Innovating Text Structure on Traditional Model

Surveying contemporary Vietnamese short stories, we can see that dreams are repeated in many works as an artistic obsession: The Promise of Time (Nguyen Quang Thieu), The Water God's Daughter , Blood Drop , Puppy, The Rippers , The Legend of the Streets , No King ; Mother's Soul (Nguyen Huy Thiep); Giat Market (Nguyen Minh Chau); Red Mark , The World's Best Dream Interpreter , Dream , Suite Four Seasons (Pham Thi Hoai); The Remnant of the Laughing Forest , The Sea of Salvation , Christmas Sadness , Selling Bones , Blood of Leaves , Night of Ghost Butterflies (Vo Thi Hao); The Dream Seeker , Witch , Obsession (Nguyen Thi Thu Hue); The Rain of White Plum Blossoms (Pham Duy Nghia), Endless Field (Nguyen Ngoc Tu).

If in folk literature, medieval literature, dreams appear associated with the function of omens, with the concept of folk beliefs, then dreams in contemporary Vietnamese short stories are expressed in many forms and no matter what form, they contribute to recreating real life, a way for writers to explore the hidden things of people inside. There are dreams that appear as an obsession with the past. After the war, returning to normal life, to the university lecture hall, the character Thao in The Remnant of the Laughing Forest is always haunted by the dreams of her childhood and the dreams of her youth - memories of the years when she and her comrades lived and fought in the laughing forest. Dreams for Thao are obsessions with the past. In Another Life - a short story in the latest collection of stories The Absent City by Nguyen Thi Thu Hue - explores the issue of dreams quite interestingly. The character Mai has to go to the doctor to treat a headache caused by dreams. The constant haunting of what happened in her dreams every night caused her to suffer from headaches. The doctor prescribed her a sedative and after using the medicine, the haunting dreams no longer tormented her as before, and her headaches also improved. But after all, Mai herself realized that her life had lost much of its meaning because dreams were a part of her life. She fell into a state of emptiness again.

Notable in the short story Phien Cho Giat by Nguyen Minh Chau is the entry into the character's unconscious with the use of dream motifs, the intertwining of dreams:

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- Right from the beginning of the story, the main character - old Khung dreamed of the image of a murdered buffalo, then he dreamed of Mr. Boi, the district party secretary.

- Dreamed of a buffalo being fatally wounded and this time the killer was none other than old Khung.

- I dreamed of Mr. Boi, the district party secretary, again.

- Dreaming of the image of a dark green forest with wild cows walking on steep rocky platforms or peacefully grazing in the middle of a sunny forest.

- He had another dream, but unlike last time, he was the one being beaten with a sledgehammer, and he was the cow.

The repeated reenactment of dreams in Giat Market is not simply an expression of an aspect of life, entering the unconscious of humans, an aspect of exploring the inner world of characters, digging into the depths of the human soul, but also a way for the writer to create a unique plot.

The dream motif has appeared in literature from ancient times to the present, but it was not until the period of renovation that it was expressed in many forms. Dreams are also a way for writers to express their creativity, a way to reflect the world in a new spirit and sense: writers pay attention to exploiting the hidden parts of the spiritual world, people are discovered in many dimensions. Using dreams as a way to express reality, express the spiritual state, the unconscious state of people. According to Freud's concept, all dreams have meaning, "the unconscious is the desires or expressions that are repressed, censored, those are instincts that operate according to the pleasure principle. Although not directly expressed through regular actions, the unconscious secretly dominates and controls human behavior" [52]. Using the dream form is also a way to change the writing style: from realistic writing style to the use of diverse and variable writing styles. In short stories that use the dream motif, writers often use the stream of consciousness technique to deeply describe the character's psychology. This has an influence in

changing the art of short story structure (in the interweaving and co-existence between reality and the past, between reality and fantasy, in the patchwork nature - a manifestation of postmodern artistic thinking that has been mentioned in contemporary Vietnamese literary life).

According to traditional concepts, characters are the decisive factor in the survival of short stories, and are an important factor in forming the plot. Therefore, some writers have set a goal of how to make readers remember their characters after reading (Nguyen Dinh Thi). A part of short story writers today still maintain this method, meaning that characters are still the link connecting events, the fate of characters is clearly portrayed and in fact many readers are still interested in this writing method. Besides, a part of writers and readers do not set a requirement for portraying in order to remember characters in the work. Therefore, writers intentionally blur characters. This intentional blurring is in the writer's consciousness towards expressing diverse states of life, a new dimension, a new reality.

