Subjective Premise: Ho Anh Thai's Literary Concept

sowing seeds. This is a unique genre of medieval narrative prose. The name "legend" itself contains elements of fantasy and unusualness. Because legends are strange stories passed down among the people. The pinnacle of Vietnamese legends is the work Truyen Ky Man Luc by Nguyen Du. Absorbing the quintessence of Tang Dynasty legends and the strangeness that is already available in the traditional folk treasure, Nguyen Du has created truly valuable works such as The abandoned pagoda in Dong Trieu , The strange story in the Tay camp , The story of the cotton tree ... The author has built a world in which there is confusion between the real and the virtual. But the important thing is that the virtual here is not strange, or like a salvation before human helplessness, but more importantly, it lies in the consciousness of the writer. The strange appears to help reality be reflected in depth and emerge sharply. Things that writers are not allowed to say or do not want to say directly are said more deeply and profoundly by the strange. Vu Thanh himself recognized that characteristic: “In legendary stories, authors use the strange element not only as a cover to hide the writer’s deep intentions but also as an artistic style that is characteristic of the genre. The author reflects reality through the strange” [72, p.14]. If myths use the strange unconsciously, fairy tales borrow the strange to satisfy dreams, then legendary stories are a significant step forward. The strange becomes an artistic means to effectively capture and reflect reality for the writer.

The fantastic did not die when entering the 20th century. That proposition is still true when looking at national literature. In the 20th century, we recognized the echoes of legendary stories and strange stories in modern Vietnamese literature and it seems that the wave became stronger and stronger. Vietnamese literature from the early 20th century to before the August Revolution had many works with strong colors of Liao Zhai, ghosts and monsters with clear echoes of legendary stories: Kim Ba chi di

(Kim Ba), Gold and Blood , Bo Tung Linh's Camp (The Lu),... Right in the title, the authors claimed to be disciples of Bo Tung Linh, the creator of the famous collection of legendary stories: Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio . In addition, there are works: New Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio (Phong Ngan), Tiger God, Who Sings in the Khuya Forest (Dai Duc Tuan), Looking for Incense in His Mouth (Thanh Tinh). When it comes to 20th century literature, it is impossible not to mention Nguyen Tuan - a strange and unique style. Even in the field of the fantastic, his short stories also have valuable contributions. The mysterious, magical, and ghostly colors cover some of Nguyen Tuan's writings such as: The Last Examination , On the Top of Tan Mountain , and Dan Pagoda . The revenge of a woman against the two brothers of Mr. Dau Xu, the fairyland on the top of Tan Mountain, and the ghostly, responsive zither in Dan Pagoda are manifestations of the fantastic in Nguyen Tuan's writings. With works that have a strong Liao Zhai color, the author has identified them with a very valuable word, "love language". In general, the fantasy in works in the first half of the 20th century still has the characteristics of legendary stories, playing the role of a unique artistic method, but the difference is that it is expressed through the writing style and feelings of modern people.

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After the August Revolution, our country's literature entered a new orbit, bearing the characteristics of a revolutionary literature. Literature became a front, contributing to the struggle for national survival. All manifestations of pessimism, skepticism, and superstition were eliminated. The fantastic naturally lost its place and retreated into the background. However, scattered in some works in the southern cities, there were still fantastic elements, typically But Mau (Vu Hanh). This was the pause, the interruption of the fantastic flow as mentioned above.

The 1975 victory is considered a milestone that ended the period of continuous national defense war, opened a new period of development for the nation and at the same time opened a new path for Vietnamese literature. Literary innovation will be difficult.

would not have come true without the decisive support of the democratization trend. After 1975, especially since the mid-1980s, democratization was the greatest trend of society and people's spiritual life and it also became the trend that covered Vietnamese literature. This trend was specified in the renovation policy at the 6th Party Congress, followed by Resolution 05 of the Politburo on "Innovation and improvement of the management level of literature, art and culture, promoting creativity, bringing literature, art and culture to a new level of development", and in the meeting of General Secretary Nguyen Van Linh with representatives of Vietnamese artists in Hanoi in October.

