Vietnamese Colonial Republican: The Political Vision of Vu Trong Phung

Peter Zinoman

Univ of California Press, Nov 16, 2013 - History - 316 pages

This volume is a comprehensive study of Vietnam’s greatest and most controversial 20th century writer who died tragically in 1939 at the age of 28. Vu Trong Phung is known for a remarkable collection of politically provocative novels and sensational works of non-fiction reportage that were banned by the communist state from 1960 to 1986. Leading Vietnam scholar, Zinoman, resurrects the life and work of an important intellectual and author in order to reveal a neglected political project that is excluded from conventional accounts of modern Vietnamese political history. He sees Vu Trong Phung as a leading proponent of a localized republican tradition that opposed colonialism, communism, and unfettered capitalism—and that led both to the banning of his work and to the durability of his popular appeal in Vietnam today.

Contents

• A Political History of Vu Phung: 1
• 1 Sources of Vu Trong Phungs Colonial Republicanism: 12
• 2 Capitalism and Social Reform: 55
• 3 The Question of Communism: 85
• 4 The Crisis of Vietnamese Sexuality: 131
• 5 Banning Vu Trong Phung: 156
• Rehabilitating Vu Trong Phung: 200
• Notes: 213
• Bibliography: 261
• Index: 279

About the author

Peter Zinoman is Professor of History and Southeast Asian Studies at the University of California, Berkeley; author of The Colonial Bastille: A History of Imprisonment in Vietnam, 1862-1940 (UC Press, 2001); and cotranslator of Dumb Luck: A Novel by Vu Trong Phung.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Vietnamese Colonial Republican: The Political Vision of Vu Trong Phung
• Author: Peter Zinoman
• Edition: reprint
• Publisher: Univ of California Press, 2013
• ISBN: 0520957091, 9780520957091
• Length: 316 pages
• Subjects: History / Asia / Southeast Asia; History / General