The narrator in Nguyen Ngoc Tu's short stories

in the construction of the imaginary world (…). There can be no narrative without a narrator”. From the correlation of the understanding capacity of the narrator and the character, the researcher divided the narrator into three forms: the narrator is greater than the character , the narrator is equal to the character and the narrator is smaller than the character [Theo 76, p.126] .

In another approach, the British researcher P. Lubbock in his work The Art of Prose proposed four basic narrative forms: the first is “summary”, this narrative form has the perceptible presence of the all-knowing narrator. The second narrative form is “dramatized narrator”. In this form, the narrator stands in the first person, telling the story from his own perception. The third narrative form is “dramatized consciousness”. The characteristic of this narrative form allows direct description of the psychological life and inner experiences of the character. The fourth narrative form is “true drama”. In this form, the reader only sees the external appearance and dialogues of the character but knows nothing about the inner life. According to P. Lubbock, this is the most perfect narrative form [According to IPIlin – Concepts and terms of literary research schools in Western Europe and the United States in the 20th century / 33, p.223].

N. Friedman with his work Point of View in the Novel has given a specific classification of narrators. The first is "omnipotent editor", in this form the narrator knows everything and has the ability to penetrate the story in the form of general discussions about life. In the second form is "neutral omnipotent", there is no direct intervention of the narrator. The third is the "I am a witness" narrative form when the narrator is a character in the story but only lies on the sidelines of the story and knows a part about the characters. The fourth is the "I am the main character" narrative form when the narrator is the main character. The fifth is the "omnipotent" narrative form.

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The sixth is the “single-multiple local omnipotence” narrative form – the narrator stands outside and relies on the perspective of many characters to tell the story. The seventh is the “dramatic model” narrative form and the eighth is the “camera” narrative form. In both of these forms, the narrator almost only objectively records events and phenomena without showing a subjective attitude [According to IPIlin 33, p.227].

GN Pospelov in Introduction to Literary Research affirmed the indispensable role of the narrator in narrative works: “Narrative narration is always conducted from someone's side. In epics, novels, fairy tales, short stories, there is a narrator directly or indirectly” [58, p.88]. According to Pospelov, there are two common types of narrators: “The first form of narrative description is narration from the third person without characterization, behind which is the author. But the narrator can also appear in the work in the form of an ego” [58, p.89]. In particular, in this research work, Pospelov pointed out the relationship between the narrator and the character and the author.

Timofiev in the textbook Principles of Literary Theory also affirmed that narration from the beginning was closely linked to a certain narrator: “The narrator is the one who tells us about characters and events” [73, p.32]. He paid special attention to the narrator's language, considering it a positive factor that gives the characters and phenomena in the work a basic color, a basic evaluation. The narrator's language is personalized both in form and meaning, it has its own characteristics that distinguish it from the language of other characters: “The uniqueness of the narrator's language means that the narrator's language has personalized characteristics, not mixed with the characteristics of the characters described, contrary to

is again presented separately, alluding to a personality hidden behind it. This personality that we see in language, uses linguistic means to create the image of the character, who represents himself according to his own point of view, and conceives of all the characters and events mentioned in the work” [73, p.44].

Besides foreign researchers, in Vietnam, the issue of narrators is also of interest to many researchers. We would like to present some typical comments: The authors in the Dictionary of Literary Terms define: "The conventional image of the narrator in a literary work only appears when the story is told by a specific character in the work" [28, p.221].

Nguyen Thai Hoa in his treatise Poetic Issues of Story mentioned many issues of the narrator: “The narrator is the factor that creates the dialogic prism in the story. Here is a two-way dialogue between the implied narrator and the implied listener. (…) He believes that the implied reader, also known as the shadow of the reader, is the narrator himself. That is, the first reader of the story is none other than the narrator. The dialogue between the implied narrator and the implied listener contributes to completing the story. (…) Nguyen Thai Hoa also raised the issue of determining the narrator’s narrative voice. He considers this a very important issue” [Theo 79].

