved national economic development. All resources were mobilized for reunification with South Vietnam. n summary, it can be said that industrialization in Vietnam took place first in North Vietnam from 1954 to 1976, and the period of industrialization throughout Vietnam was from 1986. As such, industrialization in Vietnam began in earnest after the country was unified in 1975 and is ongoing until now. Therefore, the literature of the industrialization period of Korea is set from 1960 to 1980s, and literature of the industrialization period of Vietnam is set from 1954 to the present. Below, we examine Korean and Vietnamese literature by colonial period, war period, and industrialization period.
A) Korean Literature and Vietnamese Literature in the Colonial Period
In the historical background of a colony that lost national sovereignty, Korea and Vietnam had no choice but to accept Western culture through Japan and France, respectively. During the colonial eras, Korean and Vietnamese literature accepted Western culture and modernized, resisting the oppression of the colonial regime and inspiring the nation's spirit of independence.
Since a significant number of Korean writers at that time were foreign students from Japan, it can be seen that the role of writers studying in Japan during the modernization of Korean literature during this period was significant. Meanwhile, a small number of Japanese foreign students and Confucian scholars (Phan Bội Châu, Phan Châu Trinh) who accepted the new ideas contributed greatly to the modernization of Vietnamese literature during this period. Therefore, it can be said that modern and contemporary literature in Korea and Vietnam began in earnest in the 1920s.
Furthermore, during the colonial period, Korean and Vietnamese literature changed in various ways due to political changes in both countries. Among them, Korean and Vietnamese literature have several things in common.
The first commonality is related to the task of literary discourse of both countries on the emergence of new literature. With the influx of Western culture, Korean and Vietnamese literature modernized themselves by accepting Western literary ideas. Literary works created during this period were used in styles that had not appeared before, or works that mimiced Western techniques were published. In Korea, these works are called new poems and novel novels, but in Vietnam they were called Quốc Ngữ literature. During this period, Vietnamese literature began to be written in the newly created Romanized form of Quốc Ngữ (Korean-Quốc Ngữ), unlike works written in chi Nom (Vietnamese Chinese characters) or French. This kind of journalism took the form of emphasizing genre and technique, breaking away from the characteristics of previous literature. In particular, there were many works of literature that reflected reality during this period.
The second commonality is the aspect of artists who participated in creative activities. During this period, many creative writers in Korea were studying abroad in Japan, whereas in Vietnam they were migrants (writers studying abroad) or writers who studied at French schools. Writers in Vietnam did not study in Japan like Korean writers, but they actively accepted the ideas of Western literature and made a great contribution to the modernization of Vietnamese literature. In other words, the writers of both countries both adopted the modernization trends of Western literature and promoted the development of the literary history of their respective countries, although their paths were different.
The third commonality is on content. When considering poetry, for example, Korean poetry in this period showed pathological and decadent romanticism due to the influence of emptiness and defeat due to the frustration of the March 1st Movement, an independence movement recorded as an important event in Korean history. Efforts to overcome the tragedy of the loss of national sovereignty and the grim perception of the nation's future with national sentiments and religious beliefs also appeared. Furthermore, when the oppression of Japanese imperialism reached its climax, many works were published that strengthened the will for liberation or resisted the Japanese in various ways. In the historical background of the loss of national sovereignty, Vietnamese poetry is divided into the works of the open legalists, who were active under the control of the French government, and the works of the secret activists, who were not. Writers of the Open Legitimacy group produced works with a national spirit and sound progressive ideology, while the Thơ Mới movement, which showed a pathological and decadent romanticism like Korea. On the other hand, the writings of the covert activists created protest poems and works that inspired the people's patriotism with revolutionary consciousness and colonial struggles.
In the case of novels, there were romantic novels, but the representative novels of Korean and Vietnamese literature during this period were works mainly published between the 1930s and 1945, with the protagonists being of the lower classes and intellectuals. The agricultural production structure of Korea during the colonial period suffered the collapse of the traditional feudal system due to land reforms through land survey projects that were enforced by Japan. However, due to the exploitation of labor for food procurement in Japan and the extortion of the landowners, the life of the peasants was the same as before. Among the literary works set in such a rural settings, there are works that express the countryside as a place that denies the noise and reality of urban civilization, while other works depicted the countryside as an object of enlightenment. In addition, there were works that realistically portrayed the realities of rural life and peasant life, or depicted peasants in a vernacular and humorous way.
Beginning in the late 1930s, a movement to break free from feudal status relations began to emerge. In fact, the anti-feudal atmosphere persisted and was directly related to Japan and France's colonial and rural exploitationary policies. In rural areas, a class society of landowners and tenant farmers was formed, and the increasingly severe extortion practices of Japan and France increased pressure on peasants' lives. A relationship of status was maintained between landowners and peasants, and in addition to debt, fertilizer prices, high tenancy fees, and taxes, expropriation by the French extortionist and traditional landowners threatened and deprived the peasants' lives. Therefore, realist writers focused on realistically depicting the reality of the time. Realist writers belonging to this category include Nguyen Cong Hwan, Ngo Ng Tho, Bu Zeng Pum, and Tam Rang, who have published a number of novels on the subject of social criticism.
