Vietnam´s official travel and tourism guide

LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE
Languages
In Viet Nam there are 54 ethnic groups. Some of them have their own language and cultural identity. However, the Vietnamese language is used as a common means of communica­tion for all living in Viet Nam and as cement for a strong community. Many foreign languages, such as English, French, Chinese, German, and Russian, are used in international relations.
Literature: Oral and Written Tradition
The basis of traditional culture in Viet Nam is folk culture, which includes a rich and abundant treasury of myths, stories, legends, popular songs, and various forms of theatre. This folk culture developed in oral form before a written language appeared in Viet Nam. Academic literature began to appear in Viet Nam written exclusively in Chinese ideograms during the 10* Century. Fora very long period, northern culture, Buddhism, and Confucianism deeply influenced the literature and the writing of Viet Nam. The identity of Vietnamese culture was maintained and developed with the appearance of chu nom literature (chu nom is the modification of Chinese characters with Vietnamese pronun­ciation) in the Ly dynasty (10* Century). In the 17* century some western mission-naries used the Latin alphabet to create a phonetic Vietnamese language; quoc ngu writing was born.
During the next two centuries, quoc ngu became more and more popular, eventually becoming the official writing of Viet Nam. At the end of the 19* Century, quoc ngu litera­ture came to life and strongly developed (with prose, rhythmic prose, stories, and poems).
After the August revolution (1945), the contemporary literature of Viet Nam passed into a new period characterised by a deeply national and modern style. Many Vietnamese literary works, both classical and contempo­rary, have been introduced abroad, with authors who are now internationally recog­nized.