Summary of PhD thesis: Tran Thi Thu

INTRODUCTION

1. Reason for choosing the topic

Historical topics have always been one of the most attractive topics for contemporary writers and have become a research subject that has received great attention from literary researchers and critics. Through the way of explaining and studying past issues, writers have clearly expressed their perspectives and thoughts on characters and events in the past.

Each author, when approaching historical topics, tries to renew the material to express personal and contemporary views on the past, but it is not simply an illustration, but behind it, there are always hidden profound intentions about contemporary issues. That is why the change in social form, from the ideology of the era leads to differences in the characteristics of literature in general and drama in particular.

The development periods of literature always have similarities with the stages of national history. The years 1945 and 1986 are two important milestones of modern Vietnamese literature. Before and after this period, literature had many differences in artistic viewpoints, main inspirations, themes, character worlds... Therefore, drama in particular and Vietnamese literature in general in the period 1945 - 1985 will have their own characteristics.

For the above reasons, we have chosen Vietnamese Drama (1945 - 1985) written on the subject of history - artistic thinking and genre characteristics as the research topic for our thesis.

2. Research object and scope

2.1.Research object: is the artistic thinking and genre characteristics of plays written on historical themes composed in the period 1945 - 1985.

2.2.Scope of research:

Including plays with the theme of revolutionary war, national liberation, as well as plays with the theme of Vietnamese feudal history composed in the period 1945 - 1985 by professional authors. In those plays, the author chooses to examine plays written about important events recorded in history, real characters or characters based on real life prototypes.

3. Research purpose and tasks

3.1.Research purpose: Based on the study of dramatic works written on historical themes, the thesis aims to point out the most basic characteristics in the authors' tendencies in responding to historical materials. At the same time, the thesis also analyzes the artistic thinking of dramatic works written in this period with outstanding characteristics of the genre different from the previous and following periods to find similarities and differences. From there, we can recognize the value of dramatic works written on historical themes written in this period.

3.2.Research mission:

First of all, an overview of issues related to theory as well as practice of researching and composing plays on historical themes through different periods to see the position and role of dramatic works written on historical themes in the period 1945 - 1985.

Second, point out the basic characteristics of dramatic works from the perspective of artistic thinking through approaches to historical materials and the objects chosen to reflect the work.

Third, the thesis analyzes the characteristics of action, language, dramatic conflict, etc. of the works of this period, which are similar and different from the works before and after.

Fourth, the thesis explains the causes of the formation of artistic thinking and the unique characteristics of plays written on historical themes during this period.

4.Research methods

The topic will apply and combine many important methods (such as:Directionsocial historical method, typological method,Interdisciplinary research methods,Cultural approach, biographical approach...), along with the methodological principles of some modern theories (such as: Aristotle's theory of tragedy, the system of generational theories of Stanislavski, Athur Miller, Becton Brech...). In addition, the thesis also uses the operations of analysis, comparison, contrast, statistics, and synthesis to gradually solve the tasks of the topic thoroughly and most effectively.

5.Contribution of the thesis

In theory: This is the first specialized scientific work researching Vietnamese drama written on historical topics from 1945 to 1985 from the perspective of artistic thinking and genre characteristics. Thereby, the thesis adds a new perspective and research on historical drama in particular and dialogue drama in general.

In terms of practice: the thesis contributes to expanding and supplementing materials for teaching and research, helping students access theoretical and practical materials on drama as well as literature and art.

6.Thesis structure

In addition to the Introduction and Conclusion, the thesis is divided into 4 chapters:

Chapter 1. Overview of research problem

Chapter 2. Vietnamese drama on historical themes in the development of literature and drama from 1945 to 1985

Chapter 3. Vietnamese Drama (1945 - 1985) on historical themes - from the perspective of artistic thinking

Chapter 4. Vietnamese Drama (1945 - 1985) on historical themes - viewed from genre characteristics

Chapter 1

OVERVIEW OF RESEARCH PROBLEM

1.1. Introduction to thinking and artistic thinking

1.1.1. Thinking

The concept of thinking (understood in the most general way): is the process of human rational cognitive activity, aiming to reflect the nature of phenomena.

Thinking is studied in many different fields and there are two distinct types of thinking. According to philosophy, we have metaphysical thinking and dialectical thinking. According to the form of social consciousness, we have scientific thinking - logical thinking; artistic thinking - metaphorical thinking; religious thinking.

Thinking is also distinguished by scientists from other similar concepts such as: consciousness, reason, ideology.

1.1.2.Artistic thinking

Artistic thinking is the process by which an artist creates works that reflect reality based on personal concepts and feelings, which are strongly influenced by the creator's worldview and outlook on life. Learning about artistic thinking is also learning about the artistic ideas, concepts, and artistic means that artists have chosen to create their works.

1.1.3.Dramatic thinking

To find out the characteristics of dramatic thinking, we need to put it in comparative correlation with poetic and prose thinking. Unlike novel and short story thinking, writers approach historical reality in the past tense, dramatic artistic thinking also aims at reality through exploring the personal fate of the characters but approaches reality in the present tense (through the process of directly reproducing the dialogue language of the characters).