B) Korean Literature and Vietnamese Literature in the War Period
Shortly after enjoying the joy of independence in 1945, the civil war broke out again in Korea and Vietnam, and the countries had to go through the pain of war and division. The civil war in Korea lasted three years, but in Vietnam, it lasted 20 years. As such, there is a difference in the period in which Korean literature and Vietnamese literature were influenced by the experience of war, and although the two countries adopted different ideologies, the common experiences of division and the scars of war were reflected in the literary works published in both countries during this period. This reflected the issue of division, which can be said to be a typical commonality of the literature of the two countries during this period.
In the case of Korea, immediately after liberation in 1945, the process of liquidating the remnants of colonial culture and re-establishing national literature was necessary. Literary organizations such as the Joseon Literature Construction Headquarters, the Joseon Proletarian Literary League, the Joseon Literary League, the Central Cultural Association, and the All Joseon Writers Association were in conflict. There was also a hegemony struggle within the same left-wing paragraph. However, despite these confrontations, left and right wing groups also had the common goal of building a new nation and culture. Among the changes that occurred in Korean literature at this time, the recovery of the mother tongue was particularly noteworthy. For the literary subjects who had to live in the colonial era while being fundamentally deprived of their mother tongue, the restoration of a mother tongue provided a decisive motif and energy necessary for the search and establishment of a new identity.
Before this period of chaos immediately after liberation could be settled, Korea had to endure another turning period of war and division. The failure to maintain internal capabilities and the deep intervention of foreign powers resulted in unprecedented confusion and conflict in Korea, which was reflected in literature as well.
The Korean War caused Korean society to experience its hierarchical structure, values, traditions and customs being shaken to the core. As a result, different political and economic systems were established in North and South Korea, respectively: communism and capitalism, socialism and classical liberalism. In this context, Korean postwar literature began to deal mainly with the anxiety and fear caused by war, and the psychological and existential crisis of the individual. This is because war inflicts not only material damages to the nation and the people, but also psychological damage that shakes one's values and beliefs.
This new generation of post-war writers compared the reality of the time to a wasteland and advocated the consciousness of the people of war by promoting generation theory. In addition, post-war novels had three general tendencies: the tendency to accept the post-war consciousness as a new novel technique, the tendency to explore humans in the situation of June 25th with the traditional novel technique, and the tendency to shape the traditional life consciousness into the traditional novel aesthetics. Novels about a war, novels about life in war, and existentialist novels that question existence and essence were created.
Meanwhile, the history of Vietnamese literature is divided into two stages. The first stage was from 1945-1954, when both regions of the country (North and South) entered a period of the French uprising after the August Revolution. The literature of this period shows a close correlation with this state of affairs, and it focuses on resisting French colonization and embodying the struggle against France in literature. Therefore, the literature of this period was closely related to the life of revolution and uprising, and focused on exploring the power and beautiful character of workers, peasants, and soldiers, expressing belief in the future and national pride. In particular, Vietnamese culture was influenced by socialist culture and Soviet culture. Accordingly, the three core values of 'nation,' 'science,' and 'the public' were developed as a policy, and in the process, Marx-Hegel and Stalinist philosophy books and other famous Russian works were introduced and translated into Vietnamese. As a result, Russian literature influenced the thoughts and philosophies of Vietnamese writers. During this period, Vietnamese literature mainly moved along the direction of the revolution and came to demonstrate a close relationship with the country's fortunes. At that time, there were quite a few cases where patriots were active as writers, and the revolutionary idea of using literature as a weapon to accomplish their tasks was the main focus. Thus, the literature of this period was like a mirror reflecting the important problems of national history.
In the second phase, from 1954-1975, both North and South had a common mission to resist the United States, and a socialist regime was established in the northern region. At this stage, on the one hand, there are works that express the various changes of human beings in the early stages of socialist construction with romantic and optimistic emotions.
C) Korean Literature and Vietnamese Literature in the Industrialization Period
In Korean history, the 1960s was a complex period in which the political turmoil of the April 19 and May 16 incidents and economic growth were intertwined while facing the task of overcoming the scars of war. Capitalization, which was rapidly promoted under the leadership of the government, brought about great changes not only in real life but also in values. As the social order that maintained the community under the pretext of rationalism began to collapse, distrust sprouted, and materialism became a social problem that alienated and objectified some humans from others. At the same time, as rural populations flocked to cities in search of jobs, rural areas became hollow, while poor and vagrant communities were formed in cities. In addition, in the process of achieving rapid economic development, workers were forced to sacrifice, creating a contradiction in the social structure. Amid the longing for liberal democracy and a sense of economic crisis, the literature of the 1960s shows a completely different aspect from the literature of the 1950s in terms of subject matter and subject matter.
The 1960s marked a watershed moment in the history of modernization and development in Korea. In 1961, as the Park Chung-hee government implemented export-led economic development policies, modernization, industrialization, and industrialization in its true sense began to be promoted. As a result of the development dictatorship strategy adopted by the military government from the 1960s, a significant level of industrialization was achieved, and economic firstism, or modernization supremacy, which most values economic efficiency as its highest value, emerged in earnest.
