Vietnamese Matriarchy and Modern Nationalism
Keywords:
vietnam, Southeast Asia, vietnamese, origin stories, ethnosymbolism, romantic nationalism, nationalism, Colonialism, anti-colonialism, feminism, folkloreAbstract
The Vietnamese origin story of Âu Cơ is an “invented tradition” ingrained in Vietnamese culture as resistance against colonialism. This gender-critical essay will examine different theoretical approaches and interpretations of ethnosymbolism, or, “invented traditions,” and the power of collective forgetting in forging a romantic nationalist navel, as well as the consequences on women’s movements