We can understand dramatic thinking as a way of expressing artistic thinking, with common characteristics of artistic thinking in literature, with many similarities but also many different expressions from novel thinking due to the characteristics of the genre. Through many stages and processes, it will change, and each playwright will have a different thinking process, from which the artistic world they create will have very unique features.

1.2. Introduction to drama and characteristics of drama genres

1.2.1.Concept of drama

Drama is a special genre, it belongs to both the field of theater and the field of literature. According toDictionary of literary terms, drama is understood at two different levels, the type level and the genre level. At the leveltype, drama is one of the three basic modes of literature (drama, narrative, lyric). At the leveltypeDrama (which can be understood as spoken drama) is a genre that exists alongside other forms of theatrical art such as dance drama and opera.

1.2.2.Characteristics of drama

1.2.2.1. Dramatic conflict

Conflict can be considered the beginning of drama. The first person to propose a complete theory of dramatic conflict was Hegel (Aristole had mentioned it before, but it was not really complete and clear, and was distinctive). After that, names associated with the history of the formation and development of the drama genre such as Stanislavski, Arthur Miller, ... affirmed the role of conflict in drama. Dramatic conflict must be organized on the basis of the typification method, which includes many pairs of opposing categories. Dramatic conflict originates from conflicts in life, but those conflicts must be intense and dramatic, with depth to become conflicts and be expressed on stage.

1.2.2.2. Dramatic action

Actions in drama not only express the character's personality through gestures, words, and movements, but also express the character's feelings and thoughts about situations that occur in the plot. There are two types of actions: internal actions (internal factors, often changing due to the impact of dramatic conflicts, creating psychological depth for the character) and external actions (gestures, movements, speech, etc. of the character).

1.2.2.3. Dramatic language

Language is the first element of an artistic text, and is an important highlight of the writing style. For a dramatic work, all language issues are placed in the character's language. That is the most obvious difference compared to narrative language and lyrical language. Dramatic text is a dialogue text, and there is absolutely no concept of "narrator" as in narrative works.

The words of the characters are called dialogue, which includes three forms: dialogue, monologue and side-talk.

1.3. Overview of the history of research on the problem

1.3.1. Research on artistic thinking in literature

The issue of artistic thinking in literature has been mentioned in many research works in recent years. Regarding poetic thinking, we can mention the textbookVietnamese Poetry Thinkingby Nguyen Ba Thanh. Prose thinking has an articleNguyen Tuan's artistic thinking through love storiesby Vuong Tri Nhan,Poetic thinking in contemporary Vietnamese novelsby Nguyen Thi Binh. There are a number of works written about the change of thinking in artistic creation, such as:Some issues in the concept of human in Vietnamese literatureby Tran Dinh Su,A few words about a new literary mindset that is taking shapeby Nguyen Ngoc,Innovation in literary thinking and contributions of some prose writersof Mai Huong etc.

1.3.2. Research on the theory of dramatic genres

In Vietnam, there are many studies on general drama theory by foreign authors that have been translated into Vietnamese. Researcher A. Anhist has specialized booksDrama theory from Aristotle to LessinandDrama theory in the WestIn the second half of the 19th century, B. Brecht had a workOn narrative theater…. In researching the influence of foreign theories and methods of screenwriting on Vietnamese drama, the authors paid close attention to A. Chekhov, Satanislavski and Arthur Miller… Researcher Hoang Su has two works related to Soviet drama theory:Problems of Chekhov's poeticsandStanislavski's theatrical method. Essay by Tran Yen ChiThe Art of Screenwriting Arthur Millerhas deeply studied the characteristics of Arthur Miller in expressing human issues and criticizing American society at the end of the last century. Drama theory has also been of interest to many domestic theorists and theater critics and has been raised in the process of studying drama since the 70s and 80s of the last century. We can name the works that have left their mark as follows:The Art of Playwriting, Plot Developmentby Ho Ngoc;Drama theory, On dramatic poetics, On the image of the new man in dramaof Tat Thang;Literary and theatrical exchangeby Phan Trong Thuong… These can be considered quite profound and comprehensive research works on the appearance of dramatic literature in terms of genre.

1.3.3.Research situationcomposedrama and historical drama

There are many works studying the formation and development of drama in the early 20th century. Among these works, we must mention relatively primitive books on Vietnamese drama such as:First steps to learn about the history of Vietnamese drama (before)CAugust Revolution)by Phan Ke Hoanh and Huynh Ly andInitial research on the history of Vietnamese drama 1945 - 1975 (Composition and performance activities)by Phan Ke Hoanh and Vu Quang Vinh); Vietnamese Writers (1945)- 1975)by Phan Cu De and Ha Minh Duc;Historical issues of Vietnamese dramatic literature (first half of the 20th century)by Phan Trong Thuong.

In recent years, studies on drama often revolve around a stage of drama development or focus on exploiting dramatic works of typical authors. Among recent articles and studies on drama, we find that the three most studied authors are Nguyen Huy Tuong, Nguyen Dinh Thi and Luu Quang Vu.

