From around the 60s onwards, in addition to the short story and memoir genres, the novel genre appeared. Muoi len rung by Nong Minh Chau is considered the first novel of ethnic minority literature. And it was not until 14 years later that the second novel of ethnic minority literature was published. That was the work Ho Giang by Y Dien (Ede ethnic group). Next were the novels of the Tay ethnic writer - Vi Hong. In about five years, Vi Hong published three novels: Dat bang (1980); Nui co yeu thuong (1984 ) ; Thung lung da roi (1985).
Since 1975, ethnic minority prose has developed to a new level. The number of ethnic minority authors is larger and their creative achievements are also more brilliant. During this period, ethnic minority prose has developed strongly in both quantity and quality, increasingly affirming its role, position and stature in ethnic literature. At this stage, ethnic minority prose can be clearly identified and affirmed as a separate, unique part of modern Vietnamese literary life. The number of ethnic minority writers has increased significantly, especially Tay ethnic writers. Besides the writers who have contributed since the anti-American resistance war such as: Ma Truong Nguyen, Trieu An, Vi Hong, Ha Lam Ki, Vi Thi Kim Binh, Ma A Lenh, Ha Li, Kim Nhat, Ha Thi Cam Anh, Kha Thi Thuong... there are also young writers such as: Huu Tien, Doan Lu, Cao Duy Son, Hoang Huu Sang, Sa Phong Ba, H'Linh Nie, Nie Thanh Mai, ...
Most of the works of ethnic minority writers in the early years of peace reflected the work of building a new life in the highlands. The most prominent was writer Vi Hong with a series of valuable works. With a deep understanding of people, mountainous nature, and customs of the Tay ethnic group, writer Vi Hong wanted to send a message calling on people to love beauty, goodness, and eliminate remnants, eliminate evil, backwardness, and obsolescence. With the story collection Joy (1979), writer Vi Thi Kim Binh
also expressed the desire to bring the light of civilization to remote and isolated forests. With the kind heart of a writer - doctor, Vi Thi Kim Binh portrayed the central character as "doctors like mothers" with simple, authentic and close strokes, leaving many emotions and echoes in the hearts of readers. Besides, there are many ethnic minority writers who also devoted themselves to this literary field such as Trieu An with A Pa flute sound ( 1980), Nong Minh Chau with Partridge sound (1979), Hoang Hac with New seeds (1983),... Each writer reflects reality and people in their own way, but in general, they all reflect the renewal of life and people in the mountains with new fates and new aspirations thanks to the light of revolution. With writer Trieu An, readers recognize the writer's belief in the good nature in the soul of every mountain person in the short stories Xu suong mui, Nhu canh chim troi . At the end of the short story "The Land of Fog", the author wants to send the reader the message: "Close your eyes to the phenomenal appearance to look deeply into the inner nature, then you will find gold" [25. p. 35]. In the novel "The River Calls" (1986), writer Hoang Hac helped us discover the changes in the thoughts and feelings of ethnic people in the migration from Thac Ba Lake to build a new homeland. His works are images of the bustling, urgent, and arduous industrialization atmosphere, but they reveal a bright future for the ethnic groups. Writer Ma A Lenh with his memoir " White Plateau" (1992) and the story collection "Windy Hill" (1995) recorded the changes in his homeland during the market economy period. With the significant contributions of mountain authors of many different ethnic groups, the prose of Vietnamese ethnic minorities has "made a worthy contribution to the revolutionary cause, the resistance war against France, the US and the construction of socialism, becoming an indispensable part of socialist Vietnamese literature" [46].
After the 6th Party Congress, the country's literary and artistic life had a great change. The country's renovation, shifting from a bureaucratic, subsidized mechanism to a market mechanism, also greatly influenced the way ethnic minority writers reflected reality and the artistic thinking. Ethnic minority prose developed strongly during this period. The range of writers' creations was expanded.
