Between Sacrifice and Desire

Book excerpt: This title explores the role of women in the politics of national identity in Vietnam. Drawing on diverse primary resources--including state news media, government contests, tabloid journalism, and extensive interviews--the author examines the intimate connection between notions of Vietnamese femininity and the cultural quandaries of modernity in post-colonial Vietnam. The book covers the socialist and market reform periods (from the 1950s through the 1990s) and examines women's central place--as both symbols and disciplined subjects--in Vietnam's socialist modernization and ongoing capitalist transition.