window frames,… through the eyes of M. Rama. The social space is narrowed down to family space, sidewalk shop space, even private space, personal space “privacy on a motorbike… people can do everything they need to do on that motorbike, including sleeping” [10,65]. In small, narrow spaces, the author gives people a more specific, detailed view of the cultural features in the daily life of urban people. From the way of eating, dressing, speaking, walking to daily habits are all described realistically and vividly. Readers can feel the joy, sadness, excitement, anxiety, and regret of the people here. If M. Rama impresses through a small, narrow space, Thach Lam recreates an extremely special space. Under the pen of Thach Lam, each dish radiates a separate cultural space, surrounding the seller, the eater, the processor, the scenery and the time people enjoy street food. The author has been very successful in creating an atmosphere of interaction between the maker, the seller and the buyer, the connoisseur. From there, the writer depicts a Hanoi with its own beauty, very peaceful, close, familiar. The cultural space is imbued in the flavors of the dishes, the gifts of the old Hanoians.
It can be seen that the small spaces placed alternately in the large space show observations that are both general and specific, detailed and delicate. The way of choosing unique art spaces partly shows the keen eyes as well as the talent of Thach Lam and M. Rama. The life of Hanoi people is like a large painting in which each author has devoted all his heart and emotion to create beautiful and impressive pieces.
3.2. Language
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In literature, language plays an important role, contributing to the success of the work. Language is both a means and a material of expression.
represents the characteristics of literature. At the same time, it is one of the important factors expressing the creative personality, style, and talent of the writer. Both authors Thach Lam and Martín Rama took materials from the reality of Hanoi people's lives to reflect the cultural features of that life. Therefore, the language used in the work is very simple, everyday, close, and easy to understand.
Writer Thach Lam is known for his gentle and engaging writing style. Each work is like a poem in which every image, object, and event is often poeticized but still retains its simplicity and rusticity. The author is known as a delicate and sensitive person. He expressed his emotions through a rich yet clear, simple, and everyday language like himself.
Reading Hanoi Thirty-six Streets by Thach Lam, we seem to be drawn into the unique language of describing emotions and scenery. Under his pen, small, inanimate things also have their own souls, their own lives, but are very close to everyday life. When describing, he mostly uses pure Vietnamese words, simple and easy to understand. From "straight, spacious brick streets, with rows of identical houses standing in rows" [6,13], "to the three iron words "Ngoc Son Tu", pasted on an iron mesh, and with iron flowers and leaves" . Or the police purses that the author compares "to a square box with four straight corners, with an entrance (of course) and windows" [6,18]. Writing about landscape architecture, Thach Lam describes it through very everyday words, even those who are not knowledgeable in this field can easily imagine. More specifically, when recreating Hanoi's delicacies, Thach Lam showed his ingenuity in using simple yet elegant words. When commenting on dishes, he often included very ordinary sayings such as: "delicious and rich" , "Oh, sticky rice with sesame oil... But it's not expensive at all!" , "There's nothing better than a bowl of pho ".
like that” , “I thought it was a must have been in high demand” ,… The vendors appear in Thach Lam’s writings with all their simple features, the author calls them by their names associated with the items they sell or the name of the street where they live, work or their typical identifying marks. They are the old lady on Yen Phu, the lady carrying a basket of corn, the rice ball vendor, Mr. Troc, Mr. Bere, Mr. Da Hat, Mr. Cao, the vermicelli noodle vendor, the seller of Luc Tau Xa, the seller of lotus tea, the girl Vong,… Depicting the life of trading, Thach Lam does not use harsh, harsh, chaotic language but is very simple and everyday. He chooses simple, pure but profound, affectionate words, imbued with human love when praising the traditional cultural values of the people of Hanoi in the past. The language in Thach Lam’s works is very close to the daily speech of the people of Hanoi in the past. In the work, there are many colloquial but highly expressive words such as: disgusting, oh my, that's not strange to me, of course, of course, really dead,... The familiar, simple language makes readers feel the beauty of ancient Hanoi culture very authentically.
