Table of Contents

Acknowledgments

A Note on Diacritics

Introduction: Postcolonial Visions

1. Constructing History

2. The Land of the Viet and Viet Nam
3. Chronotypes, Commemoration: A New Sense of Time

Epilogue

List of Abbreviations

Notes
Selected Bibliography
Index

Promotional Information

Explores the relation between the precolonial and colonial past to the postcolonial present in the Democratic Republic of Vietnam.

About the Author

Patricia M. Pelley is Associate Professor of History at Texas Tech University.

Reviews

"[W]ell-researched... A useful case study for anyone interested in nationalism and colonialism in today's world... Recommended."--Q. E. Wang, Choice "Americans have long regretted that prior to the 1960s they knew so little about Vietnam. Now they can read Patricia M. Pelley's Postcolonial Vietnam and realize that so much of what they now know is false... In reading through the fascinating details of this work, readers come away with a lucid sense of how recent so many of our ideas about the Vietnamese past actually are... Postcolonial Vietnam is a must-read for any educated reader interested in the Vietnamese past."--Liam Kelley, History: Reviews of New Books "[A] comprehensive, thoughtful, and well-written survey of historical research and writing in the northern half of Vietnam since the departure of the French colonizers... This book is indispensable for those who want to understand why Vietnam perceives the need to construct new accounts of the past in the process of nation-building, how difficult and involved a task history writing is in this situation, and what ramifications the new representations might have culturally, socially, and politically."--Ngo Vinh Long, American Historical Review "Patricia M. Pelley's book is, first of all, a monument to a vast and unique labor. This gem of a book will appeal to a wide range of readers interested in learning more about the impact of global processes on local traditions, cultures, and real people's lives in the Philippines."--Kathleen M. Nadeau, Journal of Asian Studies "[D]eserve[s] a wide readership not only among scholars in Vietnamese history, culture, and society, but also scholars of decolonization."--Mark W. McLeod, The International History Review "Through her critical investigation of the homogenizing narratives of the Vietnamese past, Pelley clearly goes beyond the abundant narratives of the glorious defeat of foreign invaders. Her book contributes to an understanding of crucial aspects of the cultural history of the North Vietnamese state during the period of decolonization from the French and during the war against American 'neo-colonialism.' In so doing, the book is required reading for anyone interested in Vietnamese history. It will also appeal to people interested in perceptions of the past in Southeast Asia and in the cultural aspects of decolonization."--Soren Ivarsson, Copenhagen Journal of Asian Studies "Pelley's book is, overall, both an important contribution to our understanding of postcolonial Vietnamese historical debates, and a very useful study of the historiographical processes that produce national histories... This book should serve to stimulate further explorations of modern Vietnamese historiographical debates ... and may be a useful springboard to studies that might next engage similar issues among historians in the southern part of Vietnam."--George Dutton, Journal of Southeast Asian Studies Listed in CHE, TLS Book Alert email. Pelley was interviewed in Vietnamese for BBC Vietnam. Mixed review in Journal of Colonialism and Colonial History. Also reviewed in Asian Studies Review.