Dang Thi Van Chi
Faculty of Vietnamese studies and language, Vietnam National University (Hanoi)
Throughout history, women have contributed considerably to nation-building and national defence in Vietnam. However, they have not gained social positions commensurate with their contributions. At the end of the nineteenth century, Vietnam became a French colony. During this period, French political, economic, and cultural policies had a major impact on the Vietnamese population, including women. Among the changes brought about by colonialism, I argue that women’s education was the most fundamental as it became the root cause of all modern changes in women’s lives. Owing to education, women changed their thinking about their social roles which prompted them to not only engage in fighting for their rights, but also for the rights of their nation. This paper explores the French colonial education policy and its influence on women’s lives, especially the construction and reconstruction of the consciousness of their social role. This paper makes use of information from the press and memoirs written by female authors during that time.
Methodologically, I consider the press as a channel through which women’s consciousness has been manifested. This is the channel through which women have expressed their aspirations and also has helped promote the organization and development of a community practice which has turned Vietnamese women from a mere social labor force into a crucial political force. This transformation has contributed to Vietnam’s social change process and Vietnam’s global integration in the first half of the 20th century. Additionally, the press and memoirs indicate a change in consciousness within a specific historical context and in the midst of economic, political, and cultural interactions.
(Presented in the 2013 Chulalongkorn Asian Heritage Forum: The Emergence and Heritage of Asian Women Intellectuals, 10-11 September 2013, Imperial Queen’s Park Hotel, Bangkok, organized by Institute of Thai Studies, Institute of Asian Studies, Faculty of Arts and Indian Studies Center, Chulalongkorn University)