With Hanoi, a place to roam , M. Rama said: “This is not an academic book, nor is it really a handbook, but my personal notes. The work was built by my love for Hanoi. The Vietnamese translation is also the first translation of the work, which I dedicate to the people of Hanoi”. The author loves Hanoi, loves Vietnam and he wants to bring a gift made from all the love and enthusiasm to the people of this S-shaped strip of land. He calls Hanoi “her” in a special and affectionate way. To the writer, Hanoi is like a beautiful girl that people are easily captivated by her charm, inexplicable. Although the language Rama uses in the work Hanoi , a place to roam is more or less specialized, readers can still feel the simplicity in it.
language when he recreates the lifestyle of modern Hanoians. He understands the culture of Hanoians, uses quite flexibly and appropriately the words that depict the daily life of Hanoians. He vividly describes the daily life of the capital's people: "The traffic here is a mess. But it is like a river, gently flowing and winding through obstacles. Pedestrians who want to cross the street just need to blend into that flow, and walk, slowly but firmly" , "the construction sites on both sides of the sidewalk are as chaotic as the traffic on the street" , "the sidewalk... in addition to being an impromptu parking lot... is also the place where countless activities take place that in other places people only do indoors. Cooking, and above all, eating and drinking" [10,26],... The hurried, hurried pace of life of modern people is vividly expressed under the author's pen. M. Rama impressed when recreating the love moments of Hanoians: “on a romantic motorbike ride, it would be more appropriate if she drove… he could hug her from behind, his hand resting loosely on her hip, fondling the string rising from her underwear and dreaming of even more intimate moments.” [10,65]. In the eyes of the author, the couple shows their love in many different ways everywhere, “just a dilapidated motorbike” that he takes her around the city. It is undeniable that Rama’s talent for observation and use of language makes his work appear vividly before the reader’s eyes. He describes daily life through familiar, familiar words of local people: slums, advanced families, increased production, ... or descriptive ways full of imagery: sad and gloomy, busy on a motorbike, full of smoke and dust, endlessly stacked like a vertical garbage dump, ... The author is fluent in using Vietnamese language, creating images familiar to daily life.
Not only using simple, everyday language, Thach Lam and M. Rama also show the selection and refinement of words in their works. Critic Van Gia once commented: "Before a meal, Thach Lam is like a poet" [14,68]. The writer seems to wander all over the streets and alleys of Hanoi, observing, admiring, tasting and then pondering about the magical gifts. As Khai Hung said, he is "an artist of taste" . He meticulously, delicately and suggestively describes each dish from its appearance to its flavor. For the author, the trivial and trivial things are "dressed in an artistic coat" . Cuisine is not only food but also something to admire, look at and praise because it contains so much cultural quintessence. Thach Lam's skillful yet sharp description makes people who have not had the opportunity to taste Hanoi's delicacies feel like they are enjoying and being captivated by its flavor through evocative words.
M. Rama does not go into detail about Hanoi cuisine but writes very well about Hanoi street landscape architecture with sharp and precise language. Reading his pages, we feel like we are entering a real scientific research work. Rama mentions many issues of social life but not chaotically but systematically arranged and explained with scientific knowledge. The author has a thorough understanding of architectural styles, from their origins, formation, development in Vietnam and trends, influencing Hanoi's landscape. In the first chapters, he uses specialized landscape architecture terms such as Art Déco to talk about decorative arts; Beaux Arts style when expressing the influence of fine arts on street and residential architecture; Neo-regional style when discussing old town villas;… Through the dense appearance of words such as: ideas, motifs, designs, architectural styles, applied arts,… before the eyes of the reader, the author is like an expert in landscape architecture. With sharp, precise use of language,
Rama brings readers to a clearer picture of the works that mark the era, history, and culture.
The constant creativity and influence of the national language are shown through the pages of Hanoi Thirty-six Streets . This is the material for Thach Lam to create a masterpiece. Through that, he brought the Vietnamese language to a new level with many rich and diverse expressions. Thach Lam seems to be completely separate from the borrowed literary language, which is normative, symbolic and conventional, overcoming the barriers of language exchange in the transitional period, contributing to the modernization of the country's literature. With Martín Rama, his open-minded view and love for Hanoi helped him to be very successful in expressing precise and subtle language.