In the 1970s, Korea entered the era of full-fledged industrialization under President Park Chung-hee. This period has become known as The Miracle on the Han River, which saw dramatic economic growth along with a period of suppressing human freedom and a deepening gap between the rich and the poor. The economic development policies of this period benefited urbanites, and as the rural population decreased significantly, the sacrifice of rural areas and peasants became prominent, and the peasant problem emerged. In literature during this period, iterary works that pointed out and denounced the absurdities and social conflicts faced by society were actively created, as well as Korean poems that expressed social consciousness. Novels of this time focused mainly on the lower class, including the growing peasant movements, urban poverty movements, and labor movements. Most of the novels dealt with loss. During this period, many people felt anxious due to rapid social change and modernization, and literary works that focused on these human issues were actively created.
Industrialization in Korea and Vietnam started at different times. In Korea, industrialization began in earnest in the 1960s, but Vietnam, it started little by little in 1945 and did not begin in earnest until 1986. After the establishment of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam in North Vietnam, President Ho Chi Minh argued that the country should fight while developing the country's economy. However, due to the civil war and the policies of the Vietnamese Communist Party, industrialization began in earnest around 1986.
Literature on Korea's industrialization era began in earnest in the 1960s, and the negative aspects of social changes caused by rapid industrialization were prominent. In other words, Korean literature in this period accepted the social conflicts resulting from rapid industrialization as important material for literature.
Meanwhile, the literature of the industrialization era in Vietnam started before the industrialization of the national economy. After the reunification of South and North Vietnam in 1976, social changes and conflicts began to appear due to the different political systems between the two Vietnams, which were an important subject of Vietnamese literature during this period.
On April 30, 1975, the nation's 30-year war for independence ended in victory. Since then, diplomatic relations with 97 countries have been established, expanding Vietnam's national status in the international community. In particular, in accordance with the resolution of the Communist Party of Vietnam that, "We must ensure democracy and freedom in the creation of art and literature and provide convenient conditions for artists to effectively showcase their abilities," Vietnam considered art and literature an important and new task at the national level. This new historical situation has resulted in the achievement of attracting the public's attention through a change in which Vietnamese literature develops in an innovative and democratic direction.
At that time, the literary class consisted of several generations, and writers who directly experienced the two wars and writers of the previous generation (1930-1945) grew up as a group that produced strong literary achievements both quantitatively and qualitatively. In addition, after 1975, literature focused on current affairs, such as retrospectives on the harm and cruelty of war.
In addition, the democratization atmosphere of literature in this period allowed for in-depth exploration of human life in a wider range, which contributed to richer and more detailed contents of literature. This tendency was first expressed in literature by artists who freely explored the reality of society and human beings, and freely expressed their thoughts and feelings with a waking consciousness. Democratization was not only the voice of the community, but also the opinions of individuals who wished to enrich the awareness of the social community. As such, democratization was expressed at various stages of creation, such as the subject, structure, and motif of literature. Thus, the various styles that revealed the author's creativity allowed readers to experience various forms and styles.
After Doi Moi (1986) literature developed into a variety of subjects with distinct personalities. For example, the aspirations for innovation, people and individuality, things lost after the war, the post-Doimer nation or personality, and negative issues of society were dealt with in literature. These themes made it possible to know that the scope of literature's expression had expanded more diversely, including not only those related to war, but also to divided lives, internal conflicts, personal problems, and personal tragedies after the war.
3.2. Comparability of Korean and Vietnamese literature by period of literary history
Based on the concept and characteristics of the comparative study discussed above, as well as the literature of the colonial period, the war period, and the of the industrialization period between Korea and Vietnam, this study explored the possibility of comparing Korean and Vietnamese literature by the corresponding literary history periods.
As we have seen, comparative studies focusing on the influence relationship between Korea and Vietnam during the colonial period, war period, and industrialization period are inevitably limited in their research subjects. Therefore, it is more rational to introduce a comparative study and the scope of the study can be expanded. Even if the contemporary literature of the two countries has no influence in the dimension of the common culture of the East, such as the dimension of human thought, similarities, or common phenomena can be found and differences can be clarified through comparative studies. In addition, it is a meaningful task to illuminate the causes of these similarities and differences in relation to the political, social, economic, historical, cultural and other social and cultural backgrounds of the time, and meaningful results can be obtained.
From the point of view of a comparative study based on similarity, this study supports Aldridge's argument on the use of similarity in literary works to explore the comparability of Korean literature and Vietnamese literature by period of literary history. Aldridge classified similar phenomena in literature into three major categories: similarity in expression form, similarity in thinking, and similarity in human relationships. Kim Hak-dong, the previous book, 1984, pp.55-58. Among them, the similarity in the form of expression is the genre similarity of the work, which refers to the type of literature, such as lyric (poetry), narrative (novel), play, and teaching. Similarity of thinking and similarity of human relationships are concepts that are directly related to the subject of a literary works. Therefore, from the perspective of contrast, the comparability of Korean and Vietnamese literature can be explored from two aspects: genre and subject.
