National cultural identity in Cao Duy Son's works

gentle but not haughty or elegant. It is like the innocent, pure features of the soul of a national girl.

The use of the comparison technique to describe the appearance of Cao Duy Son's character has been clearly stated in section 3.1.1 of the thesis (please see pages 69 to 72). The comparison technique is also effectively used by the writer to reflect the soul and personality of a person. The soul of a person is sometimes shown through the appearance. When talking about Ngan's loneliness, the writer wrote: " His skinny body was cold like an orphaned rock " [35.9]. The " skinny body " of a child being isolated and teased by his friends is compared to the image of an " orphaned rock ". Perhaps there is no more profound image than the image of an orphaned rock to talk about Ngan's absolute loneliness at this time. The comparison is truly evocative. The image of Nung Sinh before May Nhung's death is also compared to the image of " an orphaned rock ". Loneliness is evoked from the image of the rock. But as an “orphaned rock ”, that loneliness multiplies many times to turn into a profound, heartbreaking pain! Sometimes the writer only compares “ cold eyes like winter mountains ” [35,49] which is enough for the reader to feel all the loneliness and coldness in the human soul. Not only that, sometimes loneliness is compared directly: “Loneliness like a mountain standing alone without trees ” [35,43]. “ A desolate heart like the autumn wind blowing through an empty old house ” [40,104]. The comparison evokes emptiness, loneliness and heartache. The image of “orphaned rock” is once again used by the writer not simply to talk about loneliness but also to talk about pain. That was Hoan’s pain when Lan Di returned with the intention of taking back the child: “ Hoan still stood coldly like an orphaned rock ” [37,169]. It can be seen that the writer used the image of “orphaned rock” many times for comparison. Perhaps it is the only image that deeply expresses the loneliness and pain of both the body and soul of a person.

Life is impermanent, so sadness and joy always exist. In Cao Duy Son's writings, there seems to be more sadness than joy. The writer's way of expressing sadness is extremely delicate. Still on the basis of taking nature as the standard, we encounter many comparisons to be able to delve into that psychological state of a person. The comparison and the thing being compared to express sadness are also extremely rich and unique. Sometimes it is tears, the voice, the passage of time... When falling into a miserable situation, listening to lullabies, May Nhung feels " the sad voice is like the sound of a stream flowing silently in the quiet night " [35,208]. There are sadness mixed with pity when a girl's youth passes quickly: " A girl's age passes quickly like the moon passing over the mountain " [41,75]. There are sadness mixed with resentment for one's fate. That is when a woman cannot have the role of motherhood: “ Being a daughter like me is like having rice without fire, having vegetables without salt, like a tree that bears flowers but no fruit” [35,189]. The way of saying “having

- "no" comes with a series of things that need to go together in life, making the sadness surge, choking with sorrow! The pain and bitterness when the girl he loves rejects his feelings makes Ngan feel "bitter like a Mac Bat fruit in his throat " [35,227]. Sometimes it is the sadness for the journey of a human life that passes too quickly: " Human life passes quickly like the October green rice season " [41,174]. Human life passes quickly because time " passes quickly like a falling star " [35,127]. The sadness that surrounds Dieu ( Dan Troi ) makes her feel that " the sound of the old man's flute (Xam Ky) is like drinking wine with sadness, the more you drink, the more sadness rises but you can't get rid of it " [40,134]. Comparing the sound of the flute - perceived by hearing, with " wine drunk with sadness " - perceived by taste and mood, is truly special. The sadness seems to be heard, tasted and sinks deep into the heart along with the bitterness of the wine. Only then can we see the author's subtle perception. Sometimes the writer directly talks about sadness. When he cannot get Em, Sinh ( Love Market ) " is sad like a dried-up autumn stream ". And the woman when she has to share her husband's feelings for

Another woman has a “ sad voice drifting like autumn clouds ” [41,156]. Is it true that autumn often evokes sadness, so the author directly compares it to sadness? Moreover, “ dry autumn stream ” and “ autumn clouds ” are beautiful images. Beautiful but evoking sadness, the sadness seems more poignant and profound. Cao Duy Son chose images that are not only familiar to the lives of mountain people but also very beautiful and romantic to be able to describe the inner life of the character. Not elaborate or ornate, but the spiritual life of mountain people appears multifaceted and multidimensional. That shows Cao Duy Son's talent in using comparison and association.

Maybe you are interested!

