Short story Vi Thi Kim Binh

number of Vietnamese modern period. Even though after Vi Thi Kim Binh, there were a number of other female ethnic minority prose writers, with newer, more modern, and even more attractive works - Vi Thi Kim Binh is still a female ethnic minority prose writer with many contributions and an important position in the formation and development of Vietnamese ethnic prose in the modern period. Therefore, when studying Vietnamese ethnic minority literature, especially in the prose genre, it is impossible not to study the female writer Vi Thi Kim Binh as a typical ethnic minority writer, with many contributions worth affirming.

However, up to now, according to our survey, there has not been any specialized research on writer Vi Thi Kim Binh. There are only a few articles or small opinions in a whole work, articles on literature of ethnic minorities in general that mention this author. Therefore, studying Vi Thi Kim Binh's short stories is a necessary task, with practical and scientific significance. Especially, in the current period - the period of industrialization, modernization and international integration is developing strongly, the issue of building a culture that is both modern, advanced but still imbued with national identity under the direction of the Party and the State, then researching and affirming the contributions of ethnic minority writers to the general development of modern Vietnamese literature is necessary and timely.

1.3. In addition, Vi Thi Kim Binh is one of three Lang Son writers who are members of the Vietnam Writers Association whose works are selected for teaching in the curriculum of junior high schools (local literature section), so the results of this research will also be an important document serving the research and teaching of local literature in Lang Son province in particular, and at the same time a reference document for those who research and study modern Vietnamese ethnic minority prose in general in the process of formation, movement and development of this unique literary part.

For the above reasons, we have chosen the topic: Vi Thi Kim Binh's short story as the topic of our Master's thesis.

2. Problem history

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Vi Thi Kim Binh is a first-generation female ethnic minority writer, so she is mentioned by many people in research works on ethnic minority literature. However, in-depth research on her writing career, we have not yet found any specialized research work. Through the survey, it can be seen that researchers and critics refer to the case of writer Vi Thi Kim Binh in two forms as follows:

Firstly, articles in comprehensive research works on ethnic minority literature. Some typical works and articles include: Essay collection New Road (1985) by Nong Quoc Chan; Modern Vietnamese Ethnic Minority Literature (1995), On a section of ethnic literature (1999), Literature and the mountains (2002) by Lam Tien; Vietnamese Ethnic Minority Literature (1997); Modern Vietnamese Ethnic Minority Writers (1998); Looking back at the end of the 20th century (2001) by many authors; Modern Vietnamese prose on ethnic minorities and the mountains (2012) by Pham Duy Nghia;... In those research works, the name Vi Thi Kim Binh is mentioned along with the names of the first generation of ethnic minority writers. The authors pointed out the position, contributions as well as the limitations of Vietnamese ethnic minority literature in general, including writer Vi Thi Kim Binh.

Initially assessing the contributions of writer Vi Thi Kim to the early ethnic minority literature, in the essay collection New Road Nong Quoc Chan - "the great tree of ethnic minority literature" affirmed: "Vi Thi Kim Binh, is almost the only female writer in the mountainous region who regularly writes about medical topics. The main characters in many of her short stories are often doctors, physicians, nurses, caregivers and people who are cared for by doctors. Being both a doctor and a writer, Vi Thi Kim Binh and her colleagues are guarding the Lang Son border area. The short story collection Joy initially affirms Vi Thi Kim Binh's literary position" [9 ] The above comment of the writer

Nong Quoc Chan's poetry shows that the topic that writer Vi Thi Kim Binh reflects is medical, the characters in the writer's works are closely associated with her life and work.

In the book "Modern Vietnamese Ethnic Minority Literature" - one of the first works to comprehensively research ethnic minority literature by Lam Tien, Vi Thi Kim Binh is the only female Tay ethnic writer out of a total of 23 ethnic minority writers mentioned at that time (up to the time of research, 1993).

In the article "Lang Son prose through some stories and memoirs" printed in the Lang Son Literature and Arts Magazine, issue 140, June 2005, Lam Tien also commented on the advantages and disadvantages of Vi Thi Kim Binh's short stories: "Stories (by Vi Thi Kim Binh) often take place in chronological order... often focusing on telling events and actions, and not on analyzing the psychology and inner thoughts of the characters, so the stories... easily reach the reader, but rarely leave a deep impression on the fate of the characters..." [49]. This is one of the accurate comments on Vi Thi Kim Binh's prose art.