Specifically, in terms of genre, a group of comparative works can be selected by focusing on poetry and novels from both countries. In the case of poetry, lyric poetry, resistance poetry, and fiction, realistic novels were selected.
In terms of themes, it is possible to select numerous subjects for each period of literary history. Subject refers to the central content or central idea of the text, the intention that an author wishes to express, a reflection of the worldview, or the central idea reflected in the work. The subject matter of a poem is made into an actual work through the process of synchronization with the material that a poet wants to express in language. Inhwan Koo, Changhwan Koo, Principles of Literature, Beopmunsa, 1973, p.99. Also, the theme of a novel is embodied through characters and plot. Therefore, it is possible to select a group of comparative works based on the material of the literary work, the person, the motif, etc. In terms of themes for each period of literary history, the comparative themes of Korean and Vietnamese literature can be summarized as follows.
The first is the history of literature during the colonial period. In general, it is possible to choose comparative works in poetry by choosing prototypes that were dealing with similar materials, images, and themes. In the case of novels, it would be possible to choose novels that dealt with the lives of the lower classes, peasants, and intellectuals in colonial societies.
The second comparative theme is war. Works by writers who experienced war and division can be selected.
Finally is the period of industrialization. Works that deal with the subject of an individual who finds self in the process of economic development of the country and the inability to adapt to modern society due to the scars of war can be selected.
How are the characteristics of traditional fairy tales expressed in the story of 'Heungbu and Nolbu'?
What lessons did you learn after reading 'Heungbu and Nolbu'?
2.2. Introduction to Korean Literature in High School Language and Literature Textbooks
Unlike middle schools, currently high school textbooks in Vietnam are used only with textbooks issued by the Ministry of Education, without any newly revised textbooks. As a result of examining the status of introduction of Korean literature in language textbooks from 10th to 12th grades of high school, literary works from various countries are being introduced, but Korean literature is not. The current status of foreign literature introductions in high school language textbooks in use can be summarized in the table below.
[Table 4] a list of foreign literature introduced in high school language textbooks
| Grade | Title | Country |
| 10 | Odysseus Myth | Greece |
| Ramayana mythology | India | |
| Haiku poetry by Basho Matsuo | Japan | |
| Three kingdoms | China | |
| 11 | Romeo and Juliet - Shakespeare | UK |
| I loved you - Pushkin | Russia | |
| 28th Start - Tagore | India | |
| Chekhov's short story | Russia | |
| Les Miserables - Victor Hugo | France | |
| 12 | Zweig short story | Austria |
| Medicine - Lu Xun | China | |
| Mikhail Sholokhov | Russia | |
| The Old Man and the Sea - Hemingway | USA |
As can be seen in Table 4, most foreign literary works introduced in high school language textbooks are works from Western countries or major Asian countries, such as country, Russia (3), China (2), India (2), USA, UK, Japan, etc. This can be said it is due to socialist countries's influence such as Russia (USSR) and China and Western-centrism. In the current global era, it is necessary to have a perspective on regional literature, focusing on national literature, and further expand it to global literature. Therefore, in this study, it is necessary to introduce Southeast Asian literature or East Asian literature in the high school language textbook to be revised in the future, raising the current problem that Western literature or literature of major Asian countries is mainly introduced in Vietnamese high school textbooks. . In particular, considering that Korean literature can be sufficiently introduced, the researcher intends to examine Korean literary works that can be included in Vietnamese high school language textbooks.
On the other hand, high school language textbooks are characterized by focusing on the development process of Vietnamese literary history. In the 10th grade, Vietnamese oral-classical literature, the 11th grade medieval and modern literature (until 1945), and the 12th grade are mainly introduced. From this point of view, focusing on the history of literature, I think that Korean literature that is located in the same East Asian region and that has literary history and cultural commonalities can be sufficiently included. The possibility of introducing Korean literature will be considered in the next section.
3. Possibility of introducing Korean literature in middle and high school literature textbooks
In this section, we will explore the possibility of introducing Korean literature in Vietnamese high school language textbooks from the point of view of comparative literature. "Literature is a product of a country that is formed in the context of politics, economics, and society, and thus the literature of a country is the key to understanding the country." Meanwhile, Collie and Slater argue that, "There is value, and in terms of practical data and cultural enrichment, it takes the same argument as the argument for 'the utility of literary works in foreign language education.' It could be argued that knowledge of Korean and Vietnamese literature formed in the political, economic, and social contexts of Korea and Vietnam is the key to a deeper understanding of Korea and Vietnam.The concept of world literature has emerged in the current global era to such an extent that the borders between countries have collapsed due to the development of science and technology. World literature is created when the global dimension in which literature is distributed and the local dimension in which literature is born and made are intertwined.n other words, in the global era, national literature can be seen as having global universality and regional specificity as world literature. Comparative literature is an activity that compares the literary works of two countries, and this study focuses on comparative literature. Contrast research is a perspective based on the commonalities between the literatures of two countries, and this study aims to explore the comparability of Korean and Vietnamese literature based on literary commonalities.
In order to consider the possibility of introducing Korean literature to Vietnamese high school language textbooks in the future, this study will examine the modern and contemporary literary history of the two countries, which is the premise of comparing Korean and Vietnamese literature. This study will then extract comparable works.