3.3. Tone
Tone is an important factor that creates the appeal of a work and contributes to the formation of the writer's style. According to the Dictionary of Literary Terms : "Tone is the attitude, feelings, ideological and moral stance of the writer towards the phenomenon described, expressed in the text, regulating the way of addressing, naming, using words, emotional tone, the way of feeling near and far, intimate, unfamiliar, respectful or casual, praising or satirical" [5,80]. Reading Hanoi Thirty-six Streets and Hanoi, a Place to Play, we encounter many different tones, sometimes gentle, whispering, intimate, sometimes humorous, humorous, praising, proud.
First of all, the tone is whispering and intimate . Thach Lam's writing style is like beautiful, gentle poems that go straight to the heart. He describes each dish like a lyrical poem in prose that blends and lingers in each sentence. That is when he describes Com: "the fragrant smell
of new rice, of wild flowers on the banks: in the green of young rice, the freshness of young leaves, and in the sweetness of young rice, the gentleness and simplicity of herbs. Add to that the slightly fragrant smell of old lotus leaves…” [6,50]. Passages talking about the cool night market: “heavy and creaking loads on the shoulders, following the rhythmic push of steps… those fragile goods cannot wait for the harsh light of day to wither…”. Thach Lam’s voice is as gentle as a young girl’s whisper to her lover when describing the common laborers “just looking at the body bent under the heavy load, we know right away that they are hard-working and diligent people, accustomed to hard work, and patient, quiet on the land” [6,61]. That is the image of the old lady carrying a basket of corn, “hands on a cotton shirt” , the snail seller with “hair neatly tied up, new brown shirt, dark oak pants”, the kind pho vendor in the hospital,… Through her whispering and intimate way of speaking, the writer expresses her respect and love for simple, rustic beauty.
In Hanoi, a place to roam, M. Rama expresses a proud and sincere tone : “In a way, Hanoi’s weather is like a girl’s personality, beautiful but difficult” , “autumn is also the wedding season in Hanoi” when all over the streets are images of brides and grooms “in gorgeous dresses … to record love and happiness”, “during the day, life is exposed on the sidewalk, and at night, love sublimates on the saddle”,… Amidst the hustle and bustle of sellers and buyers, the author gently affirms: “certainly, traditional markets always have a strong and lasting vitality, because that is where people meet and chat” . He writes about Hanoi as if he were confiding in a beautiful and charming Hanoi girl. Therefore, he affectionately and intimately calls the city “her”. It is the love and attachment to Hanoi that flows throughout the author's writings filled with emotional feelings.
Right from the beginning of the work, Rama affirmed: "This book is a product of love". In his eyes, the capital appears along the length of history, through unique spaces and architectures recorded with pride. From simple images such as sidewalks, flower gardens, parks, shady roads, all are cherished by him: "Hanoi is greener than many other cities in East Asia". Like writer Nguyen Tuan, he considers pho a sophisticated dish, "the national soul". The everyday images of the city all make the author cherish and proud. They are architectural styles that blend many different styles but still bear many traditional values, and flower carts of street vendors still tirelessly decorate the city to be more brilliant and poetic. With a sincere tone, full of emotions, we see Rama as a son closely attached to Hanoi. If
While M. Rama expressed his pride through the architecture and modern and ancient cultural space of Hanoi streets, Thach Lam expressed his pride in the gifts. The writer enthusiastically told and meticulously described the form and flavor of each gift. He loved gifts and loved the people who made and sold them. Along with Rama, Thach Lam was also proud and gave many compliments to Pho - a dish considered the "national soul" . In his writings, Hanoi cuisine appeared diverse and rich, each dish had its own story, its own flavor, its own meaning. Writing about Com, Thach Lam said that this is "a unique gift of the country, an offering of the vast green rice fields, carrying in its flavor all the rusticity, simplicity and purity of the Vietnamese countryside" [6,49]. From vermicelli with snails, vermicelli with grilled pork, rice rolls, sticky rice, water stalls... to simple gifts like rice balls, shoes, Cu Huong sticky rice cakes, tapioca dumplings, rice cakes, peanut candy... all appear through a respectful, loving, and praising tone. Thach Lam is