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This was a period when the economic structure of the mountainous region had strong changes, the standard of living improved but the moral and social relations also deteriorated, the bad and evil tended to overwhelm the beautiful and good. Therefore, the themes, topics, and scope of reality of minority literature in this period were opened more widely. If in the past, literature only reflected the good aspects of life, now it also exposes the negative aspects that still exist everywhere in society. Some writers who are ethnic minorities have quickly grasped these hot issues to reflect in their works such as Vi Hong, Hoang The Sinh, La Quan Mien, Ma Truong Nguyen, Cao Duy Son,... In particular, in a period of nearly 10 years, the novels The Man in the Tube (1990), The Reverse Guy (1990), Entering the Cave (1990), Women's Heart (1992), River of Tears (1993), Love and the Beggar ( 1993), The Talking Years (1993), Unfaithful Love (1994), Real Husband, Fake Wife (1994), Looking for Wealth (1995), Torment (1997)... and the short story collections: Duong Thang (1988), The Tiger Bait (1990), Challenge (1995), The Way Back to Mother's Letters (1997)... by writer Vi Hong were published in rapid succession. These are works that have received public attention because they contain traditional, national and contemporary characteristics. After Vi Hong, Ma Truong Nguyen has 7 novels: Smoke Arrow (1991), Wild Wind (1992), Love in the Clouds ( 1993), Life Wharf (1995), Long Human Roots (1996), The Season of Roses (1998). Writer Cao Duy Son has 5 novels: Wanderer (1992), Ecstasy (1995), Red Plum Blossom (1999), Dan Troi (2006), Chom Ba Nha (2009) and short story collections: Stories from
Valley of Sorrow (1996), Clouds in the shape of people (2002), Old house by the stream (2007), Flowers flying at the end of the sky (2008). In particular, with the novel Dan Troi, the writer has recreated a vivid picture of mountainous society under the negative impacts of the market economy along with the presence of evil and poverty, thereby highlighting the noble qualities, kind nature, and altruism of the highland people in the period of modernization and international integration.
In addition to the development in stature and quantity, ethnic minority literary works have shown new signs in their artistic perspective and thinking. Sensitive issues, dark areas, and negative aspects of reality that were previously avoided are now being mentioned more. Ethnic minority writers who represent this innovation are Vi Hong and Cao Duy Son. Vi Hong's works such as "Nguoi Trong Uong", "The Reverse Guy", "Husband Real, Wife Fake", "Thung Lung Da Roi" ... received much attention because they touched on "hot" issues at that time such as the moral decay of some intellectuals with social status or some mistakes of agricultural cooperatives; the immaturity of prohibiting personal enrichment and the alarm bell about the rampage of evil. Through the reflection of the character from the perspective of personal life with a multi-dimensional view of human fate, Cao Duy Son's debut novel The Wanderer is considered one of the works that "clearly shows the signs of a modern novel" [33, p. 258] because in the work " human issues are raised and solved from a new perspective, that is the relationship between good and evil, the relationship between people and people" [45, p. 233]. It is also because of the innovation, modernity but still imbued with national identity that the work The Old House by the Stream by Cao Duy Son received the ASEAN Literature Award in 2009. The inspiration to look at the problem from two sides, avoiding the one-sided stereotype has shown a new step forward of contemporary mountain prose to affirm its role and position in national literature. With New Stories in the Village (2004), Huu Tien discovered the mirror
The face of the people in the mountains is now different from before. The life of ethnic minorities, which was full of communal affection, has been and is being cracked, replaced by a chaotic life with all kinds of people, good and bad.
Ethnic minority literature during this period also had the opportunity to pay attention to specific individuals, especially women. Female ethnic minority writers, due to their gender sensitivity, wrote touching pages, sharing and deeply sympathizing with the difficult and difficult fate of mountain women. Writer Hoang Thi Canh, with her story collection Women's Fate , mentioned the misfortune, sacrifices, losses, and sufferings of mountain women who were unlucky in love and marriage. Through her story collection Tears of Stone , Muong ethnic writer Ha Thi Cam Anh also expressed sympathy for women who were victims of bad customs and prejudices in Muong villages. Writer Bui Thi Nhu Lan often wrote about the joys and silent losses of countless mothers and wives. They are the ones who have to suffer the heavy consequences left behind by the war (Where is the Mountain Waiting for Dad) , those are the women who married soldiers who returned and were infected with Agent Orange...
Ethnic minority prose in this period has quite clear innovations in art. Through images, details, specific and vivid language, ethnic minority authors have portrayed relatively clearly the characters and paid attention to exploiting the inner life of the characters. In many works, readers encounter the inner struggles of each character. On their writings, modern novel thinking is expressed quite clearly. Compared to the previous period, prose in this period has reached "maturity" in artistic quality.
Thus, it can be seen that ethnic minority prose is closely linked to the great changes in the reality of life and people in the highlands. The formation and development of ethnic minority prose is meaningful as the completion of
a development cycle in the history of literature. With the ability to delve into the uniqueness and characteristics of each nation and region, the prose of ethnic minorities has brought richness, diversity and stature to the whole of modern prose, contributing significantly to the creation of a common appearance of modern Vietnamese literature. And it is this imbued with national cultural identity that has made ethnic minority prose always exist, move and develop in the flow of the diverse, rich and colorful literature of the Vietnamese nation.
