Woman as Nation: Tradition and Modernity Narratives in Vietnamese Histories.

HISTORY & gender; HISTORIOGRAPHY; VIETNAMESE history; MODERNITY; NATIONALISM; EQUALITY; IMPERIALISM; WOMEN

While the category of ‘Woman’ has often been appropriate to represent Vietnamese tradition – whether as indicative of Chinese oppression or of national uniqueness – there has been little analysis of the origins of this discursive process and its political implications. This study argues that the two dominant models of Vietnamese womanhood can be traced to the implementation of Western-style history writing in Viêt Nam and tied to the French colonial project. These paradigms have framed the writing and periodising of Vietnamese history and have been used to identify the country’s position on the development timeline and to indicate its readiness for modernity, whether in the colonial period or in the contemporary global economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]