Phung Van Tuu in his thesis Modern French Novels: Research and Innovation stated: “Talking about the narrator is talking about the point of view determined in the multidimensional system of space, time, and psychology that creates the perspective. Who is the narrator, telling the story of others or telling the story of himself, the spatial distance from where the event happens to the narrator's position as well as the time difference between when the event happens and when the event is told have long been of interest to novelists”. He also mentioned some types of narrators: “a common form of traditional novels

is the anonymous narrator, considered to stand at a certain position in space and time, covering all the developments of the story and narrating it to us. The story is told in the third person singular… another common form of the novel is the first person narrative with the narrator calling himself “I” [89, p.207].

In the work Narratology - Some theoretical and historical issues edited by Tran Dinh Su, the issue of the narrator has been of interest to many researchers. From specific issues such as the main narrative method of the Dam San Epic by Do Hong Ky; On the narrative model of the Tale of Kieu by Tran Dinh Su; The image of the narrator in the work The Lover by Tran Huyen Sam; The art of narration by Ngo Tat To in Tat Den by Tran Dang Xuyen; Some forms of narration in Di tim thoi da loi by Marcel Proust by Dao Duy Hiep... to general issues such as The issue of the narrator in modern narrative poetics by Do Hai Phong; The development of narrative art in Vietnam - some notable phenomena by Dang Anh Dao; The issue of storytelling in contemporary short stories by Bui Viet Thang; On novels using the first person in 18th century Western literature by Le Nguyen Can... [63].

In addition to the above articles and research works, we also encounter some general opinions about the narrator in some articles and some monographs such as: The narrator in prose by Le Phong Tuyet; The image of the narrator character in Lu Xun's stories by Luong Duy Thu; Innovation in the art of modern Western novels by Dang Anh Dao...

Thus, the issue of narrator theory has attracted the attention of many researchers in many different countries. The common point of the opinions is to affirm the indispensable role of the narrator in narrative works, affirming that the narrator is the person who stands up to tell the story, the intermediary between the work and the reader and the person who represents the author.

The narrator expresses ideas and views on people and life. The narrator is one of the important factors to distinguish narrative works from poetry, lyric and drama. The theory of narrator is complex, so over the past century, researchers, theorists and critics from many directions have approached this issue in different ways, but until now it still requires continued research and consideration. The opinions of those who have gone before are truly invaluable suggestions that have helped us in the process of writing this thesis.

2.2. Research situation on narrators in Nguyen Ngoc Tu's short stories

Nguyen Ngoc Tu is one of the talented young writers who has been affirming her position in contemporary literary life. Her works, including short stories, always attract the attention of readers in general as well as literary critics in particular because of her Southern-style language.

Regarding the research on narrators in Nguyen Ngoc Tu's short stories, we see some noteworthy points:

First of all, most opinions have not considered the narrator character in Nguyen Ngoc Tu's short story separately and comprehensively, but have only pointed out some aspects related to the narrator character . Writer Nguyen Quang Sang - General Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Writers Association, head of the final jury of the 20-year-old literary composition contest in 2000, realized that one of the factors that made the short story "The light does not go out" attractive is the storytelling language: "The short story collection " The light does not go out" by Nguyen Ngoc Tu has the story "The light does not go out" as the most outstanding short story. With a simple and rustic writing style, with everyday language, it has created a very natural atmosphere about the color and flavor of the last land.

