Smoke rising/ The village is cheerful, the autumn sun/ The sound of the gong, the countryside is bright yellow/ The whole country and people are united/ Plow hands, guns in hand to destroy the enemy.
Among the authors of the first generation with many achievements, Nong Quoc Chan is considered "the leading bird of revolutionary literature of ethnic minorities". Nong Quoc Chan's poetry has set an important historical milestone, bringing Tay ethnic poetry to a new stage, entering the modern orbit of Vietnamese poetry. If counting from Nong Quoc Chan's first collection of poems (Viet Bac Fighting the Enemy ), modern Tay ethnic poetry has existed for more than 60 years. Nong Quoc Chan is a resistance fighter. Nong Quoc Chan's poetry is the song of the liberated Viet Bac people, seeing everything as beautiful, seeing love: The clear blue water of the stream/ Through the rain and sun for many generations/ When Uncle Ho had not yet arrived/ Who knew the fullness and ebb of the stream/ … The stream has a family name and a name/ Has the image of the old man/ The water flows to hundreds of regions/ Like the echo of the leader ( Poem Pac Bo ). The main inspiration of Nong Quoc Chan's poetry is the revolution and the struggle of the people, especially the children of Viet Bac, expressed in a simple style, closely linked to the source of culture and folk literature of the Tay ethnic group. Nong Quoc Chan's most outstanding poems are mainly concentrated in the war period. Later, from the collection Waterfall , then Pac Bo Poem, Stream and Sea , Nong Quoc Chan's poetry is smoother in rhyme, more modern in structure but the perspective is less innocent and straightforward, so it is somewhat less attractive.
As the person who set the milestone for the first prose work ( Ché Mèn duoc di hoi , 1958), Nông Minh Châu (1924) also composed many poetic works. The collection Nông Minh Châu selected by Nông Phúc Tước (National Culture Publishing House, 2005) includes 140 poems, including 83 poems in the Tay language, 1 epic and 56 poems in the Kinh language. Regarding the structure of the poem, the language and tone are deeply influenced by the slư style, of which he is the author of many works that captivate the hearts of young Tay men and women:
Now the sun is shining on the mountain top, shining on the stream.
Maybe you are interested!
-
Tay ethnic poetry from 1945 to present - 2 -
Tay ethnic poetry from 1945 to present - 10 -
Two Stages of Development of Tay Ethnic Poetry After 1945 -
Symbolic System in Tay Poetry from 1945 to Present -
Images of Artistic Space in Tay Poetry
Our whole village knows who to love and who to hate Sisters! Sing a song Our life is warm and full with sunshine
Have rice, have clothes, have salt
There are also letters for lovers.
Thousands of miles apart, but the same song...
( October sunshine )
Poet Nong Viet Toai, as early as 1945 and 1946, in the anti-Japanese propaganda team in Ngan Son, ignited the flame of patriotism and used poetry to encourage patriotism among the mountain laborers. Nong Viet Toai's creative career with Rai roa vit pay (Forget the bad) , Kin ngay phuoi khat (Eat right and speak straight) , Det chang nau (Noon sun) marked his name as one of the successful revolutionary poets of ethnic minority poetry. In the later period, Ngoac denh ( Look back , 2006) created an interesting breakthrough compared to what had been done before, but the verses that readers remember still belong to the way of expression close to folk language: Telling stories about fighting the Americans, I couldn't carry the whole load/ Their bones have turned to calcification, but the story is still not over/ When we meet, I'll tell more/ Now my family urges me to follow her to carry rice... ( Telling stories about fighting the Americans ).
Belonging to the second generation of modern Tay ethnic poetry, Ma Truong Nguyen (1944) still maintains the traditional writing style. Ma Truong Nguyen's first poetic work was the collection Mat xanh rung co - one of the few epic poems of ethnic minority poetry in general. Next, Trai tim khong ngu (1988) and Tiếng lá rung goi doi (1996) unified a simple style but not without many unique features. Ma Truong Nguyen's three most recent poetry collections are Cau hat qua vai (2005), Cay Neu (2006), Bac cau vong tham nhau (2007). Ma Truong Nguyen's poetry expresses a sincere, rustic but no less poetic view of life: Seven shimmering colors/ The rainbow curves north/ From two places on the ground/ The rainbow rises to the sky, looking at each other/ Where are you now?/ Under the distant rainbow/ On the high, water-soaked dome/ Missing the vast sky... ( Bac cau vong tham nhau ). After nearly 30 years of writing, Ma Truong Nguyen still maintains a fresh, youthful style in his way of living and writing as he once affirmed: As a man, I dare to live to the end/ And dare to love to the end too/ If you don't believe me, you're still hesitant/ You can just go find someone better than me ( As a man ).