The issue of studying plays written on historical themes has always received the attention of many playwrights, theater workers, theorists and critics. Major conferences have been organized such as: Conference on Historical Themes (1979); Conference on Theater with Historical Themes (1996); Discussion on Creative Theater Arts on Historical Themes; National Scientific Conference on Literary and Artistic Creation on Historical Themes (2012). In addition to the above works, we have compiled a number of theses and doctoral dissertations from universities and research institutes that have addressed issues related to the theory and practice of writing and performing plays.

SummaryChapter 1

To study the characteristics of the drama genre expressed in the drama works (1945-1985) written on historical themes, the researcher needs to point out the concepts related to the problem. In particular, the issues of artistic thinking, the characteristics of drama, and drama on historical themes have been of interest to many researchers. However, the issue of studying specifically the artistic thinking and the characteristics of the drama genre written on historical themes from after the Revolution to before Doi Moi has not been mentioned much in the above works. That is the research objective that the author wants to carry out in this thesis.

Chapter 2

VIETNAMESE DRAMA ON HISTORICAL THEMES IN DEVELOPMENT OF LITERATUREAND DRAMAFROM 1945 TO 1985

2.1. The impacts of historical, social and cultural contexts on literary creation.

Historical periods along with major events of the country have had a significant impact on the changes in literature during this period. In particular, the context of the revolutionary war and the leadership of the Party in the field of culture and arts have had a great impact on the purpose, ideology and creative concept of most writers, poets and playwrights during this period. The 1943 Cultural Outline became an important theoretical document for the development of literature. The Outline not only determined the content, nature and tasks of literature but also emphasized the principles of literature: nationalization, popularization and scientificization. That was also the orientation that had the most profound influence on the entire process of Vietnamese literature in the period 1945 - 1975 and its echoes even lasted until the end of the 1980s of the last century. Under the leadership of the Party, literature has become a pioneering weapon, a great spiritual food to enhance the strength and solidarity of the entire people in the journey of national liberation.

2.2. Unity in diversityand mainstreamof literature 1945– 1985

2.2.1. Unity of literature 1945 – 1985

Vietnamese literature from 1945 to 1975 was mainly revolutionary literature, closely linked to the common destiny of the nation. In this context, literature had to meet the historical needs of the country, and art had to fulfill its main task of serving the revolution and promoting fighting. The revolutionary and resistance spirit strongly aroused the civic spirit of writers. Literature must first of all be a weapon of war. Vietnamese literature from 1945 to 1985 focused on the basic themes: defending the Fatherland, fighting to liberate the South, and unifying the country. Unity was also demonstrated through the popularization of literature, so the masses were not only the objects of expression but also the recipients of literature, and the masses themselves participated greatly in the process of literary creation. Another unifying feature was that the literature of this period mainly had epic tendencies and romantic inspiration.

2.2.2. Diversity in a unified wholehuhliterature1945 – 1985

In each different stage (specifically through the stages of literary development 1945 - 1954; 1954 - 1965; 1965 - 1975; 1975 - 1985), literature has changed and progressed to meet practical needs and for that reason, even though it has developed in unity, diversity is still a prominent feature in literature during this period. Diversity here is expressed by the complete appearance with all the basic genres of literature. Diversity is also expressed through the content and method of reflection, the tendency to approach the material of life of literature.

2.2.3. Epic tendency andromanticrevolutionis the dominant trend of literature 1945 - 1985

This is the inspiration that formed in the works of authors during the resistance war against France, especially strongly influencing the works written during the resistance war against America. Works with epic tendencies are works with historical and national significance. The main characters are those who represent the ideals and qualities of the community and fight for the community. The revolutionary romantic inspiration is mainly expressed in affirming the ideal of a new life and the beauty of new people, praising revolutionary heroism and belief in the bright future of the country.

2.3. The position of drama and historical drama in literature in the period 1945– 1985

2.3.1. The strong development of the creative team and the themes reflected in the drama

The team of playwrights during this period was mostly revolutionary propaganda cadres and a few famous artists from the previous period.

In the early stages of the revolution, due to the conditions and purposes of composing and performing plays at that stage, plays were mainly composed quickly and had the nature of promoting the movement.

In the period after 1954, plays made a lot of progress, many plays focused on reflecting the struggle of our army and people in the enemy's temporary war zone.

Drama activities during the period of resistance against the US to save the country from 1965-1975 also had many breakthroughs. The stage at this time truly became a sharp weapon of the Party in the revolution of culture, ideology and politics. This was a period that witnessed the strong growth of drama in both quality and quantity.

After 1975, Vietnamese drama created a new look in the new historical context. Drama focused on two major themes: recreating the war of national liberation and post-war life. The feudal historical theme began to return in some works by playwrights of this period.

2.3.2. Drama written on historical themes in the development process of drama in particular and literature in general

2.3.2.1. Drama written on historical themes in the correlation between literature and history

Historical dramas are works written on historical themes but with fictional details and characters. However, the main events and characters are often real in history. However, due to the lack of consensus on how to divide drama genres, NCS uses the designation "drama on historical themes" instead of "historical drama".