3.2. Organization of short story text structure

3.2.1. Structural forms

Structure is not simply a category of genre form, not only the external connection (the connection between segments, details, situations) but also the internal connection (belonging to the content) of the work. The viewpoint of many modern theorists is that: a short story is not simply a story about a life but a story about how to tell a story, the writer does not value what to write but how to write, just like the West values "the expression" more than "the expressed". It would be extreme to absolutize the role of the structure and composition of a work. That means considering the work as simply a technical phenomenon, which many Russian formalists have conceived: "a new form does not appear to express a new content, but only replaces the old form" [114, p.123]. However, it must be admitted that, due to the limitation of size, the writer must put more effort into organizing and creating artistic texts. Therefore, the work can be dynamic and often unstructured. Each work is a separate structure and composition.

Along with the trend of literary innovation and thinking innovation, contemporary short story writers have brought new perspectives and forms to literature. Short stories in the past two decades, in addition to the tendency to continue traditional writing styles, have also tended to loosen traditional normative structures by changing narrative methods and pre-determined structural models while still ensuring artistic integrity. With the expansion of creative scope, the structure of short stories has become more diverse. Below are some narrative structures of contemporary short stories.

3.2.1.1. Innovating text structure on traditional model

These are short stories that develop structures in the following forms: chronological structure; psychological structure; structure in the form of diary, letter; story-within-story structure . It must be emphasized that the division of short stories into two trends of innovating the structure of short stories on the traditional model and innovating the organization of short story structures in a modern direction as well as the forms in each trend are relative because in many short stories there is an interweaving of many forms.

• Chronological structure:

Vietnamese literature in the renovation period witnessed the flourishing of short story styles. Many writers have innovated in their writing style, however, in reality, the chronological structure with the tight cohesion of the event line is still inherited and developed by many writers.

Short stories structured in chronological order usually belong to short stories with event plots. This type of short story mainly develops a structure in linear time order. This type of plot often takes the main character as the reference point to form a system of events. This form of plot structure can be found in works such as A Afternoon Far from the City, Soldier Tony D, Small Tragedy, The Great Dollar (Le Minh Khue), Retired General (Nguyen Huy Thiep), Stepping Through the Curse (Ta Duy Anh),... In fact, besides today's readers who like to explore new things, breaking away from traditional writing styles, there are still readers who are used to reading short stories in a way that emphasizes the role of event plots. With

They, the appeal of short stories written in that style lies in the way events are organized. Small tragedy is an example. The story revolves around the life of Mr. Tuyen and the tragic love of his daughter. In this short story, the organization of the plot according to the character - event line is quite tight. This event, action is the inevitable consequence of the previous event, action. With short stories written in that style, drama is one of the requirements set by the short story writer to ensure a plot that is attractive to readers. In Phuc Thien by Phan Thi Vang Anh, each part corresponds to a period of time during the journey of the character I was a high school student. The system of events and the chain of situations in Mime (Phan Thi Vang Anh) is developed by the chronological order and causal logic of the events. Many other short stories by Phan Thi Vang Anh such as Bo Truong, Dat Do, Cha Toi are also written in this style.

Still written in the traditional style with a clear "story" and linear structure, but The Jew's Harp Behind the Stone Fence (Do Bich Thuy) - the work adapted into the film Pao's Story - has a unique and impressive way of expressing the inner life of the character. The work is a story about the fate and life of a mountain woman - a person who is only considered a stone supporting the pillars of her husband's house because she cannot give birth, can only be a daughter-in-law but cannot be a mother. Along with the story being told is the portrayal of the character's mood with an emotional tone. Although not belonging to the reformist school, many short stories by Do Bich Thuy still have the power to move readers because of their unique writing style and expression. The short story Tuong (Phan Thi Vang Anh) is built on the progression of events that occur continuously along a linear timeline, the later event is the consequence of the previous action. The beginning is Tuong going to Saigon to study sewing and reacting to Hien's matchmaking → In Saigon, Tuong meets and falls in love with Chuong → Tuong is betrayed by Chuong → Tuong returns to his hometown, meets Hien again and marries Hien. In Tuong , although the events in the work follow a linear time order, what impresses the reader are the thoughts and changes of the character from those events and turning points.

Chronological structure (linear structure) was a popular structure in short stories in the past. In the period of renovation, the above plot organization method is still used in many short stories. This structure is often easy to read and understand, but to be attractive, the writer needs to work hard in creating situations, details and storytelling art.

• Psychological structure:

After 1975, especially since the renovation period with the innovation of genre thinking, short story writers have paid attention to innovations in the arrangement of short story structures. Stories are built more diversely on the basis of reflecting rich, multi-dimensional, multi-faceted reality: there are structures with tense drama, structures with beginning and end, structures with clear events and situations, and psychological structures. Traditional norms are no longer binding on writers. Short stories written in the style of "brief resume" seem to no longer be reasonable when wanting to convey the inner psychological states of people. Stories with beginning and end are no longer a normative feature for short story writers. The plot's movement time is no longer chronological time but a time of re-enactment, co-existence, mental time with the reversal of the order of time and space in the structure of short stories.