The Fatherland - Cape Ca Mau of the people whose fathers and grandfathers came from all over the land of forests, rivers, and seas, and worked hard to reclaim and rise up in revolt" [60, p.1] . With Da Ngan, when reading Nguyen Ngoc Tu's works starting from the story collection The Unquenchable Light, the writer said: "The story of the collection's title is not as interesting as the stories about the circumstances, the fates, the daily lives, it shows that the author can be long-winded about this type of character, all expressed in the sparkling Southern language and a simple, especially warm writing style" [46]. In the article Endless with Nguyen Ngoc Tu , critic Van Cong Hung said: "...what makes Nguyen Ngoc Tu is also the language. Nguyen Ngoc Tu has established for himself a system of language that is uniquely Southern, but not simply following the flow, but is free and sublime in each specific context" [95]. Writer Nguyen Vien commented: “With Canh Dong Bat Tan , Nguyen Ngoc Tu has proven that she is truly a writer with all the professionalism in writing and language used” [65]. Researcher Huynh Nhu Phuong chose Canh Dong Bat Tan as the best work of 2005 because it combines the following aspects: “First, it is both a human story. Second, it is very close to current issues but also not unfamiliar with eternal issues. Third, it is both fierce and violent and very soft and feminine. Fourth, its language both shows the Southern style and has the purity and richness of Vietnamese literature” [65].

In addition to the opinions pointing out some aspects related to the narrator character, there were also opinions directly discussing the narrator in Nguyen Ngoc Tu's short story. Doan Anh Duong, when commenting on the story Endless Field , said: "Based on the movement of the character's psychology, the journey to discover the work is the dissection from the narrative language level to the level of perceptions and inhibitions that have settled into symbols that haunt the character's inner life.

[12, p.97]. In another passage, Doan Anh Duong wrote: “To have a genuine writing style, on the one hand, as mentioned, the author moves the narrator from the narrator to the main character, letting the character speak with emotional and contemplative language. On the other hand, pushing the dialogue language, the language of other characters through the main character's psychological lens, bringing it into the main character's field of perception. The character I, therefore, is the one who knows everything, understands everything, feels everything I say. Moreover, the narration is both the result of external influences (Suong's questions), and also the urge of inner feelings, that is, the need to expose oneself to feel relieved before the suffocating atmosphere surrounded by the feeling of an approaching retribution, that self-talking language is the basic element that creates the authenticity of Ngoc Tu's writing style” [12, p.104]. Here, the author Doan Anh Duong paid attention to "who tells the story" to create the appeal of the work.

From the above analysis, it can be seen that although Nguyen Ngoc Tu's short stories have been discussed, commented on, and evaluated by researchers and critics in many aspects, the narrator's aspect has not been thoroughly and systematically examined, and has not really become an independent research object of any work. Most researchers have only discussed this issue in a general way through a short opinion, an article, or a section in a monograph. However, these opinions are still valuable suggestions and directions that help us continue to delve into a relatively comprehensive and systematic research on this issue.

3. Research object and scope

3.1 Research subjects

Within the framework of a master's thesis, we do not have the conditions to survey all the works in the literary career of writer Nguyen Ngoc Tu but only limit the research to the short story genre.

The thesis research is to study the narrator in Nguyen Ngoc Tu's short stories.

3.2 Scope of research

In order to meet the requirement of studying the narrator in Nguyen Ngoc Tu's short stories, the thesis focuses mainly on examining 6 short story collections: The Unquenchable Light ; New Year's Eve ; Nguyen Ngoc Tu's Short Stories; Endless Field; Lonely Wind and 9 Other Stories; Splendid Sky Smoke.

4. Research purpose

Understanding the narrator character in Nguyen Ngoc Tu's short stories will help us partly explain her artistic talent, explain one of the important factors that formed her unique artistic style and evaluate the narrative ability that Nguyen Ngoc Tu has brought to contemporary Vietnamese prose.

5. Research tasks and methods

5.1. Research tasks

First of all, the thesis explores general theoretical issues about the narrator. These are: the concept of the narrator, the role of the narrator in a narrative work, criteria for identifying the narrator, the relationship between the narrator and the author, and the character...

Based on those general theories, the thesis delves into the study of the narrator in Nguyen Ngoc Tu's short stories - pointing out the narrative point of view and some types of narrators, some characteristics of the language and tone of the narrator.

5.2. Research methods

To solve the above tasks, the thesis uses a combination of the following research methods:

- Systemic method

- Typological method