Almost all literary devices can be found across languages, overcoming geographical and political barriers. Below is an insight into literary devices across English and Vietnamese and their functions.
❖ Character: nhân vật
1. Advancing the plot: Characters help to move the story forward through their actions, decisions, and interactions with other characters. Characters can also create tension and conflict in literary works. They may have opposing goals or values, or they may simply clash with each other due to personality differences.
2. Providing insight: Characters can reveal important information about the story, including their thoughts, feelings, and motivations. They can also provide commentary on the events of the story and offer insights into the themes and messages being explored.
3. Symbolism: Characters can also function as symbols, representing larger ideas or themes within the story. For example, a character who is always happy and optimistic might represent hope or a brighter future.
❖ Setting: bối cảnh
1. Establishes the mood and tone of the story.
2. Creates a sense of time and place.
3. Enhances the plot and conflicts by creating obstacles and limitations.
4. Reveals information about the society and culture in which the story takes place. Offers symbolism and imagery that adds depth and meaning to the story.
❖ Plot: cốt truyện
The function of plot in literary works is to provide structure and unity to the story, as well as to create tension, suspense, and a sense of resolution. The plot also helps to develop and reveal the characters, their motivations, and conflicts. Additionally, the plot can be used to explore themes and messages in the story, and to engage and entertain the reader. Overall, the plot is an essential element of a successful literary work, as it shapes the narrative and holds the reader's attention.
❖ Theme: chủ đề
1. Unifying Element: A theme in a literary work serves as a unifying element that ties together the various elements of the work, including plot, characters, and setting.
2. Depth: Themes provide insight into the human condition, helping readers understand themselves and their world in a more profound way. A theme adds depth to a literary work by exploring the underlying meaning and significance of the story. A well-developed theme gives readers a richer understanding of the work and its purpose.
3. Allows for Interpretation: Themes may be interpreted in various ways, allowing for multiple interpretations of the same literary work. This allows readers to bring their unique perspectives and experiences to the story.
❖ Dialogue: đối thoại
1. Advancing the plot: Dialogue can move the story forward by revealing information, showing characters' motivations, and creating conflict.
2. Developing characters: Dialogue allows readers to learn about characters' personalities, backgrounds, and relationships with others. It also provides a direct presentation to animate the character.
3. Creating tension or humor: The words characters use can create tension or humor, amplifying the emotional appeal to the reader.
❖ Imagery: gợi hình
1. Enhancing the setting: Imagery can bring a story’s setting to life, creating a vivid and detailed picture in the reader’s mind. It can also be used to create a certain mood or atmosphere within a work of literature, whether it is dark and brooding, or light and optimistic.
2. Creating themes and symbols: Imagery can be used to create symbolic representations of themes in a literary work, allowing authors to communicate deeper meanings and emotions beyond the surface level.
❖ Figures of speech: biện pháp tu từ
1. Enhancing imagery: Figures of speech such as simile, metaphor and personification help to create vivid and memorable images in the reader’s mind.
2. Creating emotional impact: Figures of speech like hyperbole, irony and rhetorical questions can create a sense of surprise, shock or humor, which can enhance the emotional impact of a literary work.
3. Conveying abstract concepts: Figures of speech can be used to convey abstract concepts such as love, hope and fear, which are difficult to express through direct language.
4. Adding artistic value: Figures of speech add artistic value to literary works by creating variety and interest in language use and structure.
5. Creating a distinctive voice: Figures of speech can help to create a distinctive voice for a literary work, distinguishing it from other works and making it more memorable.
❖ Tone: giọng điệu
Conveying Emotions: Tone can be used to convey emotions such as sadness, anger, happiness, or excitement. It allows the reader to understand the emotional state of the narrator or a character.
Creating Irony: Tone can be used to create situational or verbal irony. Irony occurs when there is a difference between what is expected and what actually happens.
Expressing evaluation: Judgements of an incident or a character can be voiced by the narrator through the deliberate use of tone.
❖ Rhyme/Rhythm: vần, nhịp
1. Enhance the overall musicality of the work: Rhyme and rhythm help to create a musicality in poems and songs that can enhance the emotional impact of the work on the reader or listener.
2. Establish the meter and form: Rhyme and rhythm can help establish the meter and form of a literary work, giving it structure and coherence.
3. Create a sense of unity: By using rhyme and rhythm, a poet or writer can create a sense of unity in their work, linking different parts together and making it more cohesive.
4. Make the work more memorable: Rhyme and rhythm can also help to make a work more memorable by creating a pattern and repetition that can stick in the reader or listener's mind. The use of rhyme and rhythm can also help to convey emotion and meaning in a more powerful way by enhancing the tone and mood of the work.
❖ Point of View: ngôi kể
1. Establishing perspective: Point of view helps establish the viewpoint of the narrator or protagonist, which can shape the reader's perception of the story.
2. Providing insight into characters: Point of view can give the reader insight into the characters' personalities, motives, and emotions.
Common literary devices in Vietnamese works:
So sánh: simile
Liệt kê: Listing
Ẩn dụ: Metonymy
Hoán dụ: Synecdoche
Nhân hóa: Personification
Thậm xưng: Hyperbole
Tương phản: Antithesis
Nói giảm nói tránh: Understating
Điệp từ: Phrasal parallelism
Điệp cấu trúc: Structural parallelism
Chơi chữ: Puns/ word play
Trường từ vựng: Lexical field applications
Luyến láy: Rhyme
Vần điệu: Rhythm
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