– 1987; all of these things created a cool breeze blowing into the literary and artistic life of our country, opening a period of innovation in Vietnamese literature in the spirit of “renewing thinking, looking straight at the truth”, creating an ideological premise for the trend of democratization in literature to be opened up and develop strongly. It must be said that “freedom of creation” has become a great force stimulating the creativity of writers, the situation as Nguyen Minh Chau said: “Writing a loyal sentence must write a flattering sentence” has now disappeared, the topics have been expanded, not bound by the requirement of “all for the frontline” as before but covering all areas, every corner of life. War has also been re-examined to its hidden corners. War in prose at this time is not only the bright and brilliant side of the medal, but also its dark side with many rough edges, and is mainly viewed from the perspective of personal fate and personal problems. Among the typical representatives, we must mention The fate of love by Bao Ninh, The husbandless wharf by Duong Huong, or The remnant of the laughing forest by Vo Thi Hao,... The spirit of democracy has also given writers a new position, as spokespersons for social consciousness but from a personal perspective, with their own personal voice, and literary works become a means.

self-expression means the writer expresses his thoughts and ideas about society and people.

Some other favorable conditions can be mentioned, such as: innovation in the assessment of the role and function of literature, the relationship between literature and reality, or Western literary works (not including classical European literature that had been introduced before) being translated and widely introduced, etc., also brought many positive influences to literature. However, we still believe that the awakening of individual consciousness in the new life and the trend of democratization in literary creation are two main factors that bring about changes in the way writers evaluate and express themselves; from there, there are changes from topics, themes, plot structure, characters, to language, tone, as well as the appearance of some other artistic techniques.

After 1975, literature returned to everyday life, opening up the source of the fantastic. In recent years, literature has opened its doors to welcome the return of the fantastic with enthusiasm and openness. Observing the growth of literature after 1975, we feel that the fantastic is greater than before in both quantity and quality. In terms of quantity, we cannot list everything, only focusing on outstanding phenomena such as Nguyen Huy Thiep ( Flowing, Oh River , The Water God's Daughter , the series of stories " The Winds of Hua Tat " ...), Vo Thi Hao ( Broken Heart , Pale Fairy ...). Pham Thi Hoai ( Angel , Saigon Tailor Shop ), Luu Minh Son ( Wharf of the World ), Pham Hai Van ( Pipe , Tailor ), Hoa Vang ( Envoy, Tale of a Beautiful Day ), Ho Anh Thai with short stories and novels... In terms of quality, the magical in literature after 1975 has found rich, diverse and unique ways of expression. Exploring new ways, writers make the magical appear not monotonous but lively and attractive. The winds of Hua Tat with ten stories on a small board by Nguyen Huy Thiep are covered in mist

fairy tale. Returning, exploiting familiar motifs in the treasure trove of folk literature, Nguyen Huy Thiep has created beautiful, ancient stories but hidden inside is a painful human life. Along with the innovation in the method of expression, the fantastic takes on new missions. If in the past our writers were familiar with the "realistic" style, now the fantastic is born, showing innovation in the method of reflection. Through the lens of fantasy, reality becomes multidimensional, full of uncertainties and randomness. Thanks to the fantastic, reality is indirectly illuminated, increasing the generality and philosophical depth of the work. It can be affirmed that the return of the fantastic is a good sign. We look forward to the next achievements of contemporary literature on the basis of promoting tradition.

Studying the fantasy in the common sky of Vietnamese and world literature, we want to affirm that this is a continuous flow and has universal laws. However, in that general trend, each nation and each individual will find their own path to affirm their existence and position. In this thesis, we want to delve into a specific phenomenon: the fantasy in Ho Anh Thai's literature.

1.2.2 .Subjective premise: Ho Anh Thai's literary concept

1.2.2.1. The expansion of the concept of reality and the object of reflection of literature

After 1975, especially after 1986, literature has changed a lot in harmony with the country's innovation. Writers are interested in new ways of expression beyond the principles of realism. Following this flow, the magical element has strongly reappeared, becoming an artistic technique used flexibly to capture reality, demonstrating its strong and abundant vitality. According to Nguyen Ngoc, "the old material is the traditional material that is familiar and has favorable properties, the new material is much more abundant and complex, it has many aspects, many mixed dimensions and among them there are quite a few

more than the opposite directions…in particular, the opposite directions seem to be exploited more intensively” [16, p.82], because the opposite directions are often more novel and attractive. It is the presence of this new material that has placed literature before the third time of recognition, leading to changes in artistic thinking, the main inspiration of literature, as well as the form of works, artistic language…and especially in the concept of reality of today's literature.

