Research Status on the Art World in Nguyen Hong's Creations

In particular, after the writer's death, there were a number of comprehensive research works on Nguyen Hong, a number of articles by authors who were poets and writers of the same period as Nguyen Hong such as Kim Lan, Nguyen Tuan, Huy Can,... and other writers.

research, criticism, poets of later generations such as: Ha Minh Duc, Te Hanh, Bui Hien, Bui Ngoc Tan, Nguyen Quang Than, Ngo Van Phu,... The content of these articles are the authors' memories and recollections related to the writer, expressing their love, respect, praise for the talent, artistic qualities and meaningful lessons drawn from the life and career of the excellent realist writer Nguyen Hong.

Most recently, in November 2013, the Hai Phong Literature and Arts Association organized a workshop on “Writer Nguyen Hong - his life and literary career” (in commemoration of the 95th anniversary of the birth of writer Nguyen Hong, in Hai Phong). Within the framework of the workshop, opinions from Prof. Dr. Tran Dang Suyen, Associate Prof. Dr. Nguyen Ngoc Thien, Dr. Le Thi Bich Hong, Dr. Nguyen Duc Thuan... poet Huu Thinh, writer Dinh Kinh, writer Do Nhat Minh, writer Cao Nam, Luu Van Khue, historian Le Van Loi, photographer Hoang Minh Dang... all expressed admiration and respect for Nguyen Hong's talent and personality. All opinions highly appreciated Nguyen Hong's contributions to the development of modern Vietnamese literature. Poet Huu Thinh - Chairman of the Vietnam Union of Literature and Arts Associations, Chairman of the Vietnam Writers Association recognized Nguyen Hong's contributions, that is: "Nguyen Hong is a great author, an epic author of the highest caliber in modern Vietnamese literature, a truly outstanding writer of the 20th century" [119]. Professor, Dr. Tran Dang Suyen affirmed: "Nguyen Hong is a writer of profound and touching humanism; his works enrich the humanism of national literature" [119]. With an overview of Nguyen Hong from "a century's perspective" - ​​Associate Professor, Dr. Doan Trong Huy

[119] had very respectful and accurate assessments of the writer: “ Nguyen Hong lived with the great events of the country… as a witness of history, also a participant in making history, Nguyen Hong lived and wrote with all his heart. The writer's writings have the saltiness of sweat of labor, the warmth of tears mixed with the radiance of a smile. Everything on the paper is expressed brightly with the blood and soul” (Nguyen Hong from the perspective of the century)...

In summary: When studying the life and writing career of Nguyen Hong, researchers and critics all highly appreciate his talent and personality, affirming that Nguyen Hong is one of the most outstanding writers of the movement.

Critical realist literature 1930 - 1945. With his contributions, Nguyen Hong played an important role in completing the modernization process of Vietnamese literature in the 20th century.

1.2. Research status on the Art World in Nguyen Hong's works

Based on the concept: The art world "is the whole of literary form", "is the emotional, perceptible creative product of the artist, a special type of existence, both in material and in the perception of the audience, is the unity of all diverse elements in the work" [140, p. 30], we understand that: The art world is the unity of all elements: Topics, themes, characters, time and space, artistic language... all create an art world with its own characteristics, bearing the creative personality of the writer.

From the theoretical basis and reasoning as above, the author of the thesis has studied the research history of Nguyen Hong's Art World in the following aspects:

1.2.1. About the topic of composition

In the book Vietnamese Literature History Outline by Duong Quang Ham (first published in 1941, reprinted in 1993), Dong Thap General Publishing House, with the research content on "Popular trends of thought in modern national literature" , divided into 3 trends: Academic trend, romantic trend, realistic trend. The author classified Nguyen Hong's works into the realistic trend along with Vu Trong Phung, Trong Lang [51, p. 466]. Also sharing this point of view, The Phong affirmed: "Nguyen Hong is the most social writer according to the proper noun. The social nature in Nguyen Hong's literature is realistic description.

