Vietnamese short stories 1975 - 1985

That is also the comment of researcher Nguyen Tuan Anh when recognizing the contribution of short stories in the early period of literary innovation. Short stories opened up exploration, exploitation and raised many ethical and social issues that quickly reached a maturity in both form and content that novels had not yet reached ("Modern Vietnamese Literature - Perception and Assessment", Social Sciences Publishing House, 2001). In fact, the two authors' comments on the leading role of short stories were only correct in the literary situation in the early 80s when literature really entered the renovation period.

This was also acknowledged by author Pham Manh Hung in the book “Vietnamese Literature from the 10th to the 20th Century” (Hanoi National University Publishing House, Hanoi, 1999): Short stories still appeared regularly in newspapers and literary magazines in the North and South with a considerable number. In the first 5 years of the peace period, short stories continued to have the same themes and topics, styles, writing styles and tones as seen in previous literature. But since the 80s, many short stories began to appear with new signs of ideology and art . According to the author, the new thing in these short stories is the introduction of new topics of life after the war, or still writing about war but with a new perspective with new concerns, thoughts and worries. The fate of people in life is exploited from the perspective not only of the extraordinary but also of the ordinary.

This new trend in short stories from 1975 to 1985 was affirmed and explained by author Bui Viet Thang: short stories after 1975 focused on studying the spiritual and social status after the war - a complex and diverse status intertwined with positive and negative aspects. The complexity of spiritual and social life is an inevitable result of the consequences of war, of difficult economic life, of the infiltration of ideological trends from outside. In general, writers courageously looked straight at the truth, did not avoid and

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writing about truth. Everyday stories are therefore prominent in most short stories during this period, even forming a concept of everyday literature ("Short stories - theoretical and practical issues of genre", Hanoi National University Publishing House, 2000).

There are also many opinions about the form of short stories from 1975 to 1985. However, each opinion initially gives an assessment of one or several artistic aspects. Author Bich Thu in the article "Achievements of short stories after 1975" (Literature Magazine, September 1996) said that: in a short period of time, short stories have done many things that novels have not yet done, and have created many creative styles with their own voices. In the general system of prose genres, the art of short stories has achieved significant achievements in the art of plot construction, in the artistic view of people and in the creation of language . According to the author, short stories tend to open up and diversify in the way of expression ... There is an impact and blending between the author's language and the narrator's language . The author explains these changes as due to the different fluctuations in social life, the demands of the times, the complexity of life, the diversity of human personalities, and the aesthetic tastes of the public, requiring writers to seek ways of artistic expression corresponding to a changing period . It is these new human needs that cause literary genres to move and develop, in which the short story plays an important role, being an art form that quickly responds to the changes of literature from wartime to peacetime when the law of war has ceased to be effective.

Author Nguyen Van Long ("Vietnamese Literature after 1975. Research and Teaching Issues". Education Publishing House. H. 2006) when delving into the art of narrative affirms to abandon the imposition of a viewpoint considered the most correct because it is the viewpoint of the community, today the writer can present

many different points of view, different opinions. To do that, the best way is to shift the point of view to many characters so that each character can express his own point of view, attitude and have consciousnesses that have the right to speak, to dialogue together . Besides, changing the narrator's role, the way of putting stories within stories, the reversal and interleaving of details and events that do not follow a single time are new features in expressive art. All of these techniques aim to create a new artistic effect to meet the trend of the times.

Writer Ma Van Khang pays close attention to the language of short stories. According to him, it is a language that is both simple and magical, and it uses the combined power of words (“Short story - fear”, Military Literature Magazine, July 1992).

Overall, short stories from 1975-1985 tended to generalize and philosophize about life, telling less and describing more, and using many different forms to recreate life . Therefore, short stories in this pre-renovation period were like a strong stream, creating a continuous flow of national short stories throughout the 20th century (Bui Viet Thang "Short stories: theoretical and practical issues of genre", Hanoi National University Publishing House, Hanoi, 2000).

2. 2. Research articles about the author

The authors chosen for most research during this period were: Nguyen Minh Chau, Nguyen Manh Tuan, Le Luu, Ma Van Khang. Because in the extremely difficult conditions of the country, their works ignited the enthusiasm for searching for the truth, foreshadowing the ability of Vietnamese literature to self-renew when it dared to be honest with the past despite obstacles (La Nguyen, "Nguyen Minh Chau and the struggles in renewing artistic thinking", Literature Magazine No. 2-1989).

However, authors Le Luu, Nguyen Manh Tuan, and Ma Van Khang are mainly successful in the novel genre. With short stories, besides Nguyen

Minh Chau - the brilliant and talented pioneer - must also mention many other writers such as: Thai Ba Loi, Nhat Tuan, Xuan Thieu, Trung Trung Dinh, Bui Hien, Duong Thu Huong, Khuat Quang Thuy, Nguyen Kien, Nguyen Thanh Long, Le Minh Khue...

There are many articles and comments about these authors. Particularly noteworthy are the numerous comments from critics, researchers, and writers such as Phong Le, Van Thanh, Ton Phuong Lan, Huynh Nhu Phuong, To Hoai, Hoang Nhu Mai, Ha Minh Duc, Tran Dang Xuyen, Le Thanh Nghi, Tran Dinh Su, Tran Cuong, Ngoc Trai, Nguyen Khai, Nguyen Ngoc, Thieu Mai, Bich Thu, Vuong Tri Nhan... Most of the comments only stop at the level of analyzing and evaluating the success of each author. In the early stages, there were many conflicting comments about the same author, typically the case of Nguyen Minh Chau. Although most of the comments acknowledged Nguyen Minh Chau's contributions to the journey of innovation, there were still some skeptical comments. Commenting on some short stories by Nguyen Minh Chau, writer Bui Hien wondered about the author pushing the exploration of inner self, personality, life images and the meaning of life in a direction that seems more complicated but is not necessarily deeper (Many authors, “ Discussion on Nguyen Minh Chau’s short stories in recent years”, Literature and Arts 1985, issues 27 and 28). Author Ha Xuan Truong said that he was only half successful.