It can be seen that historical plays written during the period 1945 - 1985 were mainly works based on the context, events and characters during the resistance war against France and the US. Events in feudal history were also recreated, but compared to the theme of revolutionary war, they were not really prominent. In historical works during this period, the character images were built based on real historical figures such as Ho Chi Minh, Phan Dinh Giot, Nguyen Trai, Tran Thu Do..., or based on real-life prototypes and their names and hometowns were changed but important events, actions and incidents in the characters' lives were still retained.

2.3.2.2. Dramas written on historical themes in the general process of Vietnamese dramatic literature

In the first period of drama (1921-1930), dramatic compositions often translated, imitated, and adapted famous plays of the West, especially France. The second period (1930-1945) is considered the mature period of Vietnamese drama. With the birth of the Communist Party of Vietnam (1930), the stage in the period of 1940-1945 saw a flourishing of plays written on historical themes. In the period after 1945, historical drama achieved greater achievements than the previous period.

In the general process of Vietnamese dramatic literature, plays on historical themes play a very special role with many works leaving a strong mark in the Vietnamese drama system. In the early stages, historical themes were often known with plays based on plots from Chinese literature and history. Then in the 1930s of the last century, the Vietnamese historical theme began to be noticed with many plays written about the past, borrowing ancient historical contexts to place oneself in characters with heavy thoughts and feelings, especially the feelings of scholars facing the current situation. Entering a new stage, the feudal historical theme in drama from 1945 to 1985 was somewhat more modest than other genres of drama (poetic drama, opera), but instead there was a focus and flourishing of plays on the theme of revolutionary war. However, with its own achievements and aesthetic characteristics of the spoken drama genre, along with the penetration and influence of opera and poetic drama (the early stage of development), historical drama has formed its own poetic characteristics in reflecting historical themes.

Chapter 2 Summary

From the historical and social context of the period 1945 - 1985, we hope to explain its impact on the appearance of literature in general and dramatic literature in particular. It is this impact that has created unity in the diversity of literary genres. With the works we have mentioned above, we can see the role of historical themes in the general development of literature as well as drama. Whether it is the theme of revolutionary war or the theme of feudal dynasties, in general, in the period 1945 - 1985 alone, there were many plays that left a strong impression until today, were highly appreciated and were reproduced many times on the contemporary stage.

Chapter 3

VIETNAMESE DRAMA (1945 - 1985) ON HISTORICAL THEMES -

FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF ARTISTIC THINKING

3.1. Concept of writing plays on historical themes in the period 1945 - 1985

3.1.1. Thinking about historical fiction

If in normal literary scripts, fiction is an essential technique for playwrights in particular and for theater in general, then for historical drama, the art of fiction is the main field for writers to express their creativity, making the work a true historical script. In the plays written in the period 1945 - 1985, perhaps the role of fiction is not really prominent. But that does not mean that those plays lack fiction. The fiction of each historical play can be expressed in fictionalizing characters, fictionalizing events, and fictionalizing details. For real details or historical dates, months, and years, none can be fictionalized.

Speaking of fictional characters, this is clearly the most noticeable fictional trend in historical drama. Besides real people, historical drama also has a system of fictional characters, the most popular of which is the lover character of historical celebrities. The most attractive form of fiction, both for writers and readers, is the fiction about psychology, inner thoughts, emotions, and love stories of characters. In general, for plays written in this period, the nature of the structure is always within a certain limit. No fictional detail exceeds the limit of historical fiction because these are creations in the historical context of the resistance war, the purpose of creating plays in particular and literature in general is to serve the revolution, to encourage fighting spirit.

3.1.2. The concept of modernity in plays written on historical themes

The concept of writing plays on historical themes in this period places great emphasis on modernity, because this is a basic requirement for the purpose of writing revolutionary plays. The reality of the struggle is the theme that runs through most of the plays. Therefore, in each work, the contemporary and topical nature is clearly expressed. Each person in each different era will have a different attitude towards historical documents, because it is just a pure document for writers to freely create based on their own intentions and perspectives. And whether each of those documents is selected and expressed successfully or not, whether it is accepted or not, the creation itself must be modern.

Thus, when it comes to artistic thinking in writing plays on historical themes, fictional nature and modernity are always the first factors mentioned so that researchers can see the creative tendencies of the playwright.

3.2. Trends in exploiting historical themes

In the early 20th century, Vietnamese drama mainly focused on social themes with many typical works. Until the 1930s, historical drama began to gain attention with the birth of a series of plays that took old stories in history to create new lessons for the present. After the August Revolution until the 1980s of the last century, the stage truly took on the meaning of a popular art genre. During this period, historical themes were exploited more richly than ever and were divided into two main themes: the history of revolutionary wars and the history of Vietnamese feudalism.

3.2.1. Exploiting the historical theme of revolutionary war

From the success of the play Bac Son, works with the theme of revolutionary history were born one after another. These works expanded the subject to reflect the great events of the nation: Hanoi in the fire of war, the great campaigns with glorious victories of our army, the land reform and the construction of socialism. Typical plays exploiting this theme: Those who stay by Nguyen Huy Tuong, Before the hour of victory by Dao Hong Cam and Sy Hanh, Cach Mang by Nguyen Khai; The song of Dien Bien by Tat Dat, The fire is burning up by Phan Vu; Citizen number one by Vu Dinh Phong and Ha Van Cau, the work Dem trang by Luu Quang Ha, Nhan gieu va lich su by Hoai Giao...

