ABSTRACT
An apparently transcendental and inarguable idea conveyed within Francophone studies is the supposed equivalence between the Francophonie of the East and that of French Indochina or its variant, the former Vietnam. This position relates exclusively to the colonial past undergone by Indochina, which is neither a country nor a people. It is a name standardized for administrative reasons and based on where the states composing the colony are located. Consequently, several civilizations in Asia, including China, India, Japan, and many others find themselves left out from potential inclusion in the Francophonie of the East. It is not that these countries have never been subjected to a French regime in the course of their history, but they have been spared classical colonization, which is considered to be a requirement for belonging to the Francophone world. 2 Although these countries are de facto excluded from the French-speaking world, they are not, in spite of linguistic and cultural realities attested to by their histories, generally included within the framework of Francophonie. Stemming from a narrow and reductive perspective, this equation between ‘colonization and Francophonie’ dismisses out of hand any understanding of the Francophone reality in Asia before or after Indochina; in short, beyond the Indochinese borders.