Or in the case of Duong Thu Huong and Le Minh Khue, in their short stories about the bad aspects of people, there are opinions that they have distorted the normal natural appearance of people, even though they are negative models in our lives (Bich Thu, "Short stories by Duong Thu Huong. Literature Magazine. No. 2. 1983), but there are opinions that support this writing style even though the author's pen here has really gone to extreme places in the way of description , even being a bit too evil . However, we have accepted this style, then

let it go through its inherent development, not stopping halfway (Vuong Tri Nhan in "Literature 1975-1985 - Works and public opinion", Writers Association Publishing House, 1997).

It is true that in the early stages of the renovation journey, prose writers in general and short story writers in particular have only begun to make their first tentative discoveries in new lands. Some of their discoveries have been successful, but many have also failed. However, their efforts have been recognized. Because they themselves have contributed to preparing for a great harvest of the genre in the later stages.

2.3. Articles about the work

In about 10 years (from 1975 to 1985), the number of short stories published in newspapers was indeed not small. Here we will only briefly review the research situation of some works that won awards in magazines, story collections that had a significant impact on the literary appearance of this period or marked a renewal in the careers of short story writers. We can mention the story collections of the authors: Nguyen Minh Chau with The woman on the express train (1983), Ben que (1985); Xuan Thieu with Wind from the sand (1985); Duong Thu Huong with The flowers of ban li (1981); Ma Van Khang with Beautiful day (1986); Le Minh Khue with The ending (1983), A afternoon far from the city (1986) ... and the short story collections that won awards from the Army Literature Magazine: There is a night like that (1981), Time (1985) ...

The number of these articles is very large, published in both central and local newspapers in the form of book reviews or criticism. This type of article mostly presents thoughts and feelings about the content or art, about the innovative aspects of each specific short story or short story collection. Thereby contributing to affirming the inevitable innovation trend of the genre as well as of Vietnamese literature in this period.

In conclusion, through studying research works including books, articles, opinions in exchanges, discussions, seminars and some existing theses and dissertations, we see that: in general, the study of short stories in the period after 1975 has uncovered many issues. There have been in-depth research works on a number of issues such as authors, specific representative works, but they mainly lean towards the period after 1986, the period of brilliant development of short stories. As for short stories in the period 1975-1985, the evaluation opinions are mainly in the form of preliminary sketches, or general comments or going into specific aspects of the genre. There has not been any work that specifically and deeply studies the characteristics of short stories in the embryonic stage of the renovation process.

In the spirit of absorbing the opinions of previous researchers, we have chosen the topic of Vietnamese Short Stories in the period 1975-1985 . In this thesis, we will focus our research on examining the new signs of short stories in particular in the development process of prose in general.

3. Research tasks and objects

3.1. Research tasks

The thesis delves into the appearance and initial innovations of short stories in the period 1975-1985 in the unified relationship between content and form of expression. From there, we can see the movement of short stories after the war in the general picture of modern short stories.

3.2. Research subjects:

The thesis focuses on examining short stories in the period from 1975 to 1985. However, short stories really changed from the 1980s onwards. Moreover, the number of short stories in this 10-year period is so large that the thesis cannot cover all of them. To limit the scope of the survey, the thesis

Collect and research short stories by some authors that have shaped and can be considered typical of the innovation trend; short stories that won awards in competitions in central newspapers, short story collections that have resonated or caused public opinion.

However, that is only a relative delimitation so that the thesis can focus more on the innovation issues of short stories in this rather rich and complex period.

4. Research method:

During the implementation process we use a combination of methods.

after:

- Statistical and classification methods.

- Comparison method

- Analysis and synthesis method

5. Contributions of the thesis:

The thesis attempts to highlight the signs of innovation in short stories in the period 1975-1985 in a general and comprehensive view. Hopefully, the thesis will contribute to the recognition of the movement of the short story genre in literary life and be a step to create momentum and suggest for the study of short stories in the following stages.

6. Structure of the thesis:

In addition to the introduction and conclusion, the thesis is divided into three chapters: Chapter I: Historical context and appearance of Vietnamese short stories in the period 1975-1985.

Chapter II: Changes in themes and inspirations in Vietnamese short stories from 1975 to 1985.

Chapter III: Initial innovations in short story art 1975-1985.

Content section

Chapter I

Historical context and appearance of Vietnamese short stories 1975 - 1985

1. Socio-historical context:

1.1. The country's situation after the war:

With the historic victory in the spring of 1975, the country was reunited, the North and the South were one. The burning desire of the entire nation for freedom and independence, which had to endure nearly half a century of steadfast fighting, became a reality. The fierce war was over, the country enthusiastically entered the process of building socialism. However, right after the joy of victory, the entire nation had to face a series of mounting difficulties. That was the period when we fell into a deep economic and social crisis. The old management mechanism revealed many shortcomings that required innovation. The country was at peace, but life operated in a difficult and cumbersome way.

In the North, the destructive wars by the US air force and navy caused heavy destruction, causing long-term consequences. Almost all cities and towns were bombed. Some towns were even completely destroyed. All industrial zones were bombed, many to the point of destruction. In the North, although the war ended after the Paris Agreement in 1973, due to the heavy destruction, the task of overcoming the consequences of war and restoring the economy was not basically completed until mid-1976.

In the South, the takeover of newly liberated areas was carried out very urgently. The establishment of revolutionary governments and mass organizations at all levels was quickly carried out. The revolutionary government called for