3.2.2. Exploiting feudal historical themes

Dramas written about the feudal period often tend to take events in official history as well as in unofficial history as the subject of their works. However, before the Doi Moi period, this subject often appeared more in sung plays. Regarding spoken drama, the subject of feudal history is still quite modest in quantity, but has left special marks in the development process of drama on the subject of history for 40 years. We can mention the works Quan Thang Long by Luu Quang Thuan, Tieng Trong Ha Hoi by Hoang Nhu Mai, Nam 1400 by Dang Hong Nam, Nguyen Trai in Dong Quan and especially Rung Truc by Nguyen Dinh Thi. With the nature of popular and national literature, those plays often take feudal historical themes, but many main characters in the plays are not characters recorded in history books or are only based on real prototypes in official history. Characters such as Nguyen Trai, Ly Chieu Hoang, Tran Thu Do, and Tran Canh are only mentioned in plays written after 1975.

3.3. Trends in exploiting historical events

3.3.1. The tendency to simulate and faithfully reproduce historical events based on the principle of respecting official history.

Dramas written about the history of the first thirty years of the resistance war have marked the heroic struggles of our army and people in important historical moments. The glorious battles and fierce uprisings are recreated and simulated in quite detailed and complete manner with a proud spirit. Writing about real historical events in the two heroic resistance wars of the nation, playwrights tend to rely on the principle of respecting history, here, the truthfulness in reflecting historical events is put first.

3.3.2. The tendency to recreate history in many dimensions and re-perceive historical events

While plays with the theme of revolutionary war tend to realistically recreate historical events that took place in the spirit of respecting official history, plays set in feudal dynasties tend to recreate, re-create and re-perceive historical events. Works that tend to approach history in a dialogic manner with official history bring profound humanistic values ​​and also have a significant impact on the way future generations view past events.

3.4. Characters and trends in exploiting historical figures

3.4.1. Characters and character types

3.4.1.1. Characters

Dramatic characters are the place for the author to express his ideas and concepts through the actions and emotions of the character. It can be said that the character is an extremely important factor, the place that directly depicts the image that the author wants to aim for, and is also the place to express the conflicts and contradictions that form the work, conveyed through the author's ideas and creative concepts. Exploring the character images in drama is also to understand the writer's perception of the world and people, considered the gateway for readers to see through the author's ideas, talent and concepts on a historical issue.

3.4.1.2. Character types

There are many ways to classify characters in literature. From the perspective of a literary genre about history, in addition to the common characteristics as mentioned above, we see that characters in plays about historical themes are often built through the process of fiction and creation on the basis of generalizing phenomena in real life. Firstly, real characters, but fictional personalities and actions. Secondly, fictional characters based on real prototypes, the authors change the time, context, location, and name but still retain important events, actions, and incidents. Thirdly, the type of character is completely fictional (this type is the majority).

In addition, the thesis has classified the characters based on their relationship with history, which can be divided into three types of characters:Figure-the subject who makes history; Character - from victim of history to maker of history;Ncharacter- from witnesshistory toPeoplemake historyHowever, not all characters can be clearly distinguished in their relationship with history. Sometimes, they are both victims and makers of history. Sometimes, they are people who only want to witness history but become people who participate in creating history.

3.4.2. Trends in approaching and constructing historical figures

Each playwright has different ways of dealing with historical material. In the current stage performance in Vietnam in general and in the field of stage drama in particular, there exist three parallel tendencies in dealing with historical material: the first is to approach historical figures according to the principle of absolute respect for official history, the second is to approach historical figures according to multidimensional thinking, and the third is to approach historical figures with dialogic thinking and re-perception.

3.4.2.1. The tendency to recreate historical figures based on the principle of idealization, in line with official history

This is an approach to objects that have become historical celebrities, revolutionary soldiers, and mothers in the rear and front lines.

3.4.2.2. The tendency to exploit historical figures with a multi-dimensional perspective, recognising history

The multidimensional approach is often put into the perspective of characters on the other side of the battle line and some characters in feudal history. A multidimensional view does not always go against the official history, but what we want to talk about here is the approach to characters from different perspectives, things that we cannot find in the pages of history books.

3.4.2.3. Tendency to internalize historical figures

In the plays we examined, this tendency appears very rarely and is often found in plays about characters in the context of feudal history, especially in plays written after 1975. In some plays about revolutionary wars, there are also some details that show the inner thoughts of the characters when they have to choose and decide on a certain issue. This tendency mainly focuses on some characters in feudal history such as Nguyen Trai inNguyen Trai in Dong Quan, Year one thousand four hundred,Ly Chieu Hoang inBamboo forest, Thoat Hoan inThang Long Restaurant…

SummaryChapter 3

It can be said that the concept of historical drama writing in this period is expressed through the thinking about authenticity and fiction, as well as modernity in the works. Through that, we can see the writer's behavior towards historical creation. In the process of its formation and development, historical drama has had changes in creative thinking as well as in the trend of approaching history. Genre issues such as: approaching the theme, characters, events in plays written about historical themes in this period also have many unique characteristics, different from the expression of those elements in dramatic works written before the Revolution.

