Help with sources on Sex Work / Prostitution in Vietnam during colonial period
From: Kimberly Kay Hoang <kayhoang@berkeley.edu>
Reply-To: kayhoang@berkeley.edu, Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
Date: Fri, Apr 25, 2008 at 10:06 AM
Dear VSGers,
I am writing to ask if any of you might know of any useful sources on the history of prostitution / sex work in Vietnam during the French Colonial Period and during the Vietnam War. Most everything that I have read thus far is very contemporary and post doi moi. I was hoping that someone out there on this list serve might be able to point me to some useful historical sources. Thank you all in advance for any help!
Best,
Kimberly Hoang
Kimberly Kay Hoang
Graduate Student
Department of Sociology
University of California, Berkeley
410 Barrows Hall
Berkeley, CA 94720
kayhoang@berkeley.edu
650-796-7925
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From: Paul Sager <paul.sager@nyu.edu>
Reply-To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
To: kayhoang@berkeley.edu, Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
Date: Fri, Apr 25, 2008 at 10:18 AM
You could try to contact Isabelle Tracol (itracol@ifrance.com). She is writing a dissertation for a French university on prostitution in colonial Vietnam.
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From: ryan nelson <sociolgst@yahoo.com>
Reply-To: sociolgst@yahoo.com, Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
Date: Fri, Apr 25, 2008 at 11:01 AM
Enjoy.
Female prostitution in South Vietnam during the American period is discussed in Bergman, Arlene E. 1975. Woman of Viet Nam. San Fran: Peoples Press, Women in Viet Nam. Mai Thi Tu, Le Thi Nham Tuyet. Hanoi : Foreign Languages Pub. House, 1978 and Eisen, A. (1984) Women and Revolution in Vietnam, London: Zed Books. More recent initiatives of the Vietnamese government include “Resolution on Prostitution Control” of January 29, 1993 (Voice of Vietnam 1993) and an article in the Party’s theoretical journal.
Barry, Kathleen. The Prostitution of Slavery. 1996. NYU Press. p 130+.
To Huu’s “The Song on the Perfume River” (1938), offers a metaphor for the immorality of life under French colonialism.
Vu Trong Phung’s Luc xi [roughly, Loaded Dice, an examination of the relationship between colonialism and prostitution]
Radical journalist Nguyen Van Nguyen wrote and directed The Four Evils, a play depicting the negative social consequences of prostitution, alcohol, gambling, and opium.
Ryan Nelson
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From: Hoang t. Dieu-Hien <dieuhien@u.washington.edu>
Reply-To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
To: sociolgst@yahoo.com, Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
Date: Fri, Apr 25, 2008 at 11:20 AM
Hi Kimberly,
For non-scholarly work, from a first hand perspective on prostitution in South Viet Nam during the 1960s and early 1970s, read Le Ly Hayslip's memoir "When Heaven and Earth Change Places."
Le Ly herself would be a rich source also. Last I heard, she was in San Diego.
Good luck with your work.
Hien
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From: Christoph Giebel <giebel@u.washington.edu>
Reply-To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
Date: Fri, Apr 25, 2008 at 11:28 AM
If I remember correctly, Le Ly Hayslip herself was not engaged in prostitution (sans one particular, "gray area" instance).
C. Giebel
UW - Seattle
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From: Tobias RETTIG <tobiasrettig@smu.edu.sg>
Reply-To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
Date: Sat, Apr 26, 2008 at 2:41 AM
Dear Kimberley and interested VSG-ers,
To add to the below list, and raise questions as to where 'sex work' / 'prostitution' begins, notably whether temporary marriages / concubinat should be included or not:
Emmanuelle Saada, Les enfants de la colonie: Les metis de l'Empire francais entre sujetion et citoyennete (Paris: Editions la decouverte, 2007);
Vu Trong Phung (transl., with introduction, b Thuy Tranviet), The Industry of Marrying Europeans (Ithaca, NY: Cornell SEA Program, 2006) [based on VTP's 1934 articles)
Also interesting might be the collections of texts brought together and discussed by Alain Ruscio:
Alain Ruscio, Le credo de l'homme blanc: Regards coloniaux francais, XIXe-XXe siecles (Bruxelles: Editions Complexe, 2002)
Alain Ruscio, Amours coloniales: Aventures et fantasmes exotiques de Claire de Duras a Georges Simenon (Bruxelles: Editions Complext, 1996)
See entries on 'prostitution', 'congai', 'maladies' in Jacques Dalloz, Dictionnaire de la guerre d'Indochine, 1945-1954 (Paris: Armand Colin, 2006).
Finally, there should be much more in other French publications, past and present.
Success and Good Luck!
Tobias
Tobias Rettig, SMU, Singapore
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From: Frank <frank.proschan@yahoo.com>
Reply-To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
Date: Sat, Apr 26, 2008 at 2:55 AM
See my two articles, specifically on point:
2002 “Syphilis, opiomania, and pederasty”: Colonial Constructions of Vietnamese (and French) Social Diseases. Journal of the History of Sexuality 11(4), 610-636.
2002 Eunuch Mandarins, Soldats Mamzelles, Effeminate Boys, and Graceless Women: French Colonial Constructions of Vietnamese Genders. GLQ 8(4), 435‑467.
Frank Proschan
37 place Jeanne d'Arc
75013 Paris
FRANCE
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From: Nicolas Lainez <niklainez@yahoo.com>
Reply-To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
Date: Sat, Apr 26, 2008 at 7:49 AM
Dear Kimberly,
I would add an extra title from Vu Trong Phung dating from the thirties:
"Lam di" (to make the prostitute), Van Hoc Publishing 1996 or Xuat Ban Hoi Nha Van 2006.
Regards.
Nicolas
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From: Hoang t. Dieu-Hien <dieuhien@u.washington.edu>
Reply-To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
Date: Sat, Apr 26, 2008 at 9:18 AM
Thanks, Christoph, for the clarification.
This brings up the issue of what is the definition of "prostitution"? Or rather what are the definitions? The one given by the person who offers sex, vs the one by the person who solicits sex, and that by the society do not always coincide.
It has been more than a decade since I read the book so my memory is fuzzy. If memory serves me right, Le Ly witnessed first hand the scenes around prostitution near the American base in Da Nang. She lived for a few months with a woman who offered sex to American "boyfriends" in exchange for favors, gifts, etc. I remember other mentions of the bar scenes, etc. that would qualify as "prostitution" by certain groups in the Vietnamese society.
Best wishes on the research, Kimberly.
Hien
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From: Kimberly Kay Hoang <kayhoang@berkeley.edu>
Reply-To: kayhoang@berkeley.edu, Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
Date: Mon, May 12, 2008 at 11:37 AM
Dear VSGer’s,
I just wanted to send an email to thank all of you for the list of sources both on the list and to my personal email. I really appreciate all of your help!
Best,
Kimberly Hoang
Kimberly Kay Hoang
Graduate Student
Department of Sociology
University of California, Berkeley
410 Barrows Hall
Berkeley, CA 94720
kayhoang@berkeley.edu
650-796-7925
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