KHO TÀNG TRUYỆN CỔ TÍCH - Trang 2448

have acquired a high standard of oral narrative art" (Nguyen Dong Chi: 72),
and "to be the most perfect type of all folk narratives" (Nguyen Dong Chi:
70-71). This is the underlying assumption in his systematic argument. In his
view, there is no need for a clear-cut distinction as suggested by Durand in
order to arrive at the "antiquity". It might be easier to ascertain a landmark.
So many instances of failed attempts to trace the origins of folk poems and
stories? Therefore, it seems the only possible way to determine the
antiquity of a folk story is by identifying its artistic style. Nguyen Dong Chi
also elaborates on this view, saying the identification of the antiquity of a
folk story is mainly through its ways of depicting the characters, the
sequencing and its structure and typical motif, but is not necessarily
dependent on the historical time in which it occurred" (Nguyen Dong Chi:
67) and that "while the antiquity and contemporary concepts might be
mixed in some stories, the characters, events and images in folklore must
bear resemblance to those dating back to traditional folk literature which
has truck roots in the depths of people’s minds. " (Nguyen Dong Chi: 66).
Hence the recognized concept of "modern folk stories" if old time stories.
On this phenomenon, Nguyen Dong Chi (Ibid.: 68) comments "recently
published folk tales are accepted because they bear resemblance to the
historical and social background, and the characters" ways of thinking and
behaviour typical of old times. " On the contrary, "stories such as The third
wife of De Tham, though it relates to events happening half a century ago
and has a characteristically modern folk tale clement, is by no means
considered folklore because it contains long bearded, long nosed [French]
soldiers with rifles and pistols, things which do not belong to "antiquity"
and are not recognized by the general public as belonging to the other side
of modernity." (Nguyen Dong Chi: 67). It is evident that Nguyen Dong
Chi’s approach is adequate and in conformity with aesthetical principles of
folklore study and not heavily dependent on history as suggested by
Durand.