Csmell4

VIETNAMESE DRAMA (1945 -1985) ON THE TOPIC OF HISTORY -

FROM GENRE CHARACTERISTICS

4.1. Characteristics of dramatic conflict

In general, conflicts in historical dramas often revolve around pairs of opposites in the relationship between people, between historical characters and events, and the historical era. Historical conflicts in this period are often reflected through pairs of conflicts such as national conflicts with feudalism/colonialism. Conflicts between national affairs - family affairs; public affairs - private affairs. Or conflicts within each person's being. And in all these pairs of conflicts, the conflicts often have quite favorable solutions and have happy endings. To laugh at conflicts that have been raised and resolved, only writing about historical topics has fulfilled its role in that period.

4.1.1. ConflictNation-Feudal/Colonial

The conflict between the Vietnamese people and the invading feudalism and corrupt kings as well as imperialism and colonialism is one of the most fundamental conflicts. Historical dramas since the August Revolution have exploited ethnic conflicts and national issues within the patriotic literary trend of the time. These are fundamental conflicts and have become the common inspiration for all works from 1945 to 1985... The reason why the content of dramatic literature in this period is so special is because literature is closely related to social circumstances. Many writers have taken inspiration from uprisings and uprisings against invaders as the basis for their works.

The conflicts between the nation and the feudal invaders were clearly shown between the Vietnamese people with their patriotism and their awareness of preserving their long-standing culture and the cruelty and brutality of the Northern feudal invaders, the French colonialists and the American imperialists. That was the conflict between the cruelty of the invaders on one side and the fighting spirit, discipline and humanitarian spirit of our nation on the other. It was these things that created the strength for our army to go from victory to victory throughout the history of struggle (shown throughBac Son, Those Who Stayed, Dien Bien Song, Thang Long Pavilion, The Fire Is Burning, Up There…)

These conflicts are also shown within the ranks of revolutionaries. On one side are true revolutionaries who do not mind hunger, cold, hardship, or sacrifice. On the other side are those who indulge in debauchery, embezzle the people's blood and money, and even those who are cowards and retreat before the enemy (shown throughWhite Night, Before Victory, History and Witnesses…)

4.1.2. Conflict between National Affairs and Family Affairs; Public Affairs and Private Affairs

This type of conflict is often portrayed by playwrights in the early days of the resistance war. They place the conflict in each family, where there are children in the same house on two fronts, and that conflict is also placed above the fate of individuals - people who have to choose between "going and staying". In works written after 1975, the conflict between national affairs/people's affairs continues to be reflected in historical plays but is expressed in a different aspect, which is often the conflict between royal power and national destiny. This type of conflict is deeply expressed in the works of Nguyen Dinh Thi.

4.1.3. Conflict within each human being

For plays written on historical themes, first of all, the conflict is not only about national and class conflicts, but above all, it is still valuable today because the writer delves into the conflict issues within the individual's being and human destiny. That is the conflict between staying in the city to join the resistance or evacuating from the capital of Doctor Thanh's family (Those who stayed). That is also the story of accepting fate or giving up personal love to follow the movement of Thom in Bac Son. The conflict within each person's being is also shown through the image of Xuan, a soldier in the Dien Bien campaign in the play Before the Victory. With later works, especially after 1975, perhaps the conflicts within the mind, within each person's being became the most clearly expressed element in the play through the conflicts of the characters Ly Chieu Hoang, Tran Canh, Nguyen Trai.

4.2. Characteristics of dramatic language

4.2.1. The expression of monologue form in drama

In the early years of the Revolution, the influence of the psychological drama of the early 20th century still influenced the way the authors expressed themselves. The role of monologue was relatively clear in dramatic works.Thang Long Restaurantby Luu Quang Thuan (1945) andBac SonFrom Nguyen Huy Tuong's plays (1946) to Nguyen Dinh Thi's plays, the number of monologues has increased significantly, such asNguyen Trai in Dong Quan(1979) has about 7/550 andForesttsnuggle(1978) appears in 15 monologues. In the playOne thousand four hundredDang Hong Nam's play also features a very long monologue of the character Nguyen Trai. Thus, it can be said that the dramatic works written on historical themes have had an intersection in the use of monologues, a form that often appears more in psychological and social plays. Delving into, exploring and expressing conflicts in the inner world of humans, monologues in historical dramas have a large advantage in quantity and demonstrate outstanding artistic effectiveness in quality. The rather dense appearance of monologues has deeply and powerfully expressed the fierce struggles in the mind, heart, emotions and reason of the character before the great turning points in life, which turn points deeply affect the fate not only of the individual who makes the decision but above all the fate of the nation and people. The inner conflict brings historical characters, who are full of epic distances, closer to the public, to the human feelings of human life.

