ABSTRACT
Studying Vietnam’s history is not only interesting, but it gives the reader a better appreciation for why the Vietnamese behave as they do. This chapter approaches the topic of Vietnam’s history in terms of narratives that are transmitted throughout society by the political leadership. This approach suggests that identities and ideologies are a result of historical interpretations, and more specifically are a result of historical narratives and political messages propagated through narratives. History can either refer to the actual happenings in the world or what people write about actual happenings in the world.1 In Vietnam, the history which is taught to school-aged children and shared among adults was written for wartime and political purposes. Writings about wartime events often emphasize heroic and triumphant struggles and completely omit the negative factors of war such as desertion rates or the incompetence of leading generals.2 Similarly, politically-based historical narratives focus on messages of extreme nationalism and Party successes, again leaving out any atrocities of the Party like the assassination of hundreds of village officials in 1961 or the thousands of civilians in Huế who were picked by name and assassinated in 1968. Thus, history relies not only on interpretation but on selection. History is then a meaningful narrative of events and intentions. Political and military leaders in Vietnam use the nation’s history as a lesson to avoid past mistakes and emphasize historical successes. Some historians would argue that this is a negative model of history, because in this case, Vietnamese authorities use history not to learn what they must do, but instead to learn what they must not do in the present and future. Using history in such a way can lead to the formulation of rules, rules which limit actions rather than provide a range of options or opportunities. When reviewing Vietnam’s official narratives, it becomes apparent that history as written in the available literature by Vietnamese authors and as conveyed to students in Vietnamese text books is a history that is written primarily for political purposes. That is, historical narratives often convey messages of extreme nationalism, Party successes, duties of citizens, loyalty to the country, and the virtues of a revolutionary personality and a fighting spirit. This official narrative is not only recorded in books, but can also be viewed in museums and through public symbols such as monuments and memorials. Likewise, there are
often events of history that are omitted from books and public viewings. For example, the 1979 conflict between China and Vietnam, which actually continued through 1988, is scarcely recognized in history text books or in local history or wartime museums. According to one Vietnamese contact, the decision to omit the conflict from Vietnam’s narrative of the past was a political decision because the relationship between China and Vietnam has historically been unpredictable and precarious. Although in recent years both governments have been focusing on the future and trying to put the past behind them. Vietnamese leaders have therefore decided it is best for the bilateral relationship to limit publicity of the nine-year conflict in order to move forward.3 Another Vietnamese contact revealed, “We can rewrite our history, but we can not change our geography.”4 Therefore, the story about the Vietnam-China conflict in 1979 is absent in the nation’s historical discourse for both Vietnamese citizens and visiting foreigners. For the purposes of this book, I aim to focus on the dominant national discourse that is evident in Vietnam through the use of official stories about Vietnam’s past. These narratives began to take shape in 1945 after Hồ Chí Minh declared the independence of Vietnam. According to Patricia Pelley, postcolonial narratives shifted the emphasis so that the history of Vietnam highlighted resistance and opposition instead of submission and defeat.5 Therefore, the following overview of Vietnam’s official historical narrative will underline “. . . the strength and vitality of Vietnam and its history of unity.”6 Much of the following review of Vietnam’s history was taken from a fourth year university class I attended in 2005 at the Hà Nội University of Foreign Studies. This account is from my own notes taken during the class lecture.7
