The arts and culture of the Vietnamese is elaborate and diverse with splendid plays, songs and set pieces performances that demonstrate indigenous expressions on culture of the Viet (Barley 93). This research paper explores with a specific example; the diverse culture of the Viet represented through subtle selection of music on the songs; “Lie Down Sleep”, a Viet lullaby from the tribe of Black Thais (Don 78) and the “Au O Vi Dau” another common Viet lullaby. The tribe of Black Thais are amongst the minority occupants of the mountain region of Vietnam, and their stylistic, cultural representations and performances have always captured the attentions of many alongside being adopted by neighboring communities (Don 78). For this reason, the song, "Lie Down Sleep" and “Au O Vi Dau”, have been chosen according to this research, on the basis of its primary representation of tradition and culture disregarding other classical songs and music that have predominantly displaced tradition in the current world of today.
Primarily, music in the southern region of Vietnam is traced back to the nineteenth century, and the genre has been passed on and would continue to be in the generations to come amongst the Viet. According to Bach Yen and Tran Quang Hai, the musical representation of the Viet was demonstrated by spoon, lullabies and instrumental solos (Barley 93). This aspect meticulously highlights the diversity in culture of the Vietnamese. They used a variety of instruments which included lute, cithara and fiddles alongside other gadgets that were improvised to suit the genre and style of representation of their cultural songs and lullabies. The Black Thais communities live in harmony and cherish happiness in their culture as represented in the lullabies “Au O Vi Dau” and “Lie Down Sleep”.
These lullaby songs have been sang by the Viet community for ages being passed on from one generation to another. They both highlight an emotional aspect on children that is felt by the child when they begin and continues until a child is soothed asleep (Don 78). It is incredibly interesting that each person can always find a way to collide his or her own lyrics with the core harmony. These song, therefore insists on the child on the essence of being obedient and paying attention. Obedience is a critical norm on the cultural context of the Vietnamese and thus it is emphasized at a tender age.
The third imagery that has been highlighted in these songs is the culture of the Vietnamese and their traditions that are depicted through these songs. The songs have the ability to unite all the people of Vietnam as they are common throughout the tribes of Vietnam. These songs further depicts the people of Vietnam as hard working and ones that believes on self-productivity and sustenance.
On a wider perception, these lullabies are comparatively a learning tool used by mothers to teach their children at a young age. They highlight the difficulties a mother goes through and how she would make good food only if the baby sleeps soundly. The mother firstly goes to the rice field and when she returns she gets to paddy. In the first stanza of “Au O Vi Dau”, the mother has promised good food to the baby to sooth him to sleep. The last line in the second stanza of the lullaby elicited a sense of danger in case the baby wakes up or is unable to sleep longer despite the previously evoked excitement when the mother says the baby to talk for pleasure and slippers scattered across the floor (Don 78).
A ‘corn grinding’ song of the Pueblo community from Southwest American has similar imagery to this lullaby of “Au O Vi Dau” (Richard 123). In both cases, the cultural practices of the two communities are clearly outlined. While the “Au O Vi Dau” of Vietnam focuses on rice and paddy, the Pueblo is farming cotton, cones, tobacco and squash (Peter 64). They are, therefore, both agriculturalists and hardworking communities who treasure their culture and way of life. The two songs in this case share a common imagery on cultural representation that is the primary basis of this research.
During the performance of songs by the Pueblo community, their dances and dramatization are neurotic magic and the male put on headgears and other well decorated costumes (Richard 123). This shows their diversity in culture and how much they value their customs. This is also seen amongst the people of Vietnam, who use various instruments in their performances to invoke excitement and happiness (Seeger 145). The lullaby song “Au O Vi Dau”, also has culminated a calm jovial mood which is symbolic and a true representation of their culture (Barley 93).
Songs, as outlined in this research have diverse application besides being used to sooth children to sleep. They are used to teach children on positive norms of the community as depicted in the Vietnamese lullabies “Au O Vi Dau” and “Lie Down Sleep”, which has put emphasis on obedience alongside the emotional aspect and way of life of the community (Richard 123). Others are used as teaching aids and identifying individual roles for ether adults or children. In this research, the Vietnamese culture and specifically the Black Thais culture is enriched with a lot of diversity and practices that set them as one of the most admirable communities besides being the minority amongst the 52 different communities found in Vietnam (Seeger 145).
Work Cited
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Kourí, Emilio. A Pueblo Divided: Business, Property, and Community in Papantla, Mexico. Stanford, Calif: Stanford University Press, 2010. Print.
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Randel, Don M. The Harvard Dictionary of Music. Cambridge, Mass. [u.a.: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2009. Print.
Seeger, Anthony. Why Suyá Sing: A Musical Anthropology of an Amazonian People. Urbana [u.a.: Univ. of Ill. Press, 2007. Print.