3.1. History of Modern and Contemporary Literature in Korea and Vietnam
In order to prepare the premise of comparability of Korean and Vietnamese literature, we will examine the modern and contemporary literary history of Korea and Vietnam. In modern history, Korea and Vietnam have both experienced similar historical flows such as colonization, Civil War, and industrialization. Before considering literary comparisons, let's briefly review the historical backgrounds of Korea and Vietnam during these periods:
① Colonial period: In general, Vietnam was a French colony for about 60 years from 1884 to 1945. From 1941 to 1945, the Japanese government concluded various treaties with the French regime under armed political influence at the time. to indirectly control Vietnam. Thus, Vietnam's colonial period was under the French from 1858 to 1941 and under the French and Japanese from 1941 to 1945. On the other hand, Korea was a Japanese colony for about 36 years from 1910 to 1945, a somewhat shorter period of time than that of Vietnam. The colonial period in Vietnam is only called the French colonial period, but the Korean colonial period is known as the 'Japanese colonial period,' the 'Japanese dark period,' the 'Japanese rule period,' the 'fixed period', etc. The literary history of the colonial period in Korea and Vietnam that this study intends to examine will be limited to the period from 1920 to 1945, which exhibits the process of modernization of literature in both countries in earnest due to the influx of Western literature.
② War time: Both Korea and Vietnam mutually experienced civil wars. Shortly after the end of World War II, Korea and Vietnam were freed from Japanese rule, but each faced another war. As war is an important historical event in the history of both countries, it includes not only wars with foreign powers, but also wars between the two Koreas.
In the case of South Korea, after liberation in 1945, according to international demands, North Korea was under Soviet rule, while South Korea was under US control, with the 38th parallel dividing the North and South becoming a temporary demilitarized zone. Afterwards, the South Korean government was established on August 15, 1948, and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea was established in North Korea on September 9, 1948. The Korean War broke out in 1950 and lasted for three years until 1953. Accordingly, this study considers the period from 1945 to 1953 as the period of the Korean war and examines the history of Korean literature from 1945 to the end of the 1950s.
Meanwhile, the situation in Vietnam was more complicated than in Korea. Although freed from Japanese aggression in 1945, the French government tried to control Vietnam as a colony again from that year, and Vietnam continued a war with France until 1954. After the war with France ended in 1954, Vietnam was divided into South and North, and another period of war with the United States continued until 1975. Therefore, in this study, the war period in Vietnamese literary history is regarded as the period from 1945 to 1975, including the wars with France and the United States.
③ Industrialization period: Korea and Vietnam went through a period of industrialization in which national development took place after the respective civil wars ended. In the case of Korea, industrialization progressed in earnest from the 1960s to the 1970s and 1980s after the end of the Korean War. During this period, export-oriented economic development policies were promoted under the leadership of the government, and via this process, the Korean people had to endure oppressive and painful times.
On the other hand, Vietnam was at war until the mid-1970s, and in 1975, South Vietnam and North Vietnam were unified into one country. From 1986 onwards, Vietnam started industrialization in earnest and achieved national economic development. All resources were mobilized for reunification with South Vietnam. n summary, it can be said that industrialization in Vietnam took place first in North Vietnam from 1954 to 1976, and the period of industrialization throughout Vietnam was from 1986. As such, industrialization in Vietnam began in earnest after the country was unified in 1975 and is ongoing until now. Therefore, the literature of the industrialization period of Korea is set from 1960 to 1980s, and literature of the industrialization period of Vietnam is set from 1954 to the present. Below, we examine Korean and Vietnamese literature by colonial period, war period, and industrialization period.
A) Korean Literature and Vietnamese Literature in the Colonial Period
In the historical background of a colony that lost national sovereignty, Korea and Vietnam had no choice but to accept Western culture through Japan and France, respectively. During the colonial eras, Korean and Vietnamese literature accepted Western culture and modernized, resisting the oppression of the colonial regime and inspiring the nation's spirit of independence.
Since a significant number of Korean writers at that time were foreign students from Japan, it can be seen that the role of writers studying in Japan during the modernization of Korean literature during this period was significant. Meanwhile, a small number of Japanese foreign students and Confucian scholars (Phan Bội Châu, Phan Châu Trinh) who accepted the new ideas contributed greatly to the modernization of Vietnamese literature during this period. Therefore, it can be said that modern and contemporary literature in Korea and Vietnam began in earnest in the 1920s.
Furthermore, during the colonial period, Korean and Vietnamese literature changed in various ways due to political changes in both countries. Among them, Korean and Vietnamese literature have several things in common.
The first commonality is related to the task of literary discourse of both countries on the emergence of new literature. With the influx of Western culture, Korean and Vietnamese literature modernized themselves by accepting Western literary ideas. Literary works created during this period were used in styles that had not appeared before, or works that mimiced Western techniques were published. In Korea, these works are called new poems and novel novels, but in Vietnam they were called Quốc Ngữ literature. During this period, Vietnamese literature began to be written in the newly created Romanized form of Quốc Ngữ (Korean-Quốc Ngữ), unlike works written in chi Nom (Vietnamese Chinese characters) or French. This kind of journalism took the form of emphasizing genre and technique, breaking away from the characteristics of previous literature. In particular, there were many works of literature that reflected reality during this period.
