The art world of short stories Suong Nguyet Minh

In her early works, the pages written about the countryside space can be considered the "treasure" of Suong Nguyet Minh, that is why literary critic Nguyen Hoang Duc called Suong Nguyet Minh "The writer of the shimmering countryside scenery", and young critic Doan Minh Tam wrote an essay published in the Army Literature magazine with the content of the countryside space in the short story Suong Nguyet Minh (November 2009 issue) . In which this young critic has his own discoveries about the typical artistic space of the short story Suong Nguyet Minh - a beautiful countryside space, full of affection but full of tragedies before the attack of the market mechanism, written with the anxious heart of a child with deep love for his homeland.

In the later stages of Suong Nguyet Minh's writing, the fantasy and sexual elements were noticed by many critics. The short story collection " Di Huong" marked the innovations and successes in his changing writing style, it both showed unity and demonstrated the welcome developments in the author's style, as young critic Doan Anh Duong wrote "the sublimated romantic quality met the mystery that opened the way for Suong Nguyet Minh's short stories to enter the fantasy world" ( When the brassiere flies up - Military Literature Magazine - November 2009). Discovering the value of artistic writings about sex, Thuy Duong wrote in the article " Sex with Di Huong ": "He did not follow anyone's path in creative ideas as well as the art of transforming the "sex world" aesthetically into literature". The valuable thing is that author Suong Nguyet Minh did not use sex as a dish to attract customers but "Suong Nguyet Minh used sex as an artistic means to bring the ideas of the work to readers. It is a luxurious, elegant, and sensual sex" (Tran Hoang Anh, Strange fragrance and the writing style like being possessed , Tien Phong weekend issue 47/2009).

Also in the discussion about the birth of Di Huong , critic Van Gia encapsulated the literary style of Suong Nguyet Minh in three words: Hoat - Phieu - Thoa (flexible, rich in materials and youthful). Three words

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It has reflected quite fully the strengths in the short stories of this military author.

The comments and opinions of literary critics and researchers have contributed to helping readers gradually discover the unique features in the works of Suong Nguyet Minh. However, there has not been any research work that systematically summarizes the outstanding features in the artistic world of Suong Nguyet Minh's short stories or gives an overall assessment of the author's own style. Most critics only focus on one aspect or a specific work without having an overview of Suong Nguyet Minh's contributions or analyzing the common characteristics of the literary period reflected in the writer's works. However, those articles are still valuable suggestions for us to carry out this thesis.

3. Research scope and methods Research objects:

Main research object: The artistic world in the short story Suong Nguyet Minh with main features: Artistic inspiration; Character world and Unique artistic aspects.

Research scope:

The scope of the research topic is the short story Suong Nguyet Minh, but to have a comprehensive, complete view of the artistic world in the short story Suong Nguyet Minh, we have related and compared it with other genres of the writer such as memoirs, as well as compared it with short stories of some writers of the same and different periods.

Research method:

Focusing on the art world of short stories Suong Nguyet Minh, the thesis uses the following main research methods:

1. Statistical and classification method:

Statistical and classification methods help to study and classify character types and plot models when studying the artistic world in the short story Suong Nguyet Minh.

2. Analysis and synthesis method:

This method helps to research and analyze issues and artistic details... thereby generalizing the common characteristics of artistic form in the entire system of short stories of this writer.

3. Historical method:

This method shows that the artistic characteristics of Suong Nguyet Minh have the inheritance of traditional literature, but also have many unique innovations that create the writer's own mark.

4. Comparison method:

This method aims to highlight the unique characteristics in the artistic world of the short story Suong Nguyet Minh in relation to other works of the renovation period, especially works on the theme of war and post-war tragedies, and tragedies of everyday life.