Existing side by side with pain and sadness is joy and happiness. The comparison technique also makes those states of mind appear as having sound and color, lines and features. There is nothing more special than comparisons when talking about love between couples. Pure, clean and extremely sweet. Comparisons with a series of familiar, fresh and pure images make us feel that love and happiness are not far away but that they still exist every day right next to us and within us. Because " love is like the new sunshine of a pristine morning " [40,18]. It is " bright and clear like the autumn moon, sweet and pristine like the scent of rice " [40,48]. How special when the sweetness of love is compared to the flavor of rice flowers! Love brings joy. Joy makes laughter resound like the sound of "water pouring out of the mouth of a bamboo tube " [35,42]. Love brings happiness. Happiness makes the young woman's cheeks " red like a persimmon " [43,20]. And it is also love that supports the human soul so that it is " as clear as the morning sun " [39,138].

Besides using the comparison technique to describe the spiritual life, Cao Duy Son also often uses comparison to talk about the qualities and personalities of the people in the mountains. The images used for comparison are very familiar to the daily life of the people in the mountains such as blades of grass, streams, floods... The people in the mountains are associated with a self-sufficient life, close to nature.

natural, so they often have a free personality, a free spirit. That free personality is compared by the author to " grass on the mountain ". That image has a bit of wildness but is resilient and vital. The mountains and forests seem to have passed on to them the qualities and innocent, pure personalities, so they have " quality and soul as clear as an autumn forest stream, without competition, jealousy, or envy " [40,156]. The image of a clear stream is perhaps the most beautiful image to talk about the pure, genuine qualities of the mountain people. But sometimes they also carry within themselves a somewhat wild wildness. Khang is such a character. " Growing up, he was as stubborn as a mace, mischievous as a monkey in the forest, fierce as a hungry tiger " [37,195]. Or when talking about his evil heart, the author compares: " In Sai Van's stomach, it was like a flooded stream with dirty foam " [36,9]. The comparison image is missing, but the image being compared has clarified the missing part. The "dirty foam" on the flooded stream became a symbolic image for the dark, evil thoughts, for the "jealousy and anger" of Sai Van. As for Pin Si - a powerful man but suddenly one day lost everything, so he never stopped his desire to take revenge on the person who caused him to fall into poverty - that desire sometimes " flared up like hot coals buried in hot ashes " [35,204]. The image of hot coals buried in hot ashes is extremely close to the life of the mountain people. In the mountainous region, every house, before going to bed, would bury the coal with ashes instead of extinguishing it. In the ashes, the coals were still very red. That is why using this image to compare with Pin Si's desire for revenge is truly ingenious. It makes the reader see the hatred that never lets go of Pin Si's soul. Not only the face contributes to expressing the temperament, but the voice also does that. Jealousy, stubborn, hot-tempered, arbitrary, and vicious personality make “Pâu’s voice sound like the whistling wind” [37,180]. Hearing that voice, the reader can understand that he is ready to beat people if they go against his will. Thus, the use of comparison and familiar images to describe the personality and qualities of a person

has made the image of the mountain people appear multifaceted and multidimensional. Through that, readers can better understand the life as well as the people in the highlands.

The associative and imaginative thinking of the mountain people is very rich. Because their lives are closely linked to the very unique jobs and habits of mountain life, they have very interesting ways of estimating. The vast majority of those ways of speaking are used to estimate time or distance. The author often uses a specific season as a measure for a year, and uses familiar tasks to estimate distance. The year is measured by seasons, but those are special seasons. Phan came to Dien for “ two seasons of tung con ” [35,43]. Cao Duy Son used events to talk about time. “ Tung con season ” only exists in the mountains. That is in the spring, when ethnic boys and girls are eager and nervous to borrow the con fruit to find a lover. If the time when Phan came to Dien was described as “two springs”, that way of speaking would be much less unique and less ethnically nuanced than the way of speaking “ two seasons of tung con ”. The length of a year is also measured by “ opium season ” [37,195], “ moon season ” [35,48], by “ Tet ” [35,225]. Sometimes the author uses familiar objects and phenomena in the life of the mountain people as a measure of time. To express the period from morning to night, the author writes: “ They go to work from the first crow of their chicken until the sun goes to sleep on the other side of Nuc Ven mountain and then comes back to rest ” [37,197]. Sometimes the writer uses very unique associations. Du and Siu are twin brothers and they “ see the sun before each other just by the time the rice pot boils ” [36,170]. The short period of time is associated with the time enough for the rice pot to boil. The associative image makes the sentence have a very unique and novel feature. The passage of time is also measured by the dewy hair, by the wrinkles on the forehead: " The morning dew has returned to rest on the head, the waves of time have also appeared faintly on the forehead " [37,217], by the thinness of the legs: " Now the feet are small, the shoes are wide " [41,50].

