highlights another truth: war is a crime. The war ends, but the pain it leaves behind persists and smolders for many generations: “after a war that lasted for decades, victory and peace put an end to the gunfire of conflict, but the wounds of loss continue to ache in spasms or smolder for the rest of many lives of individuals and families on both sides of the conflict” [35,153].
Those personal tragedies are movingly described in Burning Land, The Woman on the Express Train... with the pain of a mother who lost her child and was carrying the enemy's son, with the anguish of finding love, with the loneliness of a sleepwalking woman... The tragedy of Em's mother is the complex, miserable developments, the struggles in the painful, ironic encounter with Sinh when she discovered that Sinh was the son of the murderer who killed her son in the final sunset of the war. Quy's tragedy is the idealization of love and idealization of oneself, leading to a life of irony and torment... The writer seems to be more sensitive, more heartbroken by the silent gender pain of women - the poor victims of war. Replacing the epic - heroic sound is another sound that is more intense, more fierce, that is the lingering, endless pain before the losses caused by war, before the harshness of war imprinted on the small fate of human beings.
Reading post-war prose, readers are more or less haunted by many such individual fates. Each person has a different situation, but they all try to suppress their own pain, trying to overcome it to reach the common ideal. But their psychological journey from personal pain to sacrificing the individual for the common good is described more naturally and truthfully than the idealized view of characters in revolutionary prose. Battalion Commander Sau Hoa ( Sunshine of the Plains ) - a sharp Southern character - a straightforward, outspoken, humorous person - a person who was thought to be "born to hold a gun, not a person of emotions and love" [21] knew how to suppress extreme pain when seeing his wife living with a puppet captain during a night of reconnaissance. "Sau Hoa breathed with difficulty like a person being paralyzed by a ghost. He pursed his lips, his small eyes reflecting the flashing light as if burning the young woman. His hand still trembled on the sturdy door bar. His head was tilted forward, his mouth open.
as if about to destroy everything, about to scream fiercely” [21,141]. He gritted his teeth and left to keep the upcoming battle absolutely secret. For the common mission, that special forces soldier sacrificed his own happiness, even accepting to be dead while still alive. The enemy spread the news of his death to bribe his wife; his parents still prayed for him every night; he could not publicly announce that he was still alive, because if he did, his relatives would be taken hostage, would be arrested, beaten, and even murdered. Sau Hoa heroically sacrificed himself in the battle of the central sub-region, carrying with him his own inconsolable pain.
War is like that, how many women wait in vain, how many couples can only live together for a short time, how many couples cannot return in time to fulfill their promise and how many unfinished, tragic happinesses like Sau Hoa, Luc and Thai ( Reed Grass - Nguyen Minh Chau), Kien and Phuong ( The Sorrow of War - Bao Ninh), Thao and Thanh ( The Remnant of the Laughing Forest - Vo Thi Hao)...
Maybe you are interested!
-
Character transformation in Vietnam War-themed feature films of Vietnamese and American cinema after 1975 - 11 -
The Kennedy Administration and the Vietnam War 1960 – 1963 - 18 -
From War Reality to Peacetime Reality -
The Two Korean States During the Cold War 1953-1990 -
Common Points About Character Transformation In War-Themed Films Of Vietnamese Cinema After 1975
In the whirlwind of Khuat Quang Thuy are heroic and touching pages about the war of the 6th Regiment with the puppet 2nd Federation. There, the writer sympathizes and shares the pain of the characters, no matter who they are, what class they belong to, each person has their own tragedy. That is a baby who lost her mother when her mother was crushed by an enemy tank (the girl was saved by Hung), the pain of losing a son who father and son had not known each other for twenty years (Le Thuan), the worries of a puppet officer, feeling the meaningless war he is serving but cannot explain and cannot escape himself (Thuan), the torment and pain of a female student when she realizes that her brother is standing in the ranks of traitors but cannot speak up to denounce, when she realizes what is the truth but cannot firmly stand on that side to fight against evil (Mai)...
In any work written about war after 1975, one can see the tragedy of people thrown into the brutal cycle of war. Writing about those tragedies with deep humanitarian inspiration, the writer expressed his compassion for the pain people had to endure, continuing to denounce the unjust and inhumane aspects.
of war. That is also the new feature in 1975-1985 prose writing about the theme of war.
2.1.3.2. The legacy and haunting effects of war
The reality of war is first perceived from its terrible impact on human character and destiny, with many ironies and tragedies. Besides the tragic fates in war, the writer mentions other aspects related to war - the aftermath and obsessions of war that people are forced to perceive again with a serious look.