5. Typological method

4. Thesis structure

In addition to the introduction, conclusion and reference list, the thesis content includes the following three chapters:

Chapter 1: Artistic inspiration Chapter 2: Character world

Chapter 3: Some artistic aspects in the short story Suong Nguyet Minh

Chapter I

ARTISTIC INSPIRATION

1. Artistic inspiration and artistic inspiration in Vietnamese literary works after 1986.

Up to now, there have been many ways to understand the concept of "artistic inspiration", but most of the comments affirm the important role of artistic inspiration in creation. Because artistic inspiration is like a red thread connecting the elements in the text, creating a lasting connection. In the Dictionary of Literary Terms, the concept of artistic inspiration (also known as main inspiration) is introduced as "a state of intense, passionate emotions throughout a work of art, associated with a certain idea, a certain assessment, affecting the emotions of those who receive the work."[6, p. 32]. Artistic inspiration in a literary work with the passion to affirm the good, the positive; denying the bad and false things will bring a stream of life to the work, turning dry ideas into vivid images, creating a hot atmosphere, turning the work into a thread transmitting the author's emotions to the recipient. The enthusiasm in expressing the emotions of the writer and poet will make "the main inspiration of the work dominate the emotional unity of the image, dominate the system of expressive art of the work". Especially in the short story genre - a genre with modest capacity, often taking the "moment" and "slice" of life as the core - the role of artistic inspiration is even more important. The shorter the story, the more the compression of the plot and the intensity of the emotions are required. Short stories also have similarities with poetry in that psychological emotions are often expressed in a more intense way, expressing the ideological content in a prominent way, focusing on a central human problem rather than spreading out like in the novel genre, as the writer Lu Xun commented "through a patch of fur, you can know the whole leopard, through an eye, you can convey the whole spirit". Therefore, short stories always require abundant and oriented artistic inspiration, thereby expressing the content.

Consolidate ideas in a sharp way and create a tight artistic structure, harmonizing rational and emotional elements.

Artistic inspiration is not a feeling that is expressed in a statement in a work, it is a feeling that the reader feels from the situation, from the setting, from the material... from the general atmosphere of the whole work. Literary theory considers artistic inspiration as an element of the artistic content itself, of the writer's ideological and emotional attitude towards the world described. Artistic inspiration in a literary work is always consistent with the theme and ideology of the work, it creates a unity for the work at all levels. At the same time, artistic inspiration also expresses the writer's worldview, revealing the writer's point of view on all issues of life because "Inspiration is a strong feeling, carrying ideology, a positive desire leading to action" [10, 268]. Artistic inspiration in a work plays an important role, an indispensable role, as Belinsky said, because it "transforms a purely intellectual occupation of ideas into love for ideas, a strong love, an ardent desire".

The main inspiration in Vietnamese literature before 1975 was closely linked to major events related to the fate of the nation: the resistance war against foreign invaders and the cause of national construction. After the country's reunification (1975), people's lives changed, their thoughts, psychology, material and spiritual needs were no longer the same as before, so literature could not only carry the old inspiration. The reality of daily life after the war opened up new lands, evoking new sources of inspiration for writers. In addition, the Political Report of the Central Executive Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam at the 6th National Congress of the Party opened the way for artists to "look straight at the truth, evaluate the truth correctly, and speak the truth clearly". And from there, a new literary trend developed strongly with a more straightforward and multi-dimensional view of reality. The renovation process is increasingly developing in both breadth and depth, the renovation takes place from aesthetic thought to the system of genres, poetics and artistic styles. Writers no longer "look at life"

and look at people from one side", they do not just stop at the inspiration of praise but realize that "reality is not something simple, one-sided; human is a rich, complex creature, with many mysteries to discover; the writer must be a thinker, must engage with thoughts, not just with enthusiasm, and in creative exploration must not only rely on community experience but also on personal experience..."[18,16]. With that multi-dimensional view, literature also has inspirations that rarely appear in wartime literature such as: tragic inspiration, satirical inspiration...

Tragic inspiration exploits life-changing tragedies; post-war tragedies; love and marriage tragedies... accurately reflecting the turmoil of life in the turbulent market economy. Works inspired by this mark the rise of literature in the reform period. We can mention works in the early stages such as White Land (Nguyen Trong Oanh), Woman on the Express Train (Nguyen Minh Chau), Faraway Time (Le Luu), Fallen Leaves in the Garden (Ma Van Khang)... And in the later stages are a series of names such as Bao Ninh, Vo Thi Hao, Nguyen Huy Thiep, Nguyen Thi Thu Hue...

