THE EVOLUTION OF THE TRAGIC HERO MODEL FROM ARISTOTLE’S THEORY OF TRAGEDY TO THE NOVEL “RED RAIN”

Authors

  • Lê Đỗ Hoài Tâm
  • Hoàng Thị Thùy Dương

Keywords

Tragedy, Tragic hero, Aristotle, Red Rain, War fiction, Bi kịch, Anh hùng bi kịch, Mưa đỏ, Văn học chiến tranh

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.34238/tnu-jst.15170

Abstract

This article applies “Poetics” by Aristotle to analyze the dynamics of the tragic hero model in the novel “Red Rain” by Chu Lai. Building on an elucidation of the central categories within the dynamic structure of the tragic hero model: hamartia (tragic flaw), peripeteia (reversal), and anagnorisis (recognition), in connection with the effect of catharsis - the study aims to elucidate how the tragic hero model operates when situated in a modern war novel. The findings indicate that “Red Rain” exhibits significant tragic elements, in which the tragic hero model undergoes notable transformations, emerging as an important aesthetic component within the narrative structure. This study affirms the compatibility between classical tragic poetics and the modern war novel, while also proposing a new approach that views the literary work as an open structure in which the tragic element serves as a central nucleus driving its humanistic meaning, thereby enabling the identification and interpretation of the psychological conflicts experienced by individuals in the context of war.

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References

C. Lai, Red Rain (novel). People’s Army Publishing House, Hanoi, 2016.

Aristotle, Poetics (Samuel Henry Butcher translated). Macmillan and Co., London, 1895.

C. H. Reeves, “The Aristotelian Concept of the Tragic Hero,” The American Journal of Philology, vol. 73, no. 2, pp. 172-188, 1952.

H. A. Kelly, Ideas and Forms of Tragedy from Aristotle to the Middle Ages, Cambridge University Press, 1993.

G. Boas, “The Evolution of the Tragic Hero,” The Carleton Drama Review, vol. 1, no. 1, pp. 5-21, 1955-1956.

T. M. L. Nguyen, “Movement of tragedy (From ancient Greek to renaissance),” Hue University Journal of Science, vol. 72A, no. 3, pp. 165-175, 2012.

W. G. McCollom, “The Downfall of the Tragic Hero,” College English, vol. 19, no. 2, pp. 51-56, 1957.

T. D. N. Nguyen, “The image of the hero – the artist in Chu Lai's Novel “Red Rain”,” Thu Dau Mot University Journal of Science, vol. 3, no. 70, pp. 98-104, 2024.

T. H. Y. Le, “War Narrative in Chu Lai’s Novel Red Rain,” (in Vietnamese), Bachelor's thesis, Hanoi National University of Education, 2024.

Published

2026-06-16

Issue

Section

SOCIAL SCIENCE – HUMANITIES – ECONOMICS