1.2. Female writer Vi Thi Kim Binh - one of the pioneers of modern Vietnamese ethnic minority prose
1.2.1. Some features of Tay ethnic female writer Vi Thi Kim Binh .
Writer Vi Thi Kim Binh is a Tay ethnic, born on September 27, 1941 in Pa Phieng village, Hong Phong commune, Cao Loc district, Lang Son province. Born into a poor family, her father worked as a switchman at Na Sam train station - a small, remote town (which at that time people were scared just thinking about). When she was only 6 years old, the writer had to evacuate with her family to Hoi Hoan, Ban Du, Keo Coong communes, the Safe Zone. With the concept that: leaving money and property is not as good as leaving education for children later , during the resistance war against the French, despite the difficulties and shortages in all aspects, her parents still sent Kim Binh and her siblings to school. Kim Binh was the youngest child, when she was young, her older brother, who was a post office employee at that time, often brought books and newspapers home, so the youngest sister in the family also read a lot. With the dream of becoming a doctor, Vi Thi Kim Binh went to study at the Central Medical Cadre School in Hanoi. At that time, it was very rare for a Tay girl to study in Hanoi.
After graduating, Vi Thi Kim Binh went to work at the Bac Son district infirmary. The writer confided: "Bac Son land is the cradle of revolution. This place is beautiful, poetic, mysterious and majestic. The people are honest, kind, and respect cadres. During the quiet nights on duty in a deserted place, with a flickering oil lamp, I sat reading books and writing stories to forget my fear,
immense sadness" . Therefore, when reading the announcement of a short story writing contest in the Viet Bac Literature and Arts Magazine, the young doctor had the idea of writing a story to send. The short story " Taking a Name" was born that very night. The story is short and simple with a rustic, honest writing style but full of emotions of an ethnic girl just entering her twenties. The work won the Encouragement Prize of the Viet Bac Literature and Arts Magazine in 1962 and this was the motivation for Vi Thi Kim Binh to firmly step on the path of artistic creation. At the end of that year, Vi Thi Kim Binh was invited to receive the award. At that time, Vi Thi Kim Binh was the only female writer, and also an ethnic person to win the prize of the contest, so everyone was very interested and encouraged her.
In early 1967, Vi Thi Kim Binh attended the Second Training Course for Young Writers in Quang Ba, Hanoi. In 1968, the writer was admitted to the Lang Son Province Literature and Arts Association. In 1988, the Executive Committee of the Vietnam Writers Association passed a resolution admitting Vi Thi Kim Binh as a member of the Vietnam Writers Association. In 1993, the writer was one of the members of the Founding Council of the Vietnam Ethnic Minorities Literature and Arts Association.
As a medical officer, Vi Thi Kim Binh herself has imbued the medical ethics of "a doctor is like a kind mother", she is always dedicated to her work, working with the heart of a doctor. Writing is the same. Writers also write with their hearts. Being both a doctor and a writer, two jobs that seem far apart but have blended into one in the soul of the artist. The compassion of the profession, the delicate sensitivity to life blend with the heartbeat of the writer. The writer once confided: "I love both professions. The medical profession helps me know how to preserve the health of the community and myself. Writing is a truly wonderful creative profession. Writing is to ease the pain of others and to make my heart light, peaceful, and pure. Although writing is really hard and arduous" .
Both treating and saving people physically and creating literature and art to enrich the spiritual life of her fellow countrymen, the topic that Vi Thi Kim Binh often reflects in her works is the medical topic. The hospital is the fertile land that gives birth to and nurtures the writer's literary works. The writer said: "The medical profession has helped me become an honest writer" and at the same time, the writing profession also helps me do my job better as a doctor. The characters in Vi Thi Kim Binh's short stories are all friends, colleagues, patients, and the stories are from their real lives. They are doctors who love their profession, are devoted to their patients, accept hardships, deprivation, and dangers to save people, and bring life to patients. In those works, we always see the author's kindness, respect, and love for people. The compassion of the profession, the writer's sensitivity and delicacy towards life are all in harmony with the beat of her heart. According to Vi Thi Kim Binh, writers "are people who are rich in soul and have a kind heart" . Writers write to live, to express themselves, to perfect themselves and to discover about themselves as well as about people and life in the highland border areas.
In addition to the medical theme, Vi Thi Kim Binh's works also reflect the life and people of the mountainous region in historical periods. The writer's short stories are mostly inspired by real people in her daily life in a mountainous border area. Vi Thi Kim Binh's short stories are simple but sophisticated because they come from the compassion, sensitivity, delicacy towards life and strong belief in the mountainous people of this ethnic minority writer. With a simple writing style, the writer has brought to readers the belief in life, the love between people whether in wartime or peacetime. It can be affirmed that no matter what topic she writes about, the writer still maintains a heart of favor, respect and love for people.