Postcolonial Vietnam: New Histories of the National Past

The Rehabilitation of an Uncomfortable Past: Everyday Life in Vietnam during the Subsidy Period (1975–1986)

“…Despite the profound changes that have taken place both in Vietnam and in the world since the end of the Second Indochina War, official narrations of the nation continue to emphasize the country's unchanging "national essence" (qu c túy), its "national unity" (dân t c Vi t Nam là m t), and "tradition of resistance to foreign aggression" (truy n th ng ch ng xâm l c) that stretches back four millennia (Pelley 1995(Pelley : 2002. This is not to suggest these themes, which help the Communist Party position itself both historically and morally at the end of a long line of national heroes, are no longer important or deserving of careful scholarly analysis.…”

Tourism and Nation Building at the War Remnants Museum in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

“…The museum allows the Party to create a shifting narrative of itself to a diverse and international audience. If legitimizing its authority to its own citizens is a significant component of the Party's daily activities (Pelley 2002;Kerkvliet 2003) this article has also demonstrated that it is also vital to present the Party in a victorious and healing light to outsiders as well.…”

From Spiritual Homes to National Shrines: Religious Traditions and Nation-Building in Vietnam

“…Historian Patricia Pelley [41] demonstrates clearly that the Vietnamese postcolonial socialist state, ceaseless in the defense of the country against foreign aggressors, was extremely concerned about national history and its interpretation. As early as 1943, the Vietnamese Communist Party, in its "Theses on Vietnamese Culture" introduced three principles: nationalization, popularization, and scientism [dân tộc hóa, đại chúng hóa, and khoa học hóa] as the "guiding concepts for the project of building a 'new culture' and a 'new life'" ( [23], p. 2; see also [38], p. .…”

“…'Nationalization' especially was understood as a defense against hostile forces -France and Japan -in terms of a "long-standing tradition of resistance to foreign aggression" and, therefore, occupied a particular place in the ideological and academic discourse ( [23], p. 2). In the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s scholars debated extensively about turning points in Vietnam's history as well as about the historical figures concerned, which were often 'repacked' and represented as national heroes [41]. Such repackaging did not only refer to historic figures, but also included religious structures which in the official view stood for a "national tradition."…”

“…A closer reading of the Công Báo shows a continuity of the postcolonial socialist Vietnamese state with this pre-colonial practice. Like the imperial court, the modern state seeks to increase its legitimacy through the careful selection and canonization of those historic figures who demonstrated moral and patriotic values and heroic resistance against foreign invaders (see [33], p. 529; [41], p. 177-189; [42,44]). …”