It can be seen that, through the poetry of Nong Quoc Chan, Nong Minh Chau, Nong Viet Toai, Ma Truong Nguyen... the tradition of Tay folk literature is inherited excellently. Their works are the tradition, the fresh perspective when the country changes strongly in combat, in building the country in peace... Tay poetry today is gradually entering the orbit of modernity, innovation, there are writers who affirm their uniqueness fiercely. From the second generation of Tay poetry, especially the works formed after 1975, Tay poetry has changed greatly. But the most obvious mark of the change lies in the third generation - the authors who are tentatively considered to belong to the contemporary period.
Ethnic and modern trends
The national and modern trends are represented by Y Phuong, Mai Lieu, Duong Thuan, Duong Khau Luong... the younger generation includes Nong Thi To Huong, Hoang Chien Thang, Pham Van Vu... In their poetry, the influence of Tay culture is very clear, they are aware of the role of origin, tradition in artistic creation and the noble mission of writers, and often take inspiration from the rhythms in the daily life of mountain people.
From the first collection of poems - Tieng hat thang January until now, Y Phuong (1948) has had more than 30 years of writing, the poet's artistic path is associated with many important events and incidents as well as achievements of national literature. The most prominent thing that can be recognized in Y Phuong's poetry is the aspiration, the belief as numerous as rivers and streams, wanting to "chisel stones to raise high his homeland" Tay with a skillful writing style, selective language. Y Phuong writes on many topics, but the most successful is the topic of war - human destiny - national destiny. Also in that topic, he encapsulates the love for the homeland, love between couples and family affection in the deepest way. From Tieng hat thang January (1987) to That tang lom - Nguoc gio (bilingual poetry Tay - Vietnamese, 2006), the long poem Do trang (2009) are consistent with that.
Y Phuong's poems in works before 2001 clearly expressed national and modern elements: Country/ Born from a woman's chest/ Then gave birth to villages and hamlets/ Born to love, born to tragedy/ Born to intelligence to fight against the sky/ Born to/ Khan/ Khap/ Coi ... After 2001, writing in a different cultural environment,
no longer “ Children of the Rocks/ Rolling into Life ” but the national character does not fade away because of that. The way of speaking, thinking, images, and creating symbols are still imbued with Tay character. In the later period, the mountainous way of thinking in his poetry is sometimes overwhelmed by generalization and elaborateness.
Mai Lieu (1949) with Village Stream (1994) , Clouds still fly back to the mountain (1995) , Words then who bind (1996) , Find age (1998), Dream of the mountain (2001), White cloud headwaters (2004) ... over and over again is the image of the homeland with the source, forest wind, waterfall creating a new atmosphere for the writings: The stream is where I originate from/ It is the pure source of my life ; I have gone through many hills and mountains/ I have crossed many seas and big rivers.../ Every time I think of the forest/ My soul is whistling/ The wind blows...
Trieu Lam Chau (1952) from the poetry collections Bright Moon on the Mountain (1998), Forest Fire (1999), and Drops of Panpipe (2001) achieved success until Silent Singing on the Hill (2004), still showing a rather delicate writing style with many thoughts, but then switched to novels. Not only is he a poet who perseveres in writing bilingually, Trieu Lam Chau is also known as a translator with many achievements. He has translated many poetic works from Russian into Vietnamese and most recently translated Ho Chi Minh's Prison Diary into Tay (2011).
Ha Lam Ky (1952) with Private Words (2009) also showed a step forward compared to Xon xao rung la which was released a long time before (1992); Hoang Huu Sang, although he did not write much, with Cau sli xu Lang, it was enough to affirm his writing power: Cau sli qua doc ungg hong/ Vat choc coc coc thach tan sao dem... ; Luong Dinh (1957) with Tuong tu (1991), Nui va hon da lone (1995), and recently Loi trong rung , consistently had a rustic poetic style with many experiments, like the indirect artistic manifesto expressed in the poem: No one opened it for him/ With his sharp knife/ I opened the path myself... ( Ly nguoi cha Lung Nui ).
Ethnic minority poetry in the late 20th and early 21st centuries began to undergo a strong transformation, one of the important characteristics being the significant increase in the team. If in the previous period, Nong Quoc Chan, Nong Viet Toai, Nong Minh Chau often composed in two languages, then in this period, there appeared additional authors such as: Duong Thuan, Duong Khau Luong, Nong Thi To Huong... With 17 published poetry collections, Duong Thuan's poetry (1959) always hurts
with a burning desire to “find the shadow of the mountain” and “sing the words for the fruit to ripen”. His poems are like songs, materials that can be sung in the form of luon coi, luon nang oi , or in the rhythm of phong slu . Although he has been down from the mountain to the city for a long time, Duong Thuan still has not lost the Tay, the mountain and forest essence in himself.
