Search Result

Srl

Item

ID: 172862

Dynamics of Memory and Religious Nationalism in a Sino-Vietnamese Border Town / Ngo, Tam T T

Ngo, Tam T T	Journal Article
	0 Rating(s) & 0 Review(s)

Summary/Abstract

This article analyses the dynamics of official and unofficial religious nationalism in the Vietnamese border town of Lào Cai. In 1979 it was one of many Vietnamese towns that were reduced to rubble during the short but bloody war between Vietnam and China. The normalization of Sino-Vietnamese relations in 1991 allowed a booming border trade that let Lào Cai prosper, while the painful memory of this war continued to haunt the town and the daily experiences of its residents, both humans and gods. Since the Vietnamese state forbids any official remembrance of the war, Lào Cai residents have found a religious way to deal with their war memories that skilfully evades state control. By analysing narratives about the fate of the gods and goddesses that reign in the Father God Temple and the Mother Goddess Temple—two religious institutions located right next to the border—this article shows that it is in the symbolism of the supernatural that one can find memories of the war and of the changing social landscape of Lào Cai and reconstruct its history.

Key Words

Religious Nationalism ; Sino-Vietnamese Border Town

In Basket

Export

ID: 139610

Protestant conversion and social conflict: the case of the Hmong in contemporary Vietnam / Ngo, Tam T T

Ngo, Tam T T	Article
	0 Rating(s) & 0 Review(s)

Summary/Abstract

This article analyses the social implications of the recent mass conversions to Protestantism by one-third of the one million Hmong in Vietnam. The conversions have been condemned by the Vietnamese state, while being understood by international human rights activists as acts of conscience on the part of the Hmong converts. This article focuses on the internal debate and divisions surrounding conversion among the Hmong themselves. The converts believe that Protestantism is the only way to alter the ethnic group's marginal status in Vietnam while the unconverted Hmong see conversion as a betrayal of Hmong ethnicity. Such conflicting views have been causing deep fractures in Hmong society.

Key Words

Social conflict ; Protestant Conversion ; Hmong ; Contemporary Vietnam

In Basket

Export