Associate Prof Dr Nguyen The Ky, chair of the Central Council for the Theory and Criticism of Literature and the Arts, while praising the contingent of literary theorists and critics, said that few young people publish books on literary theory and criticism.

One of the reasons is the lack of education establishments with majors in criticism. There is only one training establishment in the country which is related to literary critics – the Faculty of Writing and Journalism at the Hanoi University of Culture. The faculty has three majors – poetry, prose composition, and criticism.

“For many years, students have not chosen to study literary and art criticism, and the school cannot enroll students for the major,” he said. “This is because it is a difficult occupation, and the income is not high enough to cover basic needs."

Art critic and culture researcher Phan Cam Thuong, who has worked as a critic for 40 years, said: “Critics cannot earn their living with their profession. My colleagues and I, who are called ‘literary critics’, are living on painting, drawings and sales."

“We continue to write and dedicate ourselves to the profession. We are a bad example for students trained in literary criticism, because the students will think they should not expect a lot from the profession,” Thuong told VietNamNet.

Associate Prof Dr Nguyen Thi My Liem, deputy chair of the HCM City Music Association, said: “If you ask if any person can live as an art critic, they will shake their head."

Liem said that one needs to spend many years to learn and accumulate enough experience to become a critic. The low income doesn’t deserve his efforts.

“Recently, I wrote a music criticism essay and got a modest royalty of VND1.5 million for a 10-page essay which was published in a professional journal,” she said.

“The royalty is higher than the average royalty paid in the market. However, it took me so much time to write the article,” she said.

"Some days ago, I wrote an article about bolero music and I know I would get pay of VND750,000 for the 15-page work."

“These examples can explain why HCM City doesn’t have professional critics. I am apparently the youngest critic, but I’m 60 years old,” she said.

Ngo Phuong Lan, deputy chair of the Central Council for the Theory and Criticism of Literature and the Arts, believes that another reason for the lack of critics is the "disease of being afraid of telling the truth".

“When an art piece or a cultural event comes out and stirs up the public, if a critic shows his or her opinion which is contrary to public opinions, they may face opposition and criticism. How can they exist amid the boycott of people and, especially, keyboard warriors?” Lan said.

Nguyen Hoai Nam, a literary critic, warned of the increasingly high public indifference to literature.

“It is really worrying that literary works, including masterpieces of the world, are published with only 1,000 copies each time in Vietnam, a country with a population of 95 million. It would be a great victory if 10,000 copies are printed,” he said.

“In such conditions, we build castles in the air if we dream of a strong contingent of young people engaged in literary criticism,” he said. “A literary critic, first and foremost, must be a reader, a faithful and passionate reader of literature, like a lover, and not otherwise."

Another reason young people may shun the career is that it takes a lot of time. Very few people are willing to spend time on work which doesn’t bring much money.

More than 10 years ago, a young critic appeared on the literary stage. Sharp and talented, his writing made people believe that he would have a prominent literary criticism career in the future. However, only 2-3 years later, he unexpectedly disappeared and has not turned up since then. Finally, someone discovered that the young critic became a businessman who has a monthly income of several thousand dollars.

Nam, when relating the story, said he believes that the once young critic continues reading books every day, but doesn’t want to spend time to write about what he reads only to receive hundreds of thousands of dong in royalties.

Tinh Le