In the current stage of Tay poetry, the authors are still very young but have shown a clear creative trend, forming their own style, signaling good signs such as Duong Khau Luong, Nong Thi To Huong... The notable highlight in Duong Khau Luong's poetry with 4 collections Calling cows back to the barn (2003), Dam kha can ngam diep ( Steps of a lover , 2005), Catching fish in the hometown river (2006), Co nghiu hua can ( The cotton tree helps people , 2008) is the ability to create vivid pictures, the scenery and people always appear fresh, lively as if bathing in the cool, clear stream of Ba Be Lake. The poems he wrote about the culture and customs of his homeland often expressed many resounding sentiments: We sing for the fire to die out at night/ We sing for the full moon, the waning moon/ We sing for the moon to set and rise again/ For our love to share the same heartbeat or: It's morning already/ Does the singer know?/ The fire is out/ The night is over/ The song still flares up/ The coals in my heart burn red ...
Nong Thi To Huong's poetry has the gentleness of a young woman from the highlands. Whether writing for children, writing for family, friends or writing about love, she still maintains the simple, pure quality in each sentence. Nong Thi To Huong's way of feeling and thinking in her poetry has a strong Tay, mountainous quality: Don't, my dear/ The forest has many paths/ Don't let the firewood drift downhill/ Get stuck at the base of a tree/ Break the bamboo/ Get stuck on the crooked path/ Break the firewood/ Get caught in the laughter/ The words don't flow smoothly...
Dinh Thi Mai Lan with The Sound of the Night Guitar also created a good impression: A life of hardship/ Father cultivates the crops of love/ Not waiting for the day of harvest/ The children, though as strong as ironwood/ Though as firm as mountains/ Still round as pebbles/ Rolling towards their father... The current young generation of Tay ethnic poetry can count some promising faces such as Hoang Chien Thang, Pham Van Vu... beginning to demonstrate the mettle of a composer attached to the traditions of his ethnic group without being stale in his writing style.
Many young authors also make efforts to recreate and transmit national culture in their works. Whether living in the mountains or the plains, the mechanism of cultural embodiment affirms the individual's participation in a specific form of
culture. This is the key concept for M. Herskovits in building his comprehensive concept of cultural anthropology. It is the process of acculturation that gives rise to the mechanisms of production of ethnic cultural communities and the possibility of change of this or that society (culture), that is, cultural embodiment not only creates a cultural person but also contains the mechanisms for carrying out changes in culture. In cultural studies, the concept of “mentalité” is often referred to as “a relatively complete set of ideas, beliefs, and mental habits that create a picture of the world and strengthen the unity of a cultural tradition or a community”. The poetry of young authors of the Tay ethnic group clearly shows the consciousness of harmonizing national and modern elements. Hoang Chien Thang portrays the people of the mountains: People of the mountains have a green look/ Have the smile of the stream.../ People of the mountains speak awkwardly/ People of the mountains listen attentively.../ When people of the mountains love/ The whole forest echoes with songs.../ People of the mountains/ Breathe, love, speak with the words of the mountains! Hoang Chien Thang's poetry shows the boldness of young writers, experimentation and not a few successes. Besides here and there are familiar lines like: Weary days without you/ Exhausted for wandering poetry/ Wandering in the misty mountain tops... are new, breakthroughs without straying from tradition: The then verses are forgotten/ The eyes of the day burn with pain/ The then verses lull into the deep night/ The song of the great forest/ For people to come back to pick leaves/ I go to the forest to pick fruit/ The then verses stir/ The bitterness of the flowers in the sweet season/ I carry the day up to the fields/ You carry the day down to the stream/ The then verses are sleepy/ Lullaby from the opposite direction .
The poems of Mai Lieu, Y Phuong, Duong Thuan, Nong Thi To Huong... have life experiences, with a natural yet profound way of expression, open topics, "with plains and seas, with bustling urban streets" but the most intense, most numerous and best are still images of mountain people's lives with simple landscapes, people, thoughts and feelings. It is worth mentioning that they harmonize modernity and tradition in their writing. Among them, many people live and write in a different atmosphere and cultural environment, but in the authors who have courage and awareness, they do not lose themselves, and vice versa. A new cultural environment has somewhat changed ethnic minority poetry in particular, ethnic minority literature in general (closer to modernity, affirming a voice that is both confident and
both responsible for the harmony of contemporary literature with a permanent sense of national identity).
