ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews the development of translation in Vietnam from its early days to the present, paying special attention to its interaction with politics. It links translation to the development of Vietnamese languages, with a discussion of the milestones in the changes and turns as well as the influences on translation of the shifts in language use and shows the contributions of translation to Vietnamese tradition and culture. The chapter attempts to capture how translation developed in the North and the South when Vietnam was divided into two regions during the war. The synthesis of the translations in these two areas expresses the political function of translation in this time by introducing socialism in the North and individualism in the South. The chapter discusses the translation in the era of independence, when the country opened its doors and cooperated with other countries in the world.