One of the trends in literature today is that writers exploit the spiritual world with many states inside the human soul and psychological structure is a suitable form to convey the reality inside. Previously, from the 30s - 40s of the last century, writers such as Thanh Tinh, Thach Lam, Ho Dzenh ... had short stories whose structure was organized in this form. However, in the period of renovation, the psychological structure was widely used in the consciousness of promoting the superiority of this form to explore the world of the human soul, revealing a multi-dimensional view of the reality of life. With a more flexible concept, short stories today tend to strengthen the internal plot structure, revealing the mental state of the character, analyzing the inner self becomes an important artistic means in the way of building the plot structure of contemporary short stories. Writers not only exploit situations and events but also care about

to the internal changes, emotions, and thoughts of the character. The development of the story often depends on the character's mood and therefore the story can have a structure without beginning, without end, without knots or openings.

For writer Do Chu, he is aware that “the plot is often not a big deal”, so details, incidents, and events are not simply the material that binds the flow of the story, but they are also the reason for the characters to reveal their inner world. Not focusing on exploiting unexpected elements, twists and turns of fate, Do Chu’s stories often have few intricate situations and therefore are difficult to tell clearly in the order of the usual plot of events. Many short stories attract readers by the way they tell stories, tell, describe, and have internal monologues of the characters. It is not unreasonable to say that Do Chu’s characters are heavy on nostalgia and reminiscence. For Do Chu, “description is also reminiscence and expression”. It is no coincidence that the writer stopped for quite a while to describe the changes over time and many events of the Dang family temple - the sacred place of a clan ( The deserted ancient garden ). The image of the house over the years has reminded Dong of many memories of a bygone era and thoughts about the time he is living in. Do Chu often pays attention to depicting the character's stream of memories, where the past and present coexist, time coexists, the character is present with the flow of consciousness. The character is often placed in front of a scene and memories suddenly flood back.

A relatively large proportion of short stories by female writers are short stories with psychological structures. The stories are often built on the development of the character's mood and inner psychological state. The stories are flexibly expanded to suit the expression of the character's psychological nuances. Each short story is a "fragment" (Do Chu's words) depicting moments of mood and changes in inner life. With that characteristic, Nguoi Xua (Nguyen Thi Thu Hue) is the confession, the feelings and the feelings about life and love of the character "I" - a woman who has settled down and meets her old lover after many years apart when the two go to see the movie "The Lover" in the same theater. Y Ban's stories often have little action and conflict, but instead are thoughts and worries about life with secret feelings and thoughts. What the story

The short stories that evoke the reader are the emotional situations that the character has experienced, through the author's confession-like tone. After Lightning is a Storm, The Woman and Her Dreams are the worries and anguish of a woman who intends to commit adultery, the struggles between instinctive desires and duty. Throughout The Magical Woman are the past love affairs of a woman, behind each love affair recalled are thoughts and worries, waves of anxiety, emotions when loving and being loved. Most of Phan Thi Vang Anh's short stories are stories without a plot. Her stories are difficult to tell clearly because they are often dialogues mixed with feelings about life through the inner world of the characters. In these short stories, the author tends to express feelings and thoughts rather than closely following the events and incidents of life. Accordingly, the narrative time does not coincide with historical time but is interwoven, co-present, and sometimes reverses the past-present time order through the character's reminiscence and the writer's art of creating space-time. By delving into the character's inner world, this type of structure is closely related to the stream-of-consciousness writing style that is still used by many contemporary short story writers.

• Story-within-a-story structure:

In fact, this type of structure is the strength of the novel, however, some short story writers today still use this form, typically Nguyen Huy Thiep in The Water God's Daughter with a trilogy of short stories: The First Story, The Second Story, The Third Story ; The Hua Tat Winds with a series of short stories Tiger's Heart, The Biggest Beast, The Bua Girl, The Most Joyful Party, The Revengeful Wolf, The Forgotten Land, The Forgotten Prison, Sow, The Birth Girl ; A Glimpse of Spring Fragrance ( The First Story, The Second Story, The Third Story ). This is a type of composite structure in which many stories are directed towards the same theme, each story is an organization governed by a larger organization, which is the overarching story/theme. In addition, there are short stories that intertwine many stories, possibly with many different narrators ( Golden Fire - Nguyen Huy Thiep). The short story Giat Market (Nguyen Minh Chau) continues the fate of the character Lao Khung in The Guest in the Countryside . Although writing about the stages

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