Modernization trend
The modernization trend includes works by authors who truly strive for innovation in the spirit of the times, with modern elements, without the deep influence of Tay folk literature. Sometimes we find it difficult to recognize the Tay mark in them, such as Be Thanh Long, Trieu An, Nong Thi Ngoc Hoa (in the later stages of their writing career), Hoang Kim Dung, Vi Thuy Linh... In their poems, the way of expression, inspiration, and way of thinking have begun to change clearly.
Be Thanh Long (1938) with May Grass (1996) and recently At the source of consistent style. Be Thanh Long's poetry is romantic, gentle in emotion, and a bit talented like the man himself. Although not new and unique, we find him not old either, and not entirely uninteresting: The gentle land is full of wild daisies / Is the fragrance so austere? Or: Beard and hair also fall in love with the clouds and wind / Traveling, thinking, white and pale.
Trieu An (1931) from My Homeland, Do You Know (1961, Second Prize, No First Prize in the Literature and Arts Magazine Poetry Contest ) has been writing for 50 years now, Trieu An is still diligently composing ( Nang Ngan , Bon Mua Hoa , Kin Mac, Chon Xa Xa, Hoa Vong, Hoa Va Nang ). Besides novels, compilation, research, collection... is poetry. Trieu An's poetry still has the same theme, still the mountain people, love, friends and still the same style, genuine, not loud, not deliberately philosophical but still profound. In the early years of the 21st century, although not dense with the image of the Tay people gradually fighting for victory and building a new life, the themes are still familiar. In the later period, he mainly turned to research and collection, many of his works on Nom Tay are valuable contributions, the most outstanding.
In this trend, many authors can be mentioned, their contribution is to affirm the vitality of the team of writers and poets of the Tay ethnic group today, although many authors belong to the second and third generations of Tay poetry from 1945 to the present. Doan Lu (1959) with his first poetry collection Mua Khau Lam (1997), after a period of success with prose, also released Dong Song Nghiep (2003) mainly talking about love, the reflections of a person with many experiences, the familiar 7-word form is more popular.
both. Doan Ngoc Minh (1959) with Loi Hen (1997), Goi Nang (2004), Song Ngan Lau (2001), most recently Gio Hoang Hon (2012)... Trieu Sinh with Chap Can Tinh Keo Diep ( Meeting on the Peak of Love Pass , 2006) initially created his own unique mark when writing about the Slo market land; Trieu Duc Xuan with Hai Bo Dong Chuoi (2005) with a rustic voice, although the content and writing style are nothing new; Hoang Kim Dung with Bo Am (2005), Chon Xua (2006), Khuc Giao Mua (2008) in both Tay and Vietnamese; Hoang Dieu Tuyet with New Sunny Season (2005)... The authors often use familiar images, words, and expressions with a modern writing style, Doan Ngoc Minh with completely different associations with the Tay people's way of thinking: We don't wait/ Why do you come back/ You are like a piece of clothing/ Driving away the cold of late winter/ You are like a salty drop/ Pouring into us the fading years... Thu Binh then: Even though the years/ Piles up/ Even though green hair/ Turns gray/ Even though life is sad or happy ...
A rather unique feature of Tay poetry today is the appearance of many female poets. Their poems mostly meet at one point, which is the expression of feminine nature, gentleness, and sensitivity in the soul... Nong Thi Ngoc Hoa (1955) with the collections Before the mirror (1988), Lullaby for myself (1999), Words of leaves (2000), Garden of fate (2002), Road for the clouds to go (2004), The lake water is forever clear blue (epic, 2006). Among many appearances and styles, she created her own voice with beautiful verses, not elaborate, not tragic but passionate, full of foreboding. But the way she used words and poetic forms is not different from poets from the lowlands: It seems that there was a time long ago/ The wind was so busy loving that she forgot all the ways back…/ It seems that one day, it seems like that/ You gave me a treasure with an oath/ The foolish moon gradually waned as promised/ So now you regretfully want to leave …
Hoang Kim Dung's poetry has the intoxicating quality of happiness, as if it can be touched and grasped; both attached to reality but still vague and distant: Gently, gently only/ The rain never predicted/ Unexpectedly, wet the grass and trees/ Like a distant afternoon! Ta Thu Huyen (1960, Yen Bai) with Full and empty (2001) also expressed a fresh, promising poetic quality, but after that, she did not see much more... Many of her poems have a very "Kinh" way of expression and tone: I wrote my first poem/ At the age of forty/ Like a self-sung song/ Like lava/ Suddenly rising from underground streams/ The earth twisted and ached a thousand times/ Tears on my lips were salty/ Holding bitter fruit in my hand/ Going through difficult years/ To find myself again.