Besides the way of estimating time, the author also often uses the way of estimating distance. Through the dialogue of the character, the reader can recognize the way of speaking of the highlanders when estimating the length of the distance ahead:

“ - …Is it far from here to Co Sau?

- Change the shoulder towel ten times, change the knife and throw it into the belly ten times, heading northeast and you will arrive " [35,128].

The distance from Ta Lung to Ta Phan is estimated by the time of “ one day on horseback ” [37,153]. There is no need to mention specific numbers to indicate the distance, but mainly borrow the way of estimating. That is a characteristic of the way of speaking of the mountain people.

Learning the prose language of Cao Duy Son, readers can also enjoy countless sentences rich in imagery. The writer talks about the presence of a small creature in this world as " going out to heaven and earth " [35,186]. To talk about the maturity and maturity of young men to build a family, the writer uses many images to express: " The flower tree has reached the time to bud, the bee has reached the day of giving honey " [35,44]. The " bud period " of flowers, the " day of giving honey " of bees are metaphorical images to talk about the age of marriage of young men and women. Cao Duy Son also has a very familiar but no less unique way of speaking when talking about old age: " Now I am like a fruit-bearing tree, too old, the fruit has withered, like the moon in the sky too late and no longer full. The day you did not dare to take me away, like a ripe fruit that you did not eat, like a full moon that you did not look at, now the fruit is only fibrous, the moon is now withered, cannot be eaten, looking at it only makes you sad ” [36,56]. The images of “ dried fruit ”, “ withered moon ” are very evocative. They not only help readers visualize the image of a person whose age has been taken away by time, whose beauty and strength have been taken away by age… but also evoke a sense of regret, torment and sorrow.

It can be said that the comparison technique, the way of speaking, the rich imagery are used by many writers to create lively, soulful writings. However, it is very suitable for the way of speaking and thinking of the highlanders. Therefore, through the pen of ethnic minority writers, the images of nature, life, and people in the highlands are presented very vividly, specifically, naturally, and simply. Entering the works of writer Cao Duy Son, readers can freely enjoy the lively language and writing style imbued with national nuances. It helps Cao Duy Son to convey all his artistic intentions into literature in the most simple and natural way. It can be said that the comparison and association technique, the way of speaking, the rich imagery have " made the unpolished and unpolished narrative style reveal the simple lifestyle of the Tay people, becoming a quite attractive literary technique ". That also contributes significantly to making " Tay prose language richer, more vivid, and clearer, the stories not only have current meaning but also have profound humanistic values " [50,33].

The above mentioned artistic aspects have contributed significantly to conveying the content values and national identities in Cao Duy Son’s works to readers. The artist has immersed himself in the souls and lives of his compatriots and then expressed their souls and lives on pages of literature rich in humanity and humanity. With these outstanding artistic aspects, Cao Duy Son has brought to readers everywhere a comprehensive and accurate picture of the people and lives of ethnic minorities.

CONCLUSION

Cao Duy Son is a writer who has lived closely with his homeland Cao Bang, was raised and " immersed in the original cultural layers " of the Tay people on the land of Co Sau, so his works, whether novels or short stories, all originate from that land. Coming to Cao Duy Son's works, readers are haunted by pages of literature imbued with the national cultural identity. That identity is imprinted on countless fates, vast landscapes and traditional cultural characteristics reflected by the writer in his works. All of these factors have contributed to shaping Cao Duy Son's own style in the prose of modern Vietnamese ethnic minorities.

It can be said that the homeland has become the land that nurtures and enriches the sources of inspiration in Cao Duy Son's works. That is the inspiration about human fate, the soul and character of ethnic minorities. That is also the inspiration about the traditional cultural values of ethnic minorities and the lyrical inspiration about mountainous nature. On the writer's writings, the picture of life and people in the mountains appears with many different colors, lines... The unfortunate fates of people still shine with many good qualities that are worthy of respect and praise. The natural landscapes with a strong mountainous character are also exploited from every angle of space and time. And along with that, countless beautiful customs and practices of the Tay people have been passionately portrayed by Cao Duy Son with an attitude of pride mixed with a bit of anxiety about their disappearance in the future. Each work of Cao Duy Son is a new and unique exploration, discovery, and discovery about ethnic minorities. From there, readers can have a deeper, more complete and clearer approach to the land and the ethnic life imbued with cultural identity.

To effectively convey important issues of life and people in the mountains to readers, Cao Duy Son focuses on the following factors:

National cultural identity in Cao Duy Son's works - 14

Comment