The main reason for the change in the concept of reality and the realism of literature comes from the writers. For them, reality at this time does not mean realism or realism, but rather, it is “the legendary beauty of natural reproduction according to the writer’s unique perspective on things” [16, p.176]. The range of reality in the writers’ concept has been expanded, illuminated from many angles, creating conditions for them to penetrate new territories, suitable for their creative personality and rich imagination.

In the context of the change in the view of reality in contemporary literature, Ho Anh Thai also presents a unique and separate concept of reality: The concept of reality is not enough to see, hear, or experience. Reality is also what we feel. What exists in the outside world can be found in the inner world of each person, in their heart and mind. The whole spiritual life is also reality. Close to this concept of Ho Anh Thai, Ngo Tu Lap also believes that "Even reality is just a dream, a chaotic, endless dream, a dream with the flight paths of a maze" [44, p.28]. The change in the concept of reality has helped writers have the opportunity to explore all aspects of life, delve into the hidden corners of objective reality and spiritual reality to be able to freely associate, using the magical element as an effective technique to represent this reality.

1.2.2.2. The concept of "Novel as a long dream"

When interviewed by journalist Hoang Lan Anh on Nguoi lao dong cuoi tuan, Ho Anh Thai shared: “To me, a novel is like a long dream, it both belongs to this world and is somewhere far away. I often compare it to a dream that when you wake up, you are both overjoyed as if you had just escaped from a nightmare, but also regretful because you have to say goodbye to things that are not in real life. If I only used the purely realistic method, I would not have that dream, because that would be impoverishing my own writing” [81, p.248]. With this concept, Ho Anh Thai has established for himself a view that goes beyond the conventional way of thinking that considers literature as a mirror reflecting reality in a simple way, a kind of “rudimentary reality”. Like Hoa Vang, Ho Anh Thai does not acknowledge the monopoly of the purely realistic method but emphasizes the ability to imagine freely, unrestrainedly, and to expand the infinite amplitude of reality. And he also admitted that he was influenced by the thoughts of Indian philosopher Vivekananda when discussing art: "This world is so small, one must add a little imagination to it."

Looking back at the “one-time concept of crude realism”, Ho Anh Thai said: “It was too real but not close to reality”, at the same time he did not hide his desire to read and write “works of extraordinary imagination, creating strange situations, passionate emotions, characters who refused to wear uniforms” [82, p.12]. It was this concept that led Ho Anh Thai to the fantastic, taking advantage of it as a valuable technique to create charm for his writings.

1.2.2.3. The concept of serious work of writers

Ho Anh Thai also has serious ideas about artistic work, requiring creativity and originality on each page of writing, not amateur labor. He does not expect

in "inspiration" but have a clear "work schedule": "Office work is busy, but every day I have to write regularly for at least two hours. A professional writer must be like that, sitting at the desk and you must have enough skills to mobilize inspiration. Waiting for inspiration to come naturally is an amateurish work attitude and somewhat mystifies the writing profession" [81, p.249]. With such a serious and responsible writing attitude, Ho Anh Thai has always been searching and creative on each page of his writing. He affirmed: "The reality and artistic space of each book require a separate way of handling, a separate tone, a separate writing style. I avoid repeating others and repeating myself. I think that a person with style is one who does not stubbornly stick to a fixed, unchanging style. Having style means having many tones, no matter how much you change your tone, it is still based on your cultural foundation, on your vision of the human world. Thinking that changing one's tone will dilute one's own style is a simple understanding and makes creators lazy and afraid to renew themselves" [81, p.246].

Thus, in Chapter I, from the effort to find a common understanding of the fantastic, as well as clarify it with some related concepts, to study the overall fantastic element in the process of world and Vietnamese literature, along with the ideas of writer Ho Anh Thai, we have tried to give a consistent understanding of the fantastic, as a guideline for the thesis. At the same time, we see that the fantastic element in Ho Anh Thai's novels has a solid objective and subjective premise. That is also the theoretical and practical basis that helps us to delve deeper into the form of existence of the fantastic in Ho Anh Thai's novels in Chapter 2.

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