Culture - literature and tourism in the context of contemporary research" by the author group Vo Van Son - Truong Hoang Vinh - Ho Luu Phuc (Social Sciences Publishing House - 12.2025) is a rich research work (over 500 pages) both literally and figuratively.
Not a travel guide book, nor purely a literary or cultural theory work, the monograph has placed three seemingly separate fields - culture, literature and tourism - in the same inter-sectoral dialogue space. There, tourism is not just a movement and experience, but a meeting point of memories, narration and cultural practices in contemporary life. Culture and literature are not "adjuncts" to tourism, but are the foundations that create the soul of each destination.
A prominent value of the book is the view of literature as a form of preserving and building memories of the land. Before being identified by advertising strategies or tourism products, many cultural spaces have persistently existed in the community's minds through stories, poetry, memoirs, cai luong, folk songs. Literature, in that way, contributes to forming a "symbolic identity" for the land, creating depth that tourism, if it wants to develop sustainably, cannot ignore.
Notably, behind this research work is also a beautiful story about education and the journey of academic maturity. The three authors of the book are all first-year classmates of Tien Giang University, now in Dong Thap province. From students of a young university in a riverine land, they became lecturers of the school and persistently pursued the path of research, and then together stood in a specialized research project.
That achievement not only affirms the maturity of each individual on the academic path, but is also a vivid proof of the quality of training and research orientation of the school throughout its formation and development.
Not noisy, not ostentatious, "Culture - Literature and Tourism in the Contemporary Research Context" chooses to go slowly, deep - like the spirit of contemporary research that the book pursues. That is also the reason why this book deserves to be widely introduced to readers, not only as an academic work, but also as a gentle reminder of the value of knowledge, memories and the persistent journey of researchers.
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