Among literary genres, essays about Hanoi are not only numerous in quantity but also have impressive artistic quality. Because the characteristics of the essay genre have helped authors freely immerse themselves in the thousand-year-old cultural-historical space, freely exploring the subtle dimensions of Hanoi.
According to the definition of many domestic and foreign literary dictionaries, prose (French: Prose) is a genre of prose (to distinguish it from verse), with a long tradition and strong vitality. There is no convention on the volume of prose and this genre can be fictional or non-fiction, with diverse expressions, especially highlighting the author's opinions and personality. The way of expressing life in prose is of a dotted nature, not necessarily requiring a complex plot, complete characters but with a unique structure, tone, and personal character. The essential thing is that prose reproduces the main features of phenomena rich in social meaning, directly expressing the author's feelings and thoughts that are deeply personal.
The keywords we need to pay attention to here are “pointedness”, “unique structure”, “author’s personality”. Thus, the nature of essays is not only to embroider and weave brocade of words but also to discover the smallest details of the object to be reflected to highlight unique viewpoints and thoughts hidden deep beneath familiar things.
Thang Long-Hanoi is one of the ancient capitals of Southeast Asia, moreover, it is a city that has almost continuously experienced more than 1,000 years of holding the position of political hub, economic and cultural center of Vietnam. The capital is the place where traditional cultural values of the nation are formed and preserved, and is also the intersection point of different regions and cultures. Hanoi's cultural and historical sediments are profound, layer upon layer, to the point that a tree, a street corner, a dish... also contains many interesting and attractive stories.
One thing that famous writers from the past to the present have in common is that they write essays about Hanoians are all people who have lived almost their entire lives in the capital. We can mention Pham Dinh Ho in the medieval period, to Thach Lam, To Hoai, Nguyen Vinh Phuc, Bang Son, Giang Quan in modern times or right now (contemporary) Nguyen Ngoc Tien, Nguyen Viet Ha, Do Phan, Nguyen Truong Quy... There are few writers who were not born, grew up and have been attached to Hanoi for a long time but still write many and good essays about the capital. In addition to the problem of the law in literature, that is, people only write "evenly" with familiar topics; with essays, the author is forced to ponder on the topic continuously, from which new thoughts arise. Writers must walk every day on the streets, stop at familiar shops, observe urban life, collect stories, and then ponder to be able to write interesting essays.
The number of writers writing essays about Hanoi is countless, which means that stories about heritage and people are written over and over again. There is some overlap, but the reason why essays about Hanoi are still loved by readers is because the perspectives, tones, and language of the writers are not the same. For example, in contemporary times: Each essay by Nguyen Ngoc Tien and Nguyen Truong Quy is like a small research paper; Nguyen Viet Ha is mischievous in his sarcastic comments, attractive language, borrowed from martial arts stories; Do Phan originally was a painter, so his writing is full of colors and images... Writing about the same topic as Hanoi cuisine, for example, some writers only specialize in describing delicious dishes, presenting sophisticated ways of preparation, while others want to create a contradiction in preserving the taste of traditional dishes and changing them to "please customers", sometimes losing the sophistication...
With the changes in Hanoi's cultural life, prose will certainly continue to make its mark in the current era of integration and globalization. However, there are literary connoisseurs who are not satisfied when literature about Hanoi stands out in the prose genre, they wish for the novel genre - the main genre of literature. That desire is legitimate but not easy, requiring extraordinary penmanship of great literary talent. At present, the writer's nature of writing about Hanoi is more suitable for prose. And above all, prose with its unique characteristics seems to be suitable for the short reading trend of today's readers.
Source: https://baolangson.vn/dau-an-ha-noi-trong-tan-van-5024322.html
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