This was not pure spontaneity That period was already marked by some significant literary events: the publication of Nguyen Manh Tuan's novel, Dung truoc Bien (In front of the Ocean) in December 1982; sponsored by the liberal Party leadership of Ho Chi Minh City this novel became a problematic best-seller, dissecting the corrupted mechanism of administrative tutelage in a fishing plant. It was preceded by Ma Van Khang's, Mua Mua Ha (Summer Rain), a powerful novel which provided an accurate description of the dam system protecting the Red River Delta threatened by graft and mismanagement, a topic that at the saure time is an issue constantly confronting the peasants and the regime in the North 71 Tuan's publishing house (Nha xuat ban Van Nghe in Ho Chi Minh City) and Khang's publisher (Nha xuat ban Lao Dong) would play an important part in promoting works of quality by talented and courageous writers. The publishing houses of the Writers' Union, the Women' Union, and the Vietnamese Komsomol: Tac Pham Moi, Phu Nu and Thanh Nien can be added to this encouraging list.

This somewhat relaxed atmosphere corresponded to liberal moves in the economic and administrative fields. In fact, the consequences of policy change since the VCP Fifth Congress constituted the Party pragmatists' overall liberalizing approach in dealing with the country's problems 72 Writers were given more leeway to convey some of the darker aspects of life and play the yole of social critics. The ensuing years, long before Gorbacheds glasnost campaign, saw a blossoming of interesting novels and short stories by writers of the American-war-generation such as Nguyen Minh Chau, Luu Quang Vu, Duong Thu Huong, Nhat Tuan, Tung Dien, and Trieu Xuan.

In 1985, both Nguyen Manh Tuan and Ma Van Khang reappeared with their respec
tive masterpiece, Cu Lao Tram (Island of Cajeput) and Mua La Rung trong Vuon (A Garden during the Fall) 73 Nguyen thi Ngoc Tu, the famous woman writer who had waited seven years to see her controversial first novel Dat Lang (Village Soil) accepted by the censorship cont ibuted another masterpiece to the cultural renewal - Hat Mua Sau (Seeds for the Next Year).74 Poets toc, were experimenting with original forms of expressions, seriously challenging the dull and empty voice of official poetry. Among the most innovative and fresh lyricists, Thanh Thao, Nguyen Duy, and Tran Manh Hao must be mentioned, although their poems were not always allowed circulation and often remained locked in the drawer.7

The intrusion of reality was even more remarkable in the theatrical domain. Aspiring young playwrights provided a striking insight into the rising social consciousness. In Ho Chi Minh City, according to official reports, sixty per cent of the plays written during 1983 dealt with current issues from every walk of life: peasants, army, student, city neighborhoods ... The majority of these (nine out of ten) were concerned with the social reality of the post-war period after April 1975. Despite some artistic awkwardness, these playwrights courageously depicted negative sides of "socialist transformation" in Vietnam76 This creative trend was reinforced in 1985 by the plays of Doan Hoang Gang and Luu Quang Vu, both talented and bold illustrators of bureaucratic stagnation and privilege abuses T7

This cultural thaw was not merely a side-effect of the VCP's new economic experimentation. It reflected some genuine receptiveness, if not willingness, of a fraction of the top authorities, especially those in Ho Chi Minh City, namely Linh, Kiet and their cirde, to coure to grips with reality; thus indicating that a totalitarian regime is not entirely immune to social pressures. More open minded than their arch-conservative comrades, Linh's team was also more attentive to the fortunes of society and considerate enough to lend a helping hand to outspoken critics of the system. The publication of "problematic" books, along with the performance of unorthodox plays, indicated a loosening of political and ideological constraints that corresponded to a certain reorientation of cultural policy quite long before the advent of Gorbachev's openness policy
The cultural renewal contributed to a blossoming of creative literary and theatre works.
Oct-Dec 1990	Indochina Report 13