"the life of the urban poor is also reflected in realistic works" [123, p. 77]. Professor and Doctor of Science NI Nikulin , when studying the History of Vietnamese Literature, said that " the life of the urban poor is also reflected in realistic works" , and the author cited a typical example, "the novel Bi Vo by Nguyen Hong" [103, p. 749] .

Many researchers on Nguyen Hong later such as Nguyen Dang Manh, Phan Cu De, Ha Minh Duc ... also agreed that the subject of Nguyen Hong's writing was the life of the poor laborers at the bottom of feudal colonial society. " From the world of the most miserable laborers in society. Nguyen Hong came to the profession of literature" [116, p. 78]; " Every writer has a source of their loving spirit, Ngo Tat To absorbed the healthy, sincere, optimistic breath of the farmers, while Nguyen Hong was deeply rooted in the life and good feelings of the poor people and workers in the city. He always talked about the poor laborers with gratitude and loyalty, with lifelong attachment" [116, p. 106]...

It can be seen that: the opinions, comments, and assessments of researchers and critics (before and after the revolution) have all revealed: The creative theme in Nguyen Hong's works is the life of miserable people in contemporary society, the writer was very successful when writing about this topic - and this is completely correct. Therefore, in our thesis, we will not delve into this aspect but will focus on some other aspects in the Artistic World of the realist writer Nguyen Hong.

1.2.2. About the topic of composition

In the comments of the Tu Luc Van Doan Award , 1937 ( Today newspaper, 1938), Thach Lam evaluated the success as well as the limitations in the novel Bi Vo as follows: “The special thing about Nguyen Hong is probably the natural color and flexibility. People are happy that with such a title (the life of a decadent girl), Nguyen Hong skillfully stood within the scope of truth and feeling, without falling into cliches and flowery sentences,... there are still many clumsy places... many sentences are not concise. But that is the fault of a writer and will disappear with experience and maturity in the profession”. Within the framework of an Award Comment, Thach Lam only commented on the naturalness and flexibility as well as some limitations in Nguyen Hong's writing.

Phan Cu De affirmed that: “ The main problem in Nguyen Hong's works before the Revolution is: people writhing in suffering but still optimistic, loving life, still wanting to "rise to the light like green shoots" [116, p. 111]. The author emphasized the nature of Nguyen Hong's characters, that is: the poor people, although pushed by society to impoverishment (even hooliganism), but in them there is always a desire for an honest life in a fairer, more beautiful society.

Critic Vu Ngoc Phan found that in Nguyen Hong's short stories "mostly mixed with a bitter and discreet reportage tone, mostly using action instead of words, so his art is very profound" [116, p. 44], "He went from the poor life of several classes of people despised by society to very complex and equally noisy and bustling inner lives" [116, p. 48] , "only when love for humanity reaches its peak, do people care passionately for those abandoned by society " [116, p. 43]. Vu Ngoc Phan also talked about the creative inspiration and humane values ​​emanating from Nguyen Hong's writings, this is a very noteworthy opinion when explaining the source of the writer's creative inspiration.

Summarizing the entire literary life of Nguyen Hong, Nguyen Minh Chau saw that “The mounds and mounds pulled up so many types of people, the models of the old society”... “he always placed his firm faith in the good core of the character of the poor working people” [116, p. 379]. At the same time, the author also said that: Nguyen Hong was “A writer of ten kinds of living beings”..., “stepping out from the heart of the society of “ten kinds of living beings”, holding an iron pen dipped in his sweat, tears and blood to write his own literature ” [116, p. 378]. We see that: Nguyen Minh Chau as well as the above researchers and critics have emphasized that the aesthetic object in Nguyen Hong's works is the poor people in the old society, at the same time the author also affirmed Nguyen Hong's firm belief in the good nature of the working people - that is the prominent theme, covering all the works of this realistic writer.

1.2.3. About the character

Even before the Revolution, Truong Chinh had harsh comments about the novel Bi Vo such as: lacking art, lacking experience, but he also gave objective comments about Nguyen Hong's character building:

"The author piled one disaster after another on Binh's head until she was arrested and imprisoned," that is a comment about one of the character building characteristics of Nguyen Hong in a specific novel.

