WOMEN IN TWO SHORT STORIES “VO NHAT” AND “CHIEC THUYEN NGOAI XA” IN LIGHT OF CULTURE

Abstract

Comprehending profoundly and discovering all the beauties of literary works are the goals of literature teachers. The characteristics of literary works are polysemy. To show how a literary image manifests itself the most completely, we should view it from different perspectives. From cultural perspectives, if an old woman called Tu (Vo nhat) is the personification of a mother’s traditional tolerance, altruism and kindness, then a woman in a fishing village (Chiec thuyen ngoai xa) is both the product of obligations by Confucian culture and by patriarchy and the antithesis of such a traditional culture. By cultural research methodologies in combination with analysis, the article highlights the images of women in the two works. Therefore, the paper can evoke a new approach to the above two works.