In the research work "Modern Vietnamese prose about ethnic groups and mountainous areas" , Doctor of literature Pham Duy Nghia also mentioned the image of mountain people in Vi Thi Kim Binh's short stories. They are people who "go towards the light" , they "have knowledge, have qualifications, always want to prove the truth of science, help the vision of their ethnic people escape the narrow siege of the mountains and forests" [36, p. 97]. Besides, the author also discovered that : "The female characters in Vi Thi Kim Binh's short stories do not have their own circumstances, psychology and personality, they are all the same in dreams and actions. In the core structure of the characters, the unique individual is always overshadowed or is zero next to the general, general" [36, p. 162]. And the author commented: "This is also a common feature of literature of a period" [36, p. 162].

It can be seen that the comments about writer Vi Thi Kim Binh in the comprehensive research works on ethnic minority literature are often short comments, without analysis and explanation, only of a cursory nature, affirming the position and some contributions of Vi Thi Kim Binh in modern Vietnamese ethnic minority literature.

Second, in a number of specific articles, directly about the author Vi Thi Kim Binh. Right from her first short story Naming Vi Thi Kim Binh, she won the Encouragement Prize of the Viet Bac Literature and Arts magazine. Talking about this event, Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Duy Bac affirmed: "The person who started and made the first mark for modern prose in Lang Son was the writer Vi Thi Kim Binh" [7, p. 682]. Writer Dang Tien Huy, former Chairman of the Literature and Arts Association of Bac Giang province, in the article "White Lily in Viet Bac Literature and Arts" wrote: "The young doctor stayed up all night writing the short story Naming and sent it to the contest. This first work won the Encouragement Prize... and "Named" Vi Thi Kim Binh into the country's literary world" [7, p. 674] . Writer Cao Duy Son also noted: "With the short story Naming , author Vi Thi Kim Binh has made her name in the modern Vietnamese literature" [19]. Writer Ngoc Mai (Member of the Literature and Arts Association of Lang Son province) also affirmed: "The short story Naming is a work born so that the Tay people can have the first female writer, who is also the first female writer of ethnic minorities" [25, p. 93].

Talking about the short story White Lilies (won the Encouragement Prize in the short story contest of the weekly Literature and Arts, Vietnam Writers Association in 1968), critic Duong Loc Vuong commented: "The story is expressed in a simple writing style. A writing style with many short, concise sentences, a lot of information, rich in expressiveness, concise character dialogue. The writing style just "calmly" recounts the events without any comments from the author" [34, p. 267]. And later, when writing about this female writer of the Tay ethnic group from Lang Son, writer Dang Tien Huy called Vi Thi Kim Binh " White Lily in Literature and Arts " [34, p. 267].

Viet Bac". Cao Duy Son also affirmed that, with the short story " White Lilies" , Vi Thi Kim Binh had made a step forward in art "From the composition of the work to the language being restrained to the maximum, every detail is carefully and delicately selected" [19].

It can be seen that the familiar "world" of characters of Vi Thi Kim Binh are women. Especially the female doctors and nurses, the female nurses and caregivers who are always dedicated to their work. Reading the short stories of Vi Thi Kim Binh, Associate Professor, Dr. Ton Thao Mien commented: "As a female writer, writing about women, Vi Thi Kim Binh shows a good understanding of the characters' thoughts and feelings. The author's sympathy for the characters is expressed through each page, making the reader feel sad and moved" [33, p. 40]. Therefore, the female characters of Vi Thi Kim Binh are portrayed very realistically, close to people in real life.

In 1988, the National Culture Publishing House published the book "Modern Vietnamese Ethnic Minority Writers" edited by Professor Phong Le, including articles about 16 writers and poets of ethnic minorities, including an article by author Phan Diem Phuong about writer Vi Thi Kim Binh. The author of the article pointed out the outstanding features of content and art in Vi Thi Kim Binh's works. Commenting on the characters of female doctors and physicians, female nurses and caregivers in the short story Vi Thi Kim Binh, this author said: "These types of characters are not portrayed by the author as people with their own situations and personality traits... Vi Thi Kim Binh focused on expressing the common qualities that a doctor has or needs to have: dedication, sacrifice, and love for people..." [20, p. 62]. With the goal of "opening another path to bring the light of culture and civilization to remote, isolated forest areas" [20, p. 62], "Vi Thi Kim Binh's short stories will be written in a clear, simple, and easy-to-understand way so that they can reach all classes of highland readers" [20, p. 62]. At the same time, Phan Diem Phuong also noted that such a writing style is suitable for

The general level of ethnic minorities at that time and "Such a clear, smooth, "easy to read" writing style once had its positive effects" [20, p. 62] .

