SỰ CHUYỂN DỊCH MÔ HÌNH TỰ SỰ TRONG TIỂU THUYẾT CHIẾN TRANH CỦA CHU LAI

Abstract

THE SHIFT IN NARRATIVE MODELS IN CHU LAI’S WAR NOVELS

This article identifies two dominant narrative models in Vietnamese war literature and examines the transitional position of Chu Lai’s fiction. The epic narrative model (1945-1975) is characterized by linear plotlines, omniscient narration, binary oppositions (us/them), and heroic collectivism. After 1975, particularly during the Đổi Mới period, a reflective narrative model emerged, shifting toward memory, trauma, fragmented temporality, moral ambiguity, and individualized voices. These models are understood not merely as technical narrative structures but as outcomes of shifting ideological perspectives and changing ways of perceiving war across historical periods. Using narratology and discourse theory, the study analyzes Ăn mày dĩ vãng (2004) as a representative “borderline case,” supplemented by Vòng tròn bội bạc (1987) and Khúc bi tráng cuối cùng (2007). Through four analytical parameters-plot structure, chronotope, narrative voice, and character-value system-the article demonstrates how Chu Lai transforms the war story from a collective epic into a mode of introspection and ethical reflection. Heroism gives way to psychological fracture, silence, guilt, and female memory as moral authority.

The findings contribute to clarifying reflective war narrative as not merely a personal tone but a shift in narrative paradigm. This study also provides a theoretical framework for further research on postwar literature and evolving war discourse in contemporary Vietnamese fiction.