Treacherous Subjects: Gender, Culture, and Trans-Vietnamese Feminism

Lan P Duong

Temple University Press, Apr 22, 2012 - Literary Criticism - 264 pages

Treacherous Subjects is a provocative and thoughtful examination of Vietnamese films and literature viewed through a feminist lens. Lan Duong investigates the postwar cultural productions of writers and filmmakers, including Tony Bui, Trinh T. Minh-ha, and Tran Anh Hung.

Taking her cue from the double meaning of "collaborator," Duong shows how history has shaped the loyalties and shifting alliances of the Vietnamese, many of whom are caught between opposing/constricting forces of nationalism, patriarchy, and communism. Working at home and in France and the United States, the artists profiled in Treacherous Subjects have grappled with the political and historic meanings of collaboration. These themes, which probe into controversial issues of family and betrayal, figure heavily in fictions such as the films The Scent of Green Papaya and Surname Viet Given Name Nam.

As writers and filmmakers collaborate, Duong suggests that they lay the groundwork for both transnational feminist politics and queer critiques of patriarchy.

About the author

Lan P. Duong is Associate Professor of Media and Cultural Studies at the University of California, Riverside.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Treacherous Subjects: Gender, Culture, and Trans-Vietnamese Feminism; Asian American History & Cultu
• Author: Lan P Duong
• Edition: illustrated
• Publisher: Temple University Press, 2012
• ISBN: 1439901775, 9781439901779
• Length: 264 pages
• Subjects: Literary Criticism / American / Asian American & Pacific Islander; Literary Criticism / Asian / General; Literary Criticism / General