Duong Loc Vuong in the article "Reading the short story The Lilies by Vi Thi Kim Binh" also pointed out the advantages as well as limitations in terms of art of the work. Regarding the advantages, it can be seen that "The story is expressed in a simple style... with short, concise sentences, a lot of information, rich in expression" , " each character is illuminated by the author from a different angle to focus on illuminating the will, the extraordinary determination to defeat the bombs and bullets, to defeat the enemy" [34, p. 267]. Besides, the author thinks that the structure at the end of the work is somewhat lacking, the writer let the character speak out his thoughts so the character's dialogue is somewhat forced. But anyway, the work is still "one of the good, attractive short stories of Vi Thi Kim Binh" [34, p. 268] deserving of the Hoang Van Thu award.

On October 27, 2012, Lang Son Literature and Arts Association organized a workshop on “Literary creation career of writers: Ma The Vinh, Nguyen Truong Thanh, Vi Thi Kim Binh”, to affirm the contributions of the three writers to Lang Son literature and arts and the literature and arts of the whole country. In the workshop, there were many presentations affirming the artistic talent as well as the contributions of writer Vi Thi Kim Binh to the literature and arts of ethnic minorities. The presentations in the workshop highlighted the personality, career, and value of Vi Thi Kim Binh’s works. The following 6 presentations can be named:

- Lang Son has three writers like that by author Loc Bich Kiem.

- Female writer Vi Thi Kim Binh "The pioneer" of modern Lang Son prose by Nguyen Quang Huynh.

- The white lily scent still spreads from Cao Duy Son.

- Study on character building in short stories and novellas of writer Vi Thi Kim Binh by Dr. Hoang Van An.

- Star anise lily by Dang Tien Huy.

- Feelings about the female character in the short story by writer Vi Thi Kim Binh by author Hoang Thi Kim Van.

Most of the papers highly appreciated the role and contributions of writer Vi Thi Kim Binh to the literature and art of Lang Son province in particular and the literature of modern Vietnamese ethnic minorities in general. In terms of content, researcher Loc Bich Kiem said: "Her works deal with many topics, but the most typical and focused are the topics of mountainous areas, the image of new women in labor contributing to society" [19]. Author Hoang Thi Kim Van also affirmed: " With gentle, simple but profound everyday stories, Vi Thi Kim Binh's short stories always contain values of praise, affirming the good qualities of people. In particular, she has devoted the best feelings, the most beautiful drawings to women with bright hearts, no matter what the circumstances, they always know how to rise up to overcome all difficulties and challenges to move towards the future. That is why her works always anchor in the hearts of readers" [19] . Each work of writer Vi Thi Kim Binh brings readers the feeling that the characters and their lives are expressed by the author on the writing page very close to people outside of life. Therefore, "reading is like not seeing the author, only the characters with story situations make readers feel like they are living together, suffering together, pitying and receiving love and sympathy" [19].

In terms of art, Dr. Hoang Van An also pointed out the advantages as well as the limitations in the art of character building of Vi Thi Kim Binh. The success in some of Vi Thi Kim Binh's works is "tight structure, many details, good images; Combining narration, leading, dialogue and description,

pay attention to both the inner self..., do not easily let one-sided developments happen" [19] . However, there is one regrettable point that "the central character has not yet become a "memorable" character, a typical character in a typical situation" [19].

In the conference, with his speech, writer Cao Duy Son said that " Her works, whether written during war or peace, still have value for today's life. That value is in each page of writing bearing the historical mark of the country, in the mindset of a generation that lived through the most vibrant and arduous stages of the resistance war against American imperialism, and the early days of building peace for the whole nation. That spirit was captured by writer Vi Thi Kim Binh in specific fates, circumstances and specific spaces in short stories and memoirs that, although small and limited, still have the power to attract associations, create romantic and warm emotions" [19] and the author clearly affirmed that Vi Thi Kim Binh : "She is the leading bird of the female literature village of ethnic minorities in Vietnam, the first female writer of ethnic minorities to write prose in Vietnam" [19].

Thus, after the survey, we found that, although she appeared quite early and was one of the female writers of ethnic minorities who "opened" the prose of modern Vietnamese ethnic minorities and made practical contributions to the topic of writing about mountainous areas, author Vi Thi Kim Binh has only been interested by a few people, who have written critical articles about her works, and those are only individual opinions, not systematic, and the evaluation is not really comprehensive and complete. Therefore, studying and researching the short stories of writer Vi Thi Kim Binh in a systematic and comprehensive manner to fairly and objectively evaluate the valuable contributions of this female writer of the Tay ethnic group to the prose of ethnic minorities in particular, and to the literature of ethnic minorities in the modern period in general is a necessary, scientific and practical task.