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Chàm Echoes in Kinh Corridors

Here is my intro paragraph for the last essay I wrote. If anyone is interested in Cham history, or the theory of political museumization, feel free to discuss with me :) :) :)

According to the Vietnamese government there are fifty four ethnic minorities within present day Vietnamese borders. This alone attests to the need to see Vietnam beyond the standard Kinh paradigm. Li Tana states that to Vietnamese government “national unity and resistance to foreign aggression are two themes deemed central to the Vietnamese experience” (13). Vietnam did not always have the same shape as it has today, and viewing Vietnam and it’s past as hegemonic conveniently simplifies history for the political power holders. The orthodox view of Vietnamese history is that the Red River Delta area is the ancient fatherland of today’s Vietnam. The idea that Vietnam developed exclusively from the Đông Son culture is a construct that serves its purpose in providing Kinh with a sense of collective and definite identity. Nguyen Khac Vien certainly plays into this viewpoint: when other cultures are mentioned in his history, it is usually only discussed in terms of clashes with the ‘real’ Vietnamese, or as subtle side notes that are not deemed as important. For instance, the Sa Huỳnh culture in the south, during the same time period of the Đông Son, had more land mass and was just as sophisticated as those in the Red River Delta. Yet Vien barely makes reference to the culture. This type of neglect also affects the readers understanding of the Kingdom of Cham Pa. Buried within one sentence Vien mentions the Chàm influence on the arts under the Lý and the Tran (54). Besides that, everything about the Chàm seems militaristic in nature. The Kingdom of Cham Pa is historically integrally important to Vietnam, as a synergic culture developed in Đàng Trong (the name the Southern Nguyen bestowed upon themselves, meaning ‘inner region’). This syncretic culture is much more important that traditional historians make it out to be. Furthermore, an important point of interest is that although the Chàm are absent from the corridors of Vietnamese museums, highlights of Chàm history and culture have been seized by the Kinh and even commodified for monetary gain. Keeping Cham Pa separated from Vietnam in peoples’ minds is a political positioning mechanism which overlooks the ways in which the two nations are unequivocally intertwined.

posted by Steffanie @ 7:04 AM