The second commonality is the aspect of artists who participated in creative activities. During this period, many creative writers in Korea were studying abroad in Japan, whereas in Vietnam they were migrants (writers studying abroad) or writers who studied at French schools. Writers in Vietnam did not study in Japan like Korean writers, but they actively accepted the ideas of Western literature and made a great contribution to the modernization of Vietnamese literature. In other words, the writers of both countries both adopted the modernization trends of Western literature and promoted the development of the literary history of their respective countries, although their paths were different.
The third commonality is on content. When considering poetry, for example, Korean poetry in this period showed pathological and decadent romanticism due to the influence of emptiness and defeat due to the frustration of the March 1st Movement, an independence movement recorded as an important event in Korean history. Efforts to overcome the tragedy of the loss of national sovereignty and the grim perception of the nation's future with national sentiments and religious beliefs also appeared. Furthermore, when the oppression of Japanese imperialism reached its climax, many works were published that strengthened the will for liberation or resisted the Japanese in various ways. In the historical background of the loss of national sovereignty, Vietnamese poetry is divided into the works of the open legalists, who were active under the control of the French government, and the works of the secret activists, who were not. Writers of the Open Legitimacy group produced works with a national spirit and sound progressive ideology, while the Thơ Mới movement, which showed a pathological and decadent romanticism like Korea. On the other hand, the writings of the covert activists created protest poems and works that inspired the people's patriotism with revolutionary consciousness and colonial struggles.
In the case of novels, there were romantic novels, but the representative novels of Korean and Vietnamese literature during this period were works mainly published between the 1930s and 1945, with the protagonists being of the lower classes and intellectuals. The agricultural production structure of Korea during the colonial period suffered the collapse of the traditional feudal system due to land reforms through land survey projects that were enforced by Japan. However, due to the exploitation of labor for food procurement in Japan and the extortion of the landowners, the life of the peasants was the same as before. Among the literary works set in such a rural settings, there are works that express the countryside as a place that denies the noise and reality of urban civilization, while other works depicted the countryside as an object of enlightenment. In addition, there were works that realistically portrayed the realities of rural life and peasant life, or depicted peasants in a vernacular and humorous way.
Beginning in the late 1930s, a movement to break free from feudal status relations began to emerge. In fact, the anti-feudal atmosphere persisted and was directly related to Japan and France's colonial and rural exploitationary policies. In rural areas, a class society of landowners and tenant farmers was formed, and the increasingly severe extortion practices of Japan and France increased pressure on peasants' lives. A relationship of status was maintained between landowners and peasants, and in addition to debt, fertilizer prices, high tenancy fees, and taxes, expropriation by the French extortionist and traditional landowners threatened and deprived the peasants' lives. Therefore, realist writers focused on realistically depicting the reality of the time. Realist writers belonging to this category include Nguyen Cong Hwan, Ngo Ng Tho, Bu Zeng Pum, and Tam Rang, who have published a number of novels on the subject of social criticism.
B) Korean Literature and Vietnamese Literature in the War Period
Shortly after enjoying the joy of independence in 1945, the civil war broke out again in Korea and Vietnam, and the countries had to go through the pain of war and division. The civil war in Korea lasted three years, but in Vietnam, it lasted 20 years. As such, there is a difference in the period in which Korean literature and Vietnamese literature were influenced by the experience of war, and although the two countries adopted different ideologies, the common experiences of division and the scars of war were reflected in the literary works published in both countries during this period. This reflected the issue of division, which can be said to be a typical commonality of the literature of the two countries during this period.
In the case of Korea, immediately after liberation in 1945, the process of liquidating the remnants of colonial culture and re-establishing national literature was necessary. Literary organizations such as the Joseon Literature Construction Headquarters, the Joseon Proletarian Literary League, the Joseon Literary League, the Central Cultural Association, and the All Joseon Writers Association were in conflict. There was also a hegemony struggle within the same left-wing paragraph. However, despite these confrontations, left and right wing groups also had the common goal of building a new nation and culture. Among the changes that occurred in Korean literature at this time, the recovery of the mother tongue was particularly noteworthy. For the literary subjects who had to live in the colonial era while being fundamentally deprived of their mother tongue, the restoration of a mother tongue provided a decisive motif and energy necessary for the search and establishment of a new identity.
Before this period of chaos immediately after liberation could be settled, Korea had to endure another turning period of war and division. The failure to maintain internal capabilities and the deep intervention of foreign powers resulted in unprecedented confusion and conflict in Korea, which was reflected in literature as well.
The Korean War caused Korean society to experience its hierarchical structure, values, traditions and customs being shaken to the core. As a result, different political and economic systems were established in North and South Korea, respectively: communism and capitalism, socialism and classical liberalism. In this context, Korean postwar literature began to deal mainly with the anxiety and fear caused by war, and the psychological and existential crisis of the individual. This is because war inflicts not only material damages to the nation and the people, but also psychological damage that shakes one's values and beliefs.
