Vietnamese Late Socialism
The Politics of Culture in Contemporary Vietnam
April 24 - 25, 2004
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY
-- CALL FOR PAPERS--
How do we describe contemporary Vietnamese Socialism within the larger context of contemporary Vietnamese society? How does the political orientation of contemporary Vietnam intersect with contemporary cultural practices and ideas about "culture" as an object of knowledge? The Cornell University Southeast Asia Program is pleased to announce a multidisciplinary symposium and workshop on contemporary Vietnam that seeks to answer these questions. We invite scholars to submit abstracts for papers that propose to analyze the intersection of political and cultural life in contemporary Vietnamese society with an eye for empirical data, ethnographic description, political, economic and symbolic analyses, or attention to historical changes. We use the term "Late Socialism" with caution, as an imperfect way to describe the unique confluence of socialist bureaucracy with a social, economic and cultural turn towards seemingly capitalist modes of consumption and production. We look for papers that will question the value of this terminology with critical scholarship designed to help clarify the theoretical directions and methods of inquiry most suitable for research on contemporary Vietnamese society, politics and culture. Rather than take "culture" for granted, we especially seek to highlight the sometimes ambiguous roles culture plays as both an actual subject of study as well as a new object of knowledge and control in an ever-changing landscape of politics, governance, and social action.
The symposium will be held on April 24th and 25th, 2004 at The Kahin Center for Advanced Research on Southeast Asia in Ithaca, New York.
Prospective presenters should submit a one-page abstract and curriculum vitae by February 27, 2004 to:
Erik Harms
The Kahin Center for Advanced Research on Southeast Asia
640 Stewart Ave
Ithaca NY 14850-3857
elh9@cornell.edu
Papers should be in English with a reading time of no more than 20 minutes. Modest travel grants may be available.
Please find a more detailed conference description below:
Symposium Description:
There is something of a culture of culture in contemporary Vietnam.
Topics like van hoc, van hoa, van minh, hoc van "literary studies,
culture, civilization, education" fill the shelves in bookstores,
occupy the television and print news, and make cameo roles in literature.
"Traditional" events, festivals, folk revivals, pilgrimages
and cultural tourism seem to figure more and more into daily life and
are increasingly reported on in official state media. Often described
as a "re-emergence", or a "return" to old ways,
this conference looks critically at the social and political implications
of this emerging discourse on culture in contemporary Vietnam. We will
only briefly ponder the question of whether this is a "revival
of the past" or something new, choosing to look more carefully
at how the contemporary orientation to "market socialism"
is effecting or influencing this proliferation of discourse about "culture".
While maintaining an interest in the historical transformations of cultural
discourse in Vietnam, we specifically seek an understanding of urgent
social questions facing Vietnam today: What are the connections between
these emerging notions of "culture" and specific forms of
power, economy, or governance? How do certain aspects of the turn to
"culture" as a category of knowledge signify the emergence
of new mechanisms of social and cultural control? Does the current state
of culture in Vietnam represent a new culture of state? That is, does
the current emphasis on culture signal a new approach to how the state
conceives and legitimates its authority?
Although the academic questions highlighted above frame the general direction of inquiry, this conference has three secondary purposes designed to help build the basis for academic interaction among scholars of contemporary Vietnam. By bringing questions of Method, Language and Pedagogy into the discussions, we can link the scholarly and theoretical level of inquiry with important practical issues that confront all scholars researching and teaching about Vietnam.
Method:
The first secondary purpose is to seriously examine the implications
of studying culture and society in contemporary Vietnam. How can we
do it properly? How can we define the adequacy of research on such a
nebulous topic? We begin with the premise that there is a definite politics
of culture in Vietnam. Then we try to articulate what exactly the politics
of field-work and research are. How do we facilitate academic exchange
with Vietnamese colleagues when expectations of research and the methods
used so often differ? What does it really mean to "study culture"
in contemporary Vietnam? Does this mean the same thing for Western academics
as it does for scholars in Vietnam? How well do the methods and goals
of disciplines like anthropology, economics, sociology, political science,
linguistics, and art-history correspond with the expectations of our
Vietnamese colleagues? What are the dynamics of power that frame academic
and research exchanges? What are the rights and responsibilities of
Western researchers in Vietnam? What are the ethical dimensions of research
when the expectations of Western institutions and funding agencies do
not correspond to those of Vietnamese scholars we may work with?
Language:
The second purpose is to develop a language for talking and writing
about Vietnamese concepts in English. We start from the beginning, asking:
"Van hoa la gi?" What is culture? By relating historical interpretations
of these Vietnamese concepts and their East Asian parallels to discussions
of culture in anthropology and cultural studies we attempt to perfect
the way we use and explain the terms van hoa and van minh in English-language
writings. American discourse and debate on the meaning of "culture"
is complex in itself, so how can we translate the Vietnamese concepts
in light of our own etymologies of the terms? From this discussion we
can move on to important but subtle concepts: What, to name a few possible
examples, are the differences between "nuoc," "quoc,"
and, "to quoc" when speaking of the nation, or "que huong"
and "dat me" when speaking of the homeland? Even terms which
have come to Vietnam Studies by way of scholarly writing still need
critical discussion. For example, what, exactly, is "market-oriented
socialism", a term often used but rarely explained? A great deal
of the basic vocabulary of Vietnam Studies including both Vietnamese,
English terms, and Vietnamese terms that have been translated from foreign
concepts needs careful discussion before we seriously proceed to careful
discussions of the contemporary period.
Pedagogy:
The third purpose is to develop strategies for teaching about contemporary
Vietnamese culture and society. The conference will culminate in a
syllabus workshop and bibliography exchange. The purpose of the syllabus
workshop is to think critically about how the theoretical insights thrown
around in high-minded academic conferences can be translated into critical
yet clear introductory courses about Vietnam? What are the most useful
current books, articles, films, web-sites and other teaching materials
available? How does one incorporate Vietnamese history in a class on
contemporary Vietnam without essentializing the past as an explanation
for the present? How can one incorporate topics as seemingly disparate
as religion, politics, history, class, race, gender, ethnic minorities,
economy, geography, popular culture, language, war, and rural and urban
divisions, into a syllabus that shows the holistic connections between
them? This workshop portion of the conference will be conducted in a
campus technology teaching center, where conference participants can
work together to produce tangible working syllabi they can save to disk,
take with them, and change as they see fit for their own teaching needs.