Vietnamese People and Romantism
From: Caroline GRILLOT <carolinegrillot@hotmail.com>
Date: Wed, Jun 11, 2008 at 6:42 PM
To: vsg@u.washington.edu
Dear list,
Currently undertaking some research on cross-border marriages between Vietnamese women and Chinese men (mainland) I'm looking for academic references on the co-called "vietnamese romantism", or anything related to Vietnamese people's conception of love, romantic relationship, romance and its link with marriage.
(in French, English or Chinese languages)
Thank you very much for any suggestion!
Caroline Grillot
PhD candidate
Anthropology department
MacQuarie University (Sydney)
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From: Hong Nhung Nguyen <glomitas@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, Jun 11, 2008 at 9:12 PM
To: carolinegrillot@hotmail.com
Cc: Vsg@u.washington.edu
Dear Caroline,
I think you should start with doing research on "Tho Moi" (1930-1945)
on Vietnam's Contemporary Literature. This is when Vietnamese
literature experienced the self-explosure and romantism seems to be
more imerse with "international standard" along with French culture
style. Before that, you can find "romantism" in many other folk tales,
folk poems and songs.
I myself find the story of My Chau - Trong Thuy (marriage between
Vietnamese princess with a foreign prince of Viet country - but not
Vietnamese, I am not so sure if he was Chinese either) is a beautiful
story of betray-loyalty and a broken heart one.
If you're not familiar with the story, I can help you.
Best,
Nhung
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From: Nguyen-Vo, Thu-Huong <nguyenvo@humnet.ucla.edu>
Date: 2008/6/13
To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
Dear Caroline,
Interesting it seems some kind of sentimentalism has been codified or commodified (?) as Vietnamese for the Chinese cross-border marriage market (?). Beyond the symbolist movement in poetry and literature in the early part of the 20th cent that a list member had mentioned, sentimentalism of different kinds has been produced in art, literature, sometimes in the service of political projects such as nationalism. But I think perhaps you were also asking for anthropological studies of ideas of love and marriage? I recall at least one that might be relevant: Timmeltoft's "The Irony of Sexual Agency" chapter in
Gender, Household, State: Doi Moi in Vietnam edited by Jayne Werner and Daniele Belanger. NY:
Cornell University Southeast Asia Program, 2002.
best,
T.Huong N-V
UCLA
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From: "Harriet M. Phinney" <hphinney@myuw.net>
To: "Vietnam Studies Group" <vsg@u.washington.edu>
Sent: Friday, June 13, 2008 12:06 PM
Subject: Re: [Vsg] Vietnamese people and romantism
Caroline,
Hi. I have an article coming out in a special edition of positions that
looks at the politics of love in Vietnam and deals with issues of
romanticism. It does not focus on marriage, but on narratives of love. It
is currently in press. If you would be interested in reading it, please
contact me off-list.
Harriet
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From: Caroline Grillot <carolinegrillot@hotmail.com>
Date: Sat, Jun 14, 2008 at 8:12 PM
To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
Dear Thu Huong,
You're right, some kind of representations of love and men/women's role in a relationship has been codified in the areas Chinese and Vietnamese people use to interact. This is exactly what I'm trying to study through the question of marriage.
Thank you for your suggestion concerning Tine's work. She actually contacted me and provided me another of her article. I asked her to send me the one you mentioned. Indeed, I'm looking more for anthropological studies on the 'love' and 'romance' conception. Basically, I'm trying to understand Vietnamese women's and men's expectations during a love relationship that may lead to marriage. Very few has been written on the subject, apart from sexual aspect of a relationship, which is not directly my concern.
Again, thank you for your feedback on this question,
All the best,
Caroline