This new generation of post-war writers compared the reality of the time to a wasteland and advocated the consciousness of the people of war by promoting generation theory. In addition, post-war novels had three general tendencies: the tendency to accept the post-war consciousness as a new novel technique, the tendency to explore humans in the situation of June 25th with the traditional novel technique, and the tendency to shape the traditional life consciousness into the traditional novel aesthetics. Novels about a war, novels about life in war, and existentialist novels that question existence and essence were created.
Meanwhile, the history of Vietnamese literature is divided into two stages. The first stage was from 1945-1954, when both regions of the country (North and South) entered a period of the French uprising after the August Revolution. The literature of this period shows a close correlation with this state of affairs, and it focuses on resisting French colonization and embodying the struggle against France in literature. Therefore, the literature of this period was closely related to the life of revolution and uprising, and focused on exploring the power and beautiful character of workers, peasants, and soldiers, expressing belief in the future and national pride. In particular, Vietnamese culture was influenced by socialist culture and Soviet culture. Accordingly, the three core values of 'nation,' 'science,' and 'the public' were developed as a policy, and in the process, Marx-Hegel and Stalinist philosophy books and other famous Russian works were introduced and translated into Vietnamese. As a result, Russian literature influenced the thoughts and philosophies of Vietnamese writers. During this period, Vietnamese literature mainly moved along the direction of the revolution and came to demonstrate a close relationship with the country's fortunes. At that time, there were quite a few cases where patriots were active as writers, and the revolutionary idea of using literature as a weapon to accomplish their tasks was the main focus. Thus, the literature of this period was like a mirror reflecting the important problems of national history.
In the second phase, from 1954-1975, both North and South had a common mission to resist the United States, and a socialist regime was established in the northern region. At this stage, on the one hand, there are works that express the various changes of human beings in the early stages of socialist construction with romantic and optimistic emotions.
C) Korean Literature and Vietnamese Literature in the Industrialization Period
In Korean history, the 1960s was a complex period in which the political turmoil of the April 19 and May 16 incidents and economic growth were intertwined while facing the task of overcoming the scars of war. Capitalization, which was rapidly promoted under the leadership of the government, brought about great changes not only in real life but also in values. As the social order that maintained the community under the pretext of rationalism began to collapse, distrust sprouted, and materialism became a social problem that alienated and objectified some humans from others. At the same time, as rural populations flocked to cities in search of jobs, rural areas became hollow, while poor and vagrant communities were formed in cities. In addition, in the process of achieving rapid economic development, workers were forced to sacrifice, creating a contradiction in the social structure. Amid the longing for liberal democracy and a sense of economic crisis, the literature of the 1960s shows a completely different aspect from the literature of the 1950s in terms of subject matter and subject matter.
The 1960s marked a watershed moment in the history of modernization and development in Korea. In 1961, as the Park Chung-hee government implemented export-led economic development policies, modernization, industrialization, and industrialization in its true sense began to be promoted. As a result of the development dictatorship strategy adopted by the military government from the 1960s, a significant level of industrialization was achieved, and economic firstism, or modernization supremacy, which most values economic efficiency as its highest value, emerged in earnest.
In the 1970s, Korea entered the era of full-fledged industrialization under President Park Chung-hee. This period has become known as The Miracle on the Han River, which saw dramatic economic growth along with a period of suppressing human freedom and a deepening gap between the rich and the poor. The economic development policies of this period benefited urbanites, and as the rural population decreased significantly, the sacrifice of rural areas and peasants became prominent, and the peasant problem emerged. In literature during this period, iterary works that pointed out and denounced the absurdities and social conflicts faced by society were actively created, as well as Korean poems that expressed social consciousness. Novels of this time focused mainly on the lower class, including the growing peasant movements, urban poverty movements, and labor movements. Most of the novels dealt with loss. During this period, many people felt anxious due to rapid social change and modernization, and literary works that focused on these human issues were actively created.
Industrialization in Korea and Vietnam started at different times. In Korea, industrialization began in earnest in the 1960s, but Vietnam, it started little by little in 1945 and did not begin in earnest until 1986. After the establishment of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam in North Vietnam, President Ho Chi Minh argued that the country should fight while developing the country's economy. However, due to the civil war and the policies of the Vietnamese Communist Party, industrialization began in earnest around 1986.
Literature on Korea's industrialization era began in earnest in the 1960s, and the negative aspects of social changes caused by rapid industrialization were prominent. In other words, Korean literature in this period accepted the social conflicts resulting from rapid industrialization as important material for literature.
Meanwhile, the literature of the industrialization era in Vietnam started before the industrialization of the national economy. After the reunification of South and North Vietnam in 1976, social changes and conflicts began to appear due to the different political systems between the two Vietnams, which were an important subject of Vietnamese literature during this period.
On April 30, 1975, the nation's 30-year war for independence ended in victory. Since then, diplomatic relations with 97 countries have been established, expanding Vietnam's national status in the international community. In particular, in accordance with the resolution of the Communist Party of Vietnam that, "We must ensure democracy and freedom in the creation of art and literature and provide convenient conditions for artists to effectively showcase their abilities," Vietnam considered art and literature an important and new task at the national level. This new historical situation has resulted in the achievement of attracting the public's attention through a change in which Vietnamese literature develops in an innovative and democratic direction.
