Vietnam Studies Group

Query on Vietnamese Archives

From paul.sager@nyu.edu Thu May 26 09:55:13 2005

Date: Thu, 26 May 2005 12:54:41 -0400

From: Paul Michael Sager <paul.sager@nyu.edu>

Reply-To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>

To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>

Subject: [Vsg] Query on Vietnamese Archives

I hope to do research in archives in Hanoi and HCMC. My topic is state-sector employee unions (and pre-union ~Sassociations~T and ~Samicales~T) in the colonial period; organizations of employees whose job titles in French were ~Sfonctionnaires,~T ~Sauxiliaires,~T ~Sjournalières,~T or ~Sagents.~T I have noted a significant presence of such groups in VN through research done in France ~V I~Rve particularly found a lot of periodicals conserved in the BNF.

Someone with experience in Vietnamese archives suggested to me that the Vietnamese state would jealously guard documentation on unions because, for political reasons, it keeps a tight lid on any information related to the workers’s movement. How difficult of a time do you experienced Vietnam scholars think I might have pursuing this topic, and are there any strategies you could suggest that I employ in order to minimize such problems?

Also, how does one go about getting a research sponsor, and what is the sponsor’s role? Do they serve a political function, of filtering out unwanted research topics, for example?

If anyone knows of any references about state employees in colonial Indochina, please don’t hesitate to send them to me.

Thank you very much,

New York University

From ben.kerkvliet@anu.edu.au Thu May 26 23:16:57 2005

Date: Fri, 27 May 2005 16:20:53 +1000

From: Ben Kerkvliet <ben.kerkvliet@anu.edu.au>

Reply-To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>

To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>

Subject: Re: [Vsg] Query on Vietnamese archives

I'm pretty sure EFEO in Hanoi (Ecole Francaise d'Extreme Orient) published a few years ago an extensive inventory of records in Vietnam's National Archive number 1 (Trung Tam Luu Tru Quoc Gia I), which holds colonial materials. Looking at that inventory to get an idea of what's available would be a good first step.

Re. sponsors, judging from my experience, I think every researcher needs a sponsor in order to get access to the national archives. The sponsor facilitates a research visa, provides letters of introduction (e.g., to an archive), and in other ways is helpful. Perhaps the best way to find a suitable one for your topic, Paul, is to communicate directly with historians who have been doing research recently in VN.

From judithh@u.washington.edu Fri May 27 13:01:10 2005

Date: Fri, 27 May 2005 13:00:47 -0700 (PDT)

From: Judith Henchy <judithh@u.washington.edu>

Reply-To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>

To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>

Subject: Re: [Vsg] Query on Vietnamese archives

This is the updated guide published in Hanoi:

Sach chi dan cac phong luu tru thoi ky thuoc dia : bao quan tai trung tam luu tru quoc gia I Ha Noi = Guide des fonds d'archives d'epoque coloniale: conserves au centre no 1 des archives nationales Hanoi / Ngo Thieu Hieu ... [et al.] PUBL INFO Ha Noi : Nha xuat ban Van hoa-thong tin, 2001

Guides to archives are listed on the VSG web site at: http://www.lib.washington.edu/southeastasia/vsg/guides/archives.html

I also put together a collection of resources and VSG and other discussions, from Chis Goscha's list, for the CORMOSEA Bulletin (Committee on Research Materials on SEA).

http://www.cormosea.org/bulletin/bulletin.htm

This CORMOSEA site now also archives all old issues of the Bulletin, with an index. These Bulletins, which date from 1969, contain some interesting articles by scholars like David Marr, on there experiences in Vietnamese archives and libraries.

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