Author Ha Minh Duc, when giving a general assessment of Nguyen Hong and the writer's creative process, commented: "Nguyen Hong, a writer of life aspirations"... "a writer of the worker's quarters", "a person who brought into the pages of his books the salt, sweat and dust of life" [116, p. 13]. At the same time, the author emphasized the characteristics of Nguyen Hong's characters: " The world of Nguyen Hong's characters is surrounded by poverty with no way out (...) but always nurtures the true human desire to live... It is also easy to recognize the working people in Nguyen Hong's works in their poor lives, their compassion and their aspirations to live" [116, p. 17]... Here, the researcher affirmed the compassion, optimism and immortal vitality in Nguyen Hong's characters. At the same time, the author also pointed out the weakness in Nguyen Hong's character building: "there is still a lack of villains to create counterbalances for characters from different rich and poor classes " [116, p. 18]. Talking about Nguyen Hong's limitations in character building, Vu Duc Phuc and Nguyen Duc Dan said: "If Nguyen Hong's thoughts are relatively progressive, in terms of art, he often has the weakness of long-winded reasoning and directly expressing his own meanings instead of describing events and human personalities. His characters often philosophize about their own and others' suffering rather than their actions... in his works, many pages are in the nature of articles or lyrical notes, he does not focus on building vivid examples" [125, p. 149]. The above opinion about Nguyen Hong's limitations in character building is not supported by anyone.

Author Phan Cu De believes that Nguyen Hong's characters "are people who are writhing in pain but are still optimistic, love life, and still rise to the light like green shoots" [116, p. 111]. The author also comments on the precious qualities of the characters in Nguyen Hong's works such as: "love and mutual support among the suffering", "loyalty and sacrifice for the happiness of others", "self-respect despite hunger and suffering, still does not accept a decadent lifestyle, selling one's dignity to chase after money and fame". At the same time, Phan Cu De also frankly points out the limitations in the way of building characters.

Nguyen Hong's characters such as: "However, many of Nguyen Hong's poor characters still maintain an attitude of resignation, patience, and endurance in the face of their circumstances. Sometimes we have the impression that the writer's pen is constantly immersed in suffering, intoxicated with a kind of misery"... "This weakness from 1938 onwards was gradually overcome" [116, p. 111]. Thus, the author has recognized the success as well as the limitations of Nguyen Hong's character building.

When studying the general “Nguyen Hong - the man and his career” [116], author Nguyen Dang Manh also summarized Nguyen Hong's creative process before and after the Revolution, pointing out important characteristics in the writer's works. These are humanism, creative inspiration, and three familiar types of characters of the writer: "people who do heavy labor and odd jobs" [p. 82], "poor women who often make a living by selling baskets, or selling rice and drinks" [p. 83]; "poor children" [p. 86]; In addition, there are "young characters belonging to the poor petty bourgeoisie" [p. 86] and "ruffians and thugs" [p. 80]. However, with a general research work on "Nguyen Hong, the man and his career", Nguyen Dang Manh has only stopped at the level of a general introduction to Nguyen Hong's character types, without pointing out the specific characteristics of each character type as well as not going into depth in researching the art of building each character type.

Commenting on the character of Nguyen Hong, there is an opinion that “In the world of his characters, we often encounter extraordinary personalities, holy people tinged with religion and romantic colors. These are unusual people with personality traits that are highlighted, exaggerated, and pushed to the extreme. All have a certain common feature that makes readers realize that these are the characters, the spiritual children of Nguyen Hong” [131, p. 420]. In our opinion, this is an accurate and subtle comment because the author has pointed out the difference between Nguyen Hong's characters and the characters of other writers of his time, including critical realist writers.

Regarding Nguyen Hong's creative art, Associate Professor, Dr. Doan Trong Huy also affirmed that " Nguyen Hong has a lot of inspiration to create and innovate in the field of prose. The art of language develops by delving into the rich and extremely lively aspects of life." From the perspective of a stage director, artist