4.2.2. Building the nature of dramatic language

4.2.2.1. Language expressing historical figures' portraits

With two main themes in historical drama, revolutionary war and feudal history, the language of drama is also divided into two different colors: one side is close, modern and familiar language, the other side is ancient and refined language. It can be said that, in terms of language characteristics, drama written on historical themes tends to build very unique and artistic characteristics to express the characteristics of the characters. The characteristics of language are also expressed very flexibly, richly expressive and closely linked to the character's personality and origin. This is even more evident in drama, which is completely governed by the character's dialogue language, not through the narrator's language as in short stories or novels.

4.2.2.2. Philosophical and thesis properties

For plays written during this period, it was essential for the authors to convey personal messages hidden behind artistic images. “Borrowing old stories to talk about today” seemed to be the basic method for playwrights to express a specific philosophical ideological issue when writing about history. Or there were playwrights who only borrowed historical characters to explore contemporary existential issues. The philosophy of power and political status were the two aspects most closely related to historical plays, simply because historical plays were influenced by the feudal era, the era of revolutionary struggle, the era of resistance against France and the United States.

4.2.2.3. The invasion and interference of poetry in historical drama

In the genre of spoken drama, it seems that there are only dry dialogues, but today, in many plays, there are also poetic elements. There are passages and lines that we can imagine as lyrical sentences, there are lines interwoven with many poems, folk songs, and proverbs. This creates an intertextual relationship between poetry and drama, between drama and folk literature (folk songs, folk songs), between the script and aesthetic images (historical figures Nguyen Trai, Ho Chi Minh, Ung Uy, ...). Reading the dramatic works of writers of this period, readers will notice that many lines are written in the form of poetry, with repeated words and sentences, creating lyricism.

4.3. Characteristics of dramatic action

Born in the period 1945 - 1985, most of the plays were influenced by the achievements of Soviet realistic drama and various theories of dramatic action. But among them, we find the dramatic theory of Aristotle and Stanislavski relatively suitable when approaching the characteristics of the dramatic works we are talking about.

4.3.1. Expression of action across/chains of action

In the plays written on historical themes as we have presented above, the characters are mostly revolutionary soldiers, Uncle Ho's soldiers. They are characters with typical personalities of people with revolutionary ideals. They are often characters of character, characters of action rather than psychological characters. Therefore, most of their actions are cross-actions, in which external actions and internal actions are expressed in the relationship of cause - effect or form - content.

4.3.2. The expression of “counter-action”

With the actions of the characters in the plays as we have analyzed above, there are still some events that lead to the decisive actions of those characters. But the nature of the counter-action is not really clear, because in the end the actions of the characters still illustrate more clearly the personality that they have shown from the beginning. With the way of expressing "counter-action", the plays written in this period completely escape the tendency of a tragedy and instead are a play that represents the enlightened spirit of the intellectual class in the early years of the resistance.

Chapter 4 Summary

With the characteristic of the genre being dramatic conflict, historical issues have been exploited in a profound way and expressed most clearly. In terms of language, the 1945 - 1985 dramas on historical themes do not use many monologue forms, the nature of language shows the penetration of poetry and philosophy in dramatic language has contributed to clearly expressing the fluctuations of history and the personality and actions of historical characters. One factor that cannot be ignored when talking about the characteristics of drama is dramatic action. The dramatic action of the characters in these works is mainly a series of actions that cross, expressing the one-sided personality of the characters.

CONCLUDE

1. In the process of Vietnamese literature in general and dramatic literature in particular, Vietnamese drama (1945 - 1985) on historical themes has played a very special role in adding the voice of the revolution and describing the broad aspects of life, but still expressing the complex psychological dimensions of human beings. The harmonious combination between the individual and society, between the fate of the individual and the fate of the country has created a unique appeal without being too forced. Within the general development of revolutionary literature, drama also carries within itself unity in diversity and an epic, revolutionary romantic tendency. Through many ups and downs, historical drama written in the period 1945 - 1985 has shaped its own style and quite distinct trend. Not looking back to the distant past or Chinese historical stories like the first stage of drama, nor delving too deeply into the identity and personal conflicts of each person in the perception that is contrary to official history, most of these plays have succeeded in expressing the interaction between individuals and society, between people and history, but all generally point to the issues of the country, nation, and people. In the process of expressing that, drama has reached out to the manifestations of epic inspiration to reflect the power of the nation's glorious achievements. When drama speaks the voice of the times, meets the aspirations of the people and brings confidence to the Party, to the revolution, drama and art in general and the masses will become closely linked together. The stage at this time is used as a place to most effectively convey to the masses the thoughts and ideals of revolution and resistance.

2. Because of that special role, the 1945 - 1985 plays written on historical themes from the perspective of artistic thinking had very unique creative concepts, in which the role of fiction and modernity in the works was emphasized. Even for the same historical material (characters, events, themes), each playwright will have different attitudes and fictional methods. And modernity in historical works is also what writers need to aim for so that those themes become more valuable than ever, becoming valuable lessons for today's generation. Historical and social factors have a significant impact on the artistic thinking of each writer to form the tendency to create and exploit historical and social materials. In particular, the purpose of creation (for propaganda, political service or to draw lessons in contemporary issues...) will determine the approach to the material and the direction of expressing historical material. Artistic thinking also governs the approach to historical materials of writers. In general, through the process of statistics and analysis of artistic concepts and thinking of drama on historical talent, we aim to point out some trends in exploiting historical materials: 1. The trend of simulating and faithfully reproducing history based on the principle of absolute respect for history; 2. The trend of historical reconstruction and dialogue. 3. The trend of historical fiction. All of these trends are expressed through the way of building and approaching characters, themes and events. But no matter what angle the material is approached from, artistic thinking still aims to take history as a landmark to see the relationship of the elements expressed in the work with it, for example, the types of characters in the plays of this period show the different roles of people in history. There are characters who were victims of history, lost in the chaos of war, there are characters who were originally from the aristocracy, did not care about fame and fortune, and did not dare to stand on the side of the working people, but all of these characters were enlightened by the revolution, awakened by justice, helping them have a clear vision and the strength to let go of everything, following the light of the struggle for justice, for independence.