Paying attention to personal fate, post-war writers were quite sensitive to the complicated relationship between soldiers and peacetime life. “Coming out of a war requires as much intelligence and determination as entering a war” [2,120]. Coming out of the fire of war, soldiers who had fought in the battlefields suddenly felt bewildered in the midst of ordinary life. Leaving behind their achievements, they began a difficult, arduous journey to find love, happiness... with only beautiful memories of their youth during the war. Fire from the houses, Falling leaves in the garden, Distant time... are such works. The traces of war are shown through the survival of soldiers, people who once shone with the brilliant beauty of their exploits and heroism but were mere privates in ordinary life [91,52]... That paradox continues to be explored and explained in many post-renovation prose works such as: Retired General (Nguyen Huy Thiep), Lieutenant General in Ordinary Life (Cao Tien Le), Farewell to Sad Days (Trung Trung Dinh) , Deserted Old Garden (Do Chu)...
The war has passed, but its consequences are still heavy in people's hearts. That is the tragic and difficult situation of Em's mother ( The Burning Land ), the irony and incompleteness of Quy ( The Woman on the Express Train ), the children carrying the poison of war, the meetings of people on both sides of the front line, the hatred that has not subsided, the challenges when starting a new life... "After many years of the country being divided and hostile, the people on both sides have become strangers to each other, blood has flowed profusely and blood debts have not been paid yet.
still piled up in people's hearts. The lingering debts are very difficult to resolve. The injuries and hatred will last a long time. So, in the future, how will the communists... be able to resolve the mess that is stored in the blood and tears of millions of people? " [2,57]. Those worries and concerns were later written about more hauntingly and anxiously by Nguyen Tri Huan in the novel Chim En Bay. Throughout Chim En Bay is the anxiety of the character Quy "to find the houses of the villains he killed to see how their wives and children are living now" [87,7]. That makes her unable to live peacefully. That unnameable anxiety, along with the image of Ms. Nam - Giam Tuan's wife with the scream " run away " that saved her, kept haunting her, causing her to go to Giam Tuan's house many times, to defend his wife and children many times, to bring rice to the mother and children... Fates like Hai Dich's wife, Ms. Nam, the children who grew up in hatred and contempt of everyone around them... are another aspect of war. How to break the prejudice of a group? How to "overcome the inhumane impressions and concepts towards the families of the old puppet army and puppet government" . How to make "those who do well in their civic duties, regardless of their background or past, deserve to be praised". How to make "children...equal to each other, because they did not participate in the crimes of their parents and do not push them towards crimes that they could have avoided" [87]... Those were truly urgent issues raised after the war.
Coming out of the war, facing the complex reality, people need to have an attitude, a courage, a way of life. Because the confrontation between people and life in the post-war period is also extremely difficult and arduous: “In the past, has the land under the feet of those who have just won the war ever bloomed with flowers? This newly liberated land is like a challenge, like a new battlefield immediately opening up on the old battlefield…” [2,120]. Those are lands full of bullets, bombs, toxic chemicals, mines, barbed wire, epidemics…, terrible temptations of material things that can corrupt human personality. The fall of Bang, a cadre and party member who was energetic and resourceful ( Fire Zone ) is an affirmation: individualism is the main enemy on the silent front of peace. “That is a
"The enemy has a hundred faces. It destroys people's hearts, it damages friendship and comradeship, it makes the sun lose its heat, and people lose their faith in each other" [2]. Di's steadfastness and loyalty to the revolution, and the open arms of the commune cadres towards Bang are another positive affirmation of the attitude and mettle of people in facing the difficulties of life in the post-war period.
It is possible to see the change in the way of looking at war in the works of the authors, typically Nguyen Minh Chau. War in Nguyen Minh Chau's works before 1975 is romantic, heroic, "love and strong belief in life - that shiny green thread, no matter how many bombs and bullets are dropped, it will never break, cannot be destroyed" ( The Last Moon in the Forest ). In post-war prose, Nguyen Minh Chau saw the consequences of war in the tragedy of Quy ( The Woman on the Express Train ), of Mother Em, in the difficult life in the post-war period ( The Burning Region ). After 1986, the soldier in Nguyen Minh Chau's works bitterly realized that: war "was like a knife slashing across, cutting off two halves of my life, making it difficult to reconnect" , because "I was cut off from my own life" ( Reeds ), because that soldier would live the rest of his life in the lonely Doi mountain area...
After the war, many people were lucky to return to their families, some returned in happiness with their achievements and health, some returned with injuries and illnesses, some returned in loneliness because their happiness was unfinished, some returned to endure the pain of seeing the consequences of war present in their children and grandchildren... And there are many others who still lie on the battlefield, some with names, some without names, some who have been gathered, some who are still sending their blood and bones to the land, on the river, under the sea. Those are the unspeakable pains of the Vietnamese people after the war - a price too high to pay in exchange for peace - independence - freedom. The war has been over for nearly forty years, but throughout the country there is still the pain of Agent Orange, the journeys to find the remains of martyrs of many families. The story of those pains extends from the past to the present, from the generation born and raised in war to the generations born in peace, all of which stem from two words: war.