Critical inspiration and satirical inspiration are also great sources of inspiration in literature during this period. When individual consciousness develops, when people are no longer viewed from a historical or civic perspective but are mainly viewed from a personal perspective in everyday relationships, tragedies and comedies begin to appear. Satirical inspiration opens up pictures of life with many contrasting colors: the joy of victory mixed with the sadness of loss, the abundance of material things in the opening up period is the seed of moral and emotional loss in spiritual life, happiness exists in parallel with the misfortunes of everyday life... The funny and sad phenomena that take place create a source of inspiration for authors to create. The more the individual ego is emphasized, the more attention is paid to the exploitation of the depths of feelings and therefore literature becomes more and more profound. That is why literary creation during this period has achieved certain successes when the Question

The issues of human rights, suffering and happiness are exploited in literature with profound humanitarian inspiration [27, p.3].

It is important to study the typical characteristics of Vietnamese literature after 1975, because in the article Overview of Vietnamese literature from the August Revolution in 1975 to the end of the 20th century [18, p.17], there is a comment about literature in the renovation period as follows: "The inspiration for worldly affairs increased sharply, while the inspiration for romantic epics gradually decreased; from there, literature paid more attention to individual fate in the complex laws of everyday life; the inner self of the character was exploited more deeply, the introspective writing style was promoted, the private space was paid attention to, psychological time was increasingly expanded, the narrative method became more diverse, the narrative tone became richer; literary language was also closer to everyday reality..." [18, p.18]. From that, we can see the great impact of artistic inspiration on other elements in literature. By thoroughly understanding artistic inspiration, researchers will clearly understand the world of art, creative concepts, writers' styles, and even an entire literary period.

Suong Nguyet Minh is a military writer who always knows how to innovate his literature. In his works, there are both literary inspirations from the wartime (romantic, praising inspiration) and inspirations from the literature of the renovation period (tragic inspiration, satirical inspiration, etc.). That is why he has created a diverse literary style, a multidimensional artistic world, constantly absorbing and creating.

2. Artistic inspiration of the short story Suong Nguyet Minh

2.1. Romantic inspiration, praise intertwined with tragic inspiration in works written about the theme of war

Originally a military writer, one of Suong Nguyet Minh's primary concerns is the topic of war and soldiers. This is not difficult to understand, especially for a writer who originally came from the military like him. Suong Nguyet Minh had directly held a gun on the Cambodian battlefield for many years, day by day, hour by hour immersed in the sea of battle, witnessing many young deaths in pessimism and despair, he also

having lived for many years with soldiers during the war against the US. Therefore, writing about them, writing about war as a personal need, of course is an indispensable part of his literature. When talking about short stories written on the theme of war, poet Nguyen Huu Quy once said: “… war still has many layers to exploit. How many miracles, people, events have not been reflected and described, how many sacrifices and losses of comrades and compatriots have not been fully appreciated, how many questions about war have not been answered… The debt of writers is still very large… War is still a hot topic of literature. I think that after 30 years, 50 years or longer, writers’ interest in it will not completely disappear” (www.baomoi.com ). This is also very close to Chu Lai’s point of view when this soldier-clad writer said that “… war is a super topic. The more you explore, the more you will see that the vibrations do not wear out, as long as the writer knows how to find his own way.

War is such a great upheaval in the history of a nation that the impression of it is hard to fade in each person. Another part is that writing about war for some writers is like a debt, and if they do not write about it, they will feel ungrateful for what they have received from their comrades, from the people... Suong Nguyet Minh also writes with the same mindset.

In the works of Suong Nguyet Minh, only a few short stories about soldiers in peacetime have the appearance and direction of works written before 1975, the rest of the works also focus on the theme of war and soldiers, but his approach has many innovations. Although the writing style of Suong Nguyet Minh's stories about war is simple, there are many differences from the works of young writers writing about the same topic, because the reality in them is recalled hotly, because it is the deep memory of when he was a soldier, not just the vague impressions through the stories heard and read. For example, the unforgettable memories of his youth on the southwestern border front ( The old days imprinted ); or the life of the army during the period of national stability, when soldiers in peacetime no longer had to face the dangers of bombs and bullets

The art world of short stories Suong Nguyet Minh - 2

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