3. Looking at the characteristics of drama, the strict requirements on technique, performance as well as spatial and temporal context became secondary factors to give way to the purpose of encouraging the masses in the boiling atmosphere of the revolution, so the expression in the characteristics of drama in this period often tended to be one-sided. However, there were still many dramatic compositions that both met the requirements of current events and politics and met the basic artistic standards. The most important conflicts expressed in the plays of this period were class conflicts, ethnic conflicts and personal conflicts. With its nature, "A new type of conflict very typical of drama in particular has formed. If in the period 1945 - 1954, the conflict was mainly class-colored, then in this period the class conflict faded compared to the enemy-us conflict and the conflict within the people. Around these basic conflicts, writers and playwrights have developed conflicts and dramatic actions according to quality lines, ideal lines such as: progress - backwardness; heroism - cowardice; individual - collective; good - bad; positive - negative; positive - negative; advance - retreat". And the types of conflicts as Phan Cu De has identified have been analyzed by us in the plays above. In the period of resistance against France and America, the conflict most expressed in drama is the conflict between the nation - feudalism/colonialism. Different manifestations of conflict all point to the issues raised between the two sides of the battle line, about the behavior between patriots and invaders. However, the conflict between individual/private affairs - community/public affairs is considered the most intense type of conflict, and it is these conflicts that push the plot of the play to a climax, making the audience captivated. Another type of conflict is the conflict within each person's being, which is also expressed by playwrights in the works we are talking about. This is the type of conflict that can be said to be the most difficult and complicated for the character to choose a solution, and compared to the plays written after Doi Moi, this type of conflict does not appear much in the plays written in the period of 1945 - 1985. In terms of language, the 1945 - 1985 historical dramas clearly showed a tendency to generalize and contemplate, the dramatic language plays a role in expressing the portraits of the characters, and at the same time the language also shows the unique characteristics of the genre. Each type of character is built by the authors into a separate language field, because the character language is the main special form of drama, so through most of the dialogues, the reader can completely imagine what the personality of that person is like, and can even know where they come from, what their origin is. In addition, the nature of language is often associated with the narrative discourse of ordinary people, full of poetry, folk songs, and sometimes even philosophy and thesis. Dramatic action is also an element that clearly shows the characteristics of historical drama in this period. Because the characters in the drama are mostly revolutionaries, dramatic action is mainly through a series of consistent actions, expressing the true nature of people of the time. The internal and external actions of the characters also do not have many contradictions, and the opposition between these two actions rarely appears in the dramatic works we are talking about. But there are also many "changes" that are introduced, creating turning points in the perception of the characters who are still struggling to find their way. Of course, due to the influence of social circumstances and creative perspectives, dramatic action here ultimately aims at the "supreme task" of expressing the revolutionary spirit in all circumstances and all events.

4. In summary, studying Vietnamese drama (1945 - 1985) on historical themes from the perspective of artistic thinking and genre characteristics with the characteristics as we have analyzed above, we once again hope to contribute a part of the documents in affirming the content and artistic values ​​of this special creative field. From there, we can see the position and role of dramatic compositions from 1945 - 1985 on historical themes in the development process of drama in particular and literature in general.

LIST OF SCIENTIFIC WORKS OF THE AUTHORS RELATED TO THE THESIS

1. Tran Thi Thu (2018), “Dramas written on historical themes after 1945 – viewed from the perspective of dramatic language”,Capital University Science Journal(22), pp.55-63.

2. Tran Thi Thu (2018), "Trends in exploiting historical events in plays written on historical themes from 1945 to present", Proceedings of the National Scientific ConferenceTeaching and Researching Vietnamese Studies and Vietnamese Language – Theoretical and Practical Issues, Ho Chi Minh City National University Publishing House, pp.694 – p.700.

3. Tran Thi Thu (2018), “Forms of dramatic conflict in historical drama”,Culture and Arts Magazine(410), pp.90-94.

4. Tran Thi Thu (2018), “Historical drama in Vietnam from 1945 to present - themes and characteristics of character building”,Ho Chi Minh City Journal of Social Sciences(10+11), pp.108-p.116.

5. Tran Thi Thu (2019), “Trends in approaching historical characters in Vietnamese drama on historical themes from 1945 to present”, Proceedings of the International Scientific ConferenceResearch and teaching Vietnamese language and Vietnamese studies in universities, Hanoi National University Publishing House, pp.659-669.