The Flower Lantern Festival on the Thach Han River on July 27th every year is to commemorate the souls of hundreds of martyrs who sacrificed their lives and left their bodies in the river. They devoted their twenties to the Fatherland to bring peace and tranquility to the nation. And in that war, there are still countless soldiers lying somewhere in the countryside, forests and mountains… without a grave, without a stick of incense… Where are they lying? At the bottom of the deep river?
“Please row gently on the boat down Thach Han. My friend is still there at the bottom of the river.
There are twenties that become waves, Lapping peacefully on the shore for a thousand years…”
(Le Ba Duong - Call by the river )
or in the cold ground?
Tread lightly and speak softly, so my comrades can lie still on the grass.
The sky is naturally clear and windy. Even if it's noisy, don't shake the trees too much. Walk lightly and speak softly.
The Ancient Citadel is so wide, why are my comrades so crowded? Every inch of land is a real life.
Today I am choked up…
(Pham Dinh Lan - Every inch of Ancient Citadel )
The poems of the ancient citadel veterans have a heroic epic quality but still sound so heartbreaking and painful. Arousing in the depths of each of our hearts today those torments and pains, post-war prose has truly expressed profound humanitarian inspiration.
Prose written about war after the war has fully reflected the reality of war with a multi-faceted perspective. Consciously writing about sadness, loss, fate, and the mood of soldiers during and after the war, post-war prose does not deny the past but wants to give readers an objective, comprehensive view of the reality of war. Writing about its hidden corners, with losses, sadness,
Tragically, post-war prose does not aim to discourage people but aims at a two-way view of history and affirms the extraordinary courage and strength of people in war. War is a terribly destructive environment but it cannot destroy the soul and good qualities of people. Qua, Thi, An, Hung ( White Land) , Mac, Nha, Phac, Thiet ( In 1975, they lived like that), Vu ( The Sea Calls ), Hung, Thuc, Manh ( In the Whirlwind ), Binh, Hoan, Le Cam ( Eastern Land )... are brave portraits in combat; Quy, Em's mother... are all saints with generous hearts, soothing the pain of others with their own pain; they are people full of determination and courage, daring to face pain, overcoming it to return to normal life, with the desire for a better life.
2.2. Signs of breaking the epic style
War is a great topic that has great appeal and dominates the process of modern literary history. But not in any circumstance, any time, writing about war is the same. That creative process is subject to the regular impact of historical circumstances, of reality. The topic does not change, but inspiration, cognitive needs and historical circumstances change... will create objective and subjective premises for writers to approach the subject in a more comprehensive and profound way. If prose written about war in the period 1945 - 1975 has a strong romantic epic inspiration, then prose written about war in the post-war period is a combination of epic epic style and bare reality, between romantic tragedy and everyday life, between community and individual... Many works written about war published after the renovation no longer have an epic tone but instead have a profound tragic inspiration with bare, tragic reality emphasized and highlighted. Red Tears, Farewell to Sad Days, Ungrateful Circle, War Sorrow, Street, Beggars of the Past, Reeds, 49 Cold Rice Plants, The Remnants of the Laughing Forest... are no longer heroic pages about the nation's resistance but the quiet, wistful echoes of the immense sadness of war... Thus, it can be seen that the characteristic of post-war prose is the transformation, the continuity between the two periods of prose writing about war and
different trends and inspirations. That proves the movement of literary thinking on the path of innovation.
Epic is a narrative genre, which has become the nature and characteristics of literature from 1945 to 1975, dominating the system of images and methods of artistic expression, creating a unique style of literature in this period. Style is " a concept that refers to the common, relatively stable features of the system of images, of methods of artistic expression, representing the creative identity of a writer, a work, a literary trend, a national literature" [127,1411]. Literature from 1945 to 1975 is a period of literature with a strong epic style with typical characteristics. Focusing on important events with a historical perspective and community viewpoint, the character images, language, tone... of literature from thirty years of war all have a very strong epic color. Post-war prose, with its shift from epic inspiration to personal life inspiration, gradually formed different characteristics in terms of imagery and artistic expression. There were signs of deviating from the epic track, signs of breaking a stable style... The combination of an epic style that had undergone many changes and a new style in the process of formation, the harmony between epic and novel qualities is a very unique appearance, distinguishing the 1975-1985 prose from the two prose periods before and after it.
Thus, literary style is a concept that indicates the uniqueness with aesthetic significance of a literary phenomenon (the literature of a nation, an era, a movement, the entire work of a writer or an individual work...). The manifestation of style is a way of looking, a way of feeling rich in exploration of life; a unique voice associated with creative inspiration; unique features in choosing, handling topics, determining the objects of description...; unity and stability in the use of artistic methods and means. In post-war prose, the above manifestations have shown signs of difference from those of epic literature. Within the scope of the thesis, we would like to mention the innovative movements in artistic aspects: point of view, voice and language to see the cracks.