At that time, the literary class consisted of several generations, and writers who directly experienced the two wars and writers of the previous generation (1930-1945) grew up as a group that produced strong literary achievements both quantitatively and qualitatively. In addition, after 1975, literature focused on current affairs, such as retrospectives on the harm and cruelty of war.
In addition, the democratization atmosphere of literature in this period allowed for in-depth exploration of human life in a wider range, which contributed to richer and more detailed contents of literature. This tendency was first expressed in literature by artists who freely explored the reality of society and human beings, and freely expressed their thoughts and feelings with a waking consciousness. Democratization was not only the voice of the community, but also the opinions of individuals who wished to enrich the awareness of the social community. As such, democratization was expressed at various stages of creation, such as the subject, structure, and motif of literature. Thus, the various styles that revealed the author's creativity allowed readers to experience various forms and styles.
After Doi Moi (1986) literature developed into a variety of subjects with distinct personalities. For example, the aspirations for innovation, people and individuality, things lost after the war, the post-Doimer nation or personality, and negative issues of society were dealt with in literature. These themes made it possible to know that the scope of literature's expression had expanded more diversely, including not only those related to war, but also to divided lives, internal conflicts, personal problems, and personal tragedies after the war.
3.2. Comparability of Korean and Vietnamese literature by period of literary history
Based on the concept and characteristics of the comparative study discussed above, as well as the literature of the colonial period, the war period, and the of the industrialization period between Korea and Vietnam, this study explored the possibility of comparing Korean and Vietnamese literature by the corresponding literary history periods.
As we have seen, comparative studies focusing on the influence relationship between Korea and Vietnam during the colonial period, war period, and industrialization period are inevitably limited in their research subjects. Therefore, it is more rational to introduce a comparative study and the scope of the study can be expanded. Even if the contemporary literature of the two countries has no influence in the dimension of the common culture of the East, such as the dimension of human thought, similarities, or common phenomena can be found and differences can be clarified through comparative studies. In addition, it is a meaningful task to illuminate the causes of these similarities and differences in relation to the political, social, economic, historical, cultural and other social and cultural backgrounds of the time, and meaningful results can be obtained.
From the point of view of a comparative study based on similarity, this study supports Aldridge's argument on the use of similarity in literary works to explore the comparability of Korean literature and Vietnamese literature by period of literary history. Aldridge classified similar phenomena in literature into three major categories: similarity in expression form, similarity in thinking, and similarity in human relationships. Kim Hak-dong, the previous book, 1984, pp.55-58. Among them, the similarity in the form of expression is the genre similarity of the work, which refers to the type of literature, such as lyric (poetry), narrative (novel), play, and teaching. Similarity of thinking and similarity of human relationships are concepts that are directly related to the subject of a literary works. Therefore, from the perspective of contrast, the comparability of Korean and Vietnamese literature can be explored from two aspects: genre and subject.
Specifically, in terms of genre, a group of comparative works can be selected by focusing on poetry and novels from both countries. In the case of poetry, lyric poetry, resistance poetry, and fiction, realistic novels were selected.
In terms of themes, it is possible to select numerous subjects for each period of literary history. Subject refers to the central content or central idea of the text, the intention that an author wishes to express, a reflection of the worldview, or the central idea reflected in the work. The subject matter of a poem is made into an actual work through the process of synchronization with the material that a poet wants to express in language. Inhwan Koo, Changhwan Koo, Principles of Literature, Beopmunsa, 1973, p.99. Also, the theme of a novel is embodied through characters and plot. Therefore, it is possible to select a group of comparative works based on the material of the literary work, the person, the motif, etc. In terms of themes for each period of literary history, the comparative themes of Korean and Vietnamese literature can be summarized as follows.
The first is the history of literature during the colonial period. In general, it is possible to choose comparative works in poetry by choosing prototypes that were dealing with similar materials, images, and themes. In the case of novels, it would be possible to choose novels that dealt with the lives of the lower classes, peasants, and intellectuals in colonial societies.
The second comparative theme is war. Works by writers who experienced war and division can be selected.
Finally is the period of industrialization. Works that deal with the subject of an individual who finds self in the process of economic development of the country and the inability to adapt to modern society due to the scars of war can be selected.
4. Conclusion
This study examines the current status of introduction of Korean literature in middle and high school language textbooks in Vietnam and the possibility of introducing Korean literature in the future revision of high school language textbooks. As a result of the analysis of middle and high school language textbooks, in the case of textbooks published as a new curriculum, Korean literature works were introduced, and literary works that can help students develop their writing skills were selected. In addition, in the case of high school textbooks to be revised in the future, it has the characteristic of teaching representative literary works of Vietnamese literary history, from Vietnamese oral literature to modern literature. have. In particular, Korea's representative literary works from the colonial period, war period, and industrialization period, focusing on modern and contemporary literature, can be selected and introduced to Vietnamese students in terms of the perspective of comparative analysis.
