(NB&CL) With the release of his latest work - the epic poem "Slaughterhouse" - combining literature and many other art forms, poet Nguyen Quang Thieu continues to affirm his journey of exploring and innovating poetry.
1. Poet Nguyen Quang Thieu is a multi-talented person. In addition to literature, he also writes stage scripts, film scripts, writes for newspapers, paints, etc. But poetry is the only place where he can be liberated and take refuge. Nguyen Quang Thieu once shared that, perhaps specific poems cannot save the world, but what carries the spirit of poetry has been and is saving the world. With his latest collection of poems "Slaughterhouse", his concept of poetry has once again been confirmed.
Unlike his previous works, with the epic poem “Slaughterhouse”, Nguyen Quang Thieu brought a strong experiment and innovation. That innovation can be clearly seen in poetics, language and form of expression. “Slaughterhouse” has the appearance of many genres, from letters, drafts, minutes and even dramatic dialogues. The epic poem was also released in both Vietnamese and English. In the English version, the translation was done by the author himself and edited by American poet Bruce Weigl.
In particular, “Slaughterhouse” also combines literature and painting, when accompanying the literary work is a large-scale painting series called “Prayer” drawn by the author himself, numbered from 1 to 18. Nguyen Quang Thieu shared that the series of paintings is closely associated with the literary work, it is a part of the soul of the work. The paintings are his way of expressing his wish that in a world full of destruction, people still maintain love, tolerance and a desire for a peaceful life. He hopes that readers will feel the thoughts he conveys in each work and, along with that, bring new feelings about art.
Poet Nguyen Quang Thieu shared at the launch of the epic poem "Slaughterhouse".
2. According to poet Tran Dang Khoa, innovation is always on the minds of every writer, especially in the context of contemporary life that is changing like a storm today. Although innovation has been “struggling” with by poets for decades, Nguyen Dinh Thi with his blank verse or Van Cao… were the first representatives. And later, when the innovation trend “won” nationwide, Nguyen Quang Thieu and a number of his fellow students were the ones who contributed to that “victory”.
“But Nguyen Quang Thieu is completely different from Nguyen Dinh Thi. Nguyen Quang Thieu has created a new aesthetic school, which includes language, structure, and poetic thinking,” poet Tran Dang Khoa commented.
Mr. Khoa believes that the innovation process of Nguyen Quang Thieu's poetry began with "The Insomnia of Fire", became clearer through "The Tree of Light" and reached its "peak" in "The Slaughterhouse".
“Reading “Slaughterhouse” we feel like we have a fever, like we are in a delirium and sometimes we are drowning in flies, not knowing if we become flies or flies become us. That is the message, the warning to humans against evil. We are fighting against evil but evil is still there,” said poet Tran Dang Khoa.
Sharing the same view, poet Mai Van Phan also believes that "Slaughterhouse" shows that Nguyen Quang Thieu continues the path of innovation and renewal of poetry that he has pursued since his first poems.
“Slaughterhouse” is published in hardcover, accompanied by a set of 18 specially printed color postcards, reproducing the 18 paintings in the “Prayer” series.
According to Mr. Phan, after 1986, a trend of poetic innovation appeared in the Vietnamese literary world, including three notable figures: Nguyen Quang Thieu, Duong Kieu Minh and Nguyen Luong Ngoc. Unlike “traditional” poets who built artistic space in the linear way of flat geometry, innovative poets built artistic space in a multidimensional direction.
Nguyen Quang Thieu, right from his first poetry collection “The House of 17” and most clearly “The Insomnia of Fire” has shaped a new artistic space, multi-dimensional, multi-perspective. Moreover, his poetry is different from poets of the same generation in the contrast between darkness and light. This contrast has created poetics, identity and style of Nguyen Quang Thieu.
“For a long time, Nguyen Quang Thieu has been faithful to this poetic style. And compared to the epic poems or medleys structured in the epic style that he wrote before, “Slaughterhouse” shows the greatest stature, gathering all the thoughts, emotions as well as aesthetic images according to Nguyen Quang Thieu’s point of view. “Slaughterhouse” raises a big question: Is the life we are living here really life?” , Mr. Phan analyzed.
Poet Mai Van Phan emphasized that, to answer this question, Nguyen Quang Thieu has laid out and created a multi-dimensional, multi-perspective world. In this way, the author opens up a vision for each reader, allowing them to clearly see their own time, other worlds and many other spaces. And thus, each reader will listen, will find a different “entrance”, and will co-create with the author.
3. Nguyen Quang Thieu said that “Slaughterhouse” was completed in 2016, but the idea started a long time ago, when he was very young, when he and his father visited a slaughterhouse in the suburbs of Ha Dong. Being exposed to the dark, cruel space and feeling the fear of the animals there inspired him to write this epic poem, as a way to confront his concerns about life and death.
“And in my nightmare, I entered the slaughterhouse again. This time I saw the cows lined up, talking and walking towards death, I heard the cows bellowing loudly as they were being slaughtered, I saw blood flowing, I heard the flies singing, I saw the souls of the cows flying through the slaughterhouse window towards the fields above. Something painful, tragic, majestic appeared. Then I realized it was poetry”, the author of “Slaughterhouse” shared.
A work in the 18-piece "Prayer" series of paintings by poet Nguyen Quang Thieu.
According to writer Pham Luu Vu, “Slaughterhouse” is difficult to read and in general, Nguyen Quang Thieu’s poetry is difficult to read because the author is a thoughtful person, a philosopher. Moreover, the epic poem begins with a name that is not poetic at all, if not strange and scary, so it is even more difficult to read if the reader does not step out of traditional thinking. “Slaughterhouse” challenges all readers, all critics from the sidewalk, the market to the academy, even challenging the “heroes” who love loud and talkative poetry… But it is “Slaughterhouse” that makes him have to redefine the concept of “epic poem”.
Some poets also commented that “Slaughterhouse” is truly a “masterpiece” in Nguyen Quang Thieu’s literary career. Beauty requires each person to create their own path to find it and recognize it. And with the epic poem “Slaughterhouse”, Nguyen Quang Thieu has created an unprecedented unique path, which is to find the purest beauty in the death of cows in the slaughterhouse.
T.Toan
Source: https://www.congluan.vn/cuoc-choi-bi-thuong-ma-ky-vi-cua-thi-ca-va-nghe-thuat-post335242.html
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