Khmer- Kinh Intermarriage in Vietnam

256 Pages·2016·2.6 MB·English

Making Families across the Ethnic Divide: Khmer-
Kinh Intermarriage in Vietnam

Lan Thai Huynh Phuong

A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy of
The Australian National University
November 2015

Department of Anthropology
School of Culture, History and Language
Australian National University
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Making Families across the Ethnic Divide: Khmer-
Kinh Intermarriage in Vietnam

Lan Thai Huynh Phuong

A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy of
The Australian National University
November 2015

Department of Anthropology
School of Culture, History and Language
Australian National University
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Statement of Originality
To my best of my knowledge, except where otherwise noted, this thesis is
entirely a result of my own research.

Lan Thai Huynh Phuong
November 2015

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Dedication

This thesis is dedicated to my parents for their endless love and support.

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Acknowledgements

I would like to express my sincere gratitude to many people who have patiently been with
me on this long academic journey. My thesis could not be done without their constant
encouragement and support. I am most grateful to Mr. Vo-Tong Anh and Mr. Ken Philips
for their endless stimulation and support to my academic journey in Australia. Without their
stimulation, pursuing PhD studies may still be in my dream.

My greatest debt is to my main supervisor, Dr. Philip Taylor, for his bunch of rich, fruitful
and insightful discussions and comments, endless support, and valuable advices throughout
my PhD studies. It is hard to express my whole gratitude to Philip Taylor as he is an
extremely generous and exceptionally kind supervisor. My special thanks are to his careful
and patient reading on my drafts. I also would like to thank my supervisory panellists, Dr.
Iwu Utomo, Professor Peter McDonald and Professor Kathryn Robinson for all their
encouragement, invaluable suggestions and durable supports during my study in the
Australian National University (ANU).

I am also indebted to Philip Taylor for bringing me to Anthropology family, where I met
many beloved and friendly scholars, staffs and other PhD scholars. Special thanks to Jo for
her kind and useful helps with administration stuffs and great thanks to all academic staffs
in the department of Anthropology, CHL for such a friendly and familial environment.
Many thanks to fellow PhD scholars—Yen Le, Thu Le, Duy Thanh Vo, Udeni
Appuhamilage, Xuan Dong, Viet Quan Ha, Erna Herawati, Liang Chen, Tiffany Cone,
Andrey Damaledo, Visisya Pinthongvijayakul, Annie McCathy, Stella Hutagalung, Roger
Casas Ruiz, Wahyuddin Halim and Geng Li, Gita, and Poonnatree for their friendship and
supports over the years in the department.

This thesis would not be possible without the willingness and generosity of my
interlocutors. My sincere thanks are due to all of them for being tolerant to my repetitive
visits and being so kind and generous in spending hours insightfully sharing their conjugal
stories and experiences. In addition, I am very grateful to Australia Award Scholarship for
their generous financial support for my PhD studies in Australia. My special thanks are also
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to Gina Abarquez—the manager of Australia Award Scholarship in ANU— for her endless
supports and care during this long academic journey.

My endless love to my husband and my beloved sons for always being with me, for all their
love and endless support that undoubtedly helped me retain my sanity throughout hard
times for my studies. My special thanks are to my sisters for their never-ending support and
encouragement.

I also would like to sincerely thank Ms. Diana Glazebrook for her kind help in editing my
thesis. Finally, but by no means least important, I would like to express my thanks to all
others whose names do not appear herein but who helped me to carry this thesis to full
completion.

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Abstract

This thesis investigates intermarriages between ethnic Khmer and Kinh people in a
province of southern Vietnam. Khmer-Kinh interethnic marriage raises paradoxes, for the
very possibility of such unions is sometimes questioned owing to the socio-economic gaps
and assumed differences in cultural practices between these groups, their historical tension,
and mutually unfavourable stereotypes. Nevertheless, this type of marriage is real and has
been increasing in recent years. This thesis aims to explore the facilitating factors behind
this type of marriage; how Khmer-Kinh couples experience their relationship with each-
other and with their families; and how ethnic identity is transmitted to the children of such
unions. It demonstrates that Khmer and Kinh couples engage in a dynamic process of
negotiating multiple constraints and adapting to differences to make their marriages viable.

This thesis draws upon in-depth interviews and observations from a field study undertaken
by the author in 2012 in An Giang Province. Thirty-five Khmer-Kinh interethnic couples
took part in the study that examined marriages in rural and urban areas as well as ethnically
segregated and ethnically mixed settings. The participants were drawn from diverse socio-
economic backgrounds and included couples made up of individuals of similar and
dissimilar socio-economic standing.

The findings highlight that geographical and socioeconomic disparities are significant
barriers to Khmer-Kinh interethnic marriage. Historical tensions also have led to the
development of pejorative stereotypes between the ethnic groups, which significantly
impede the formation of such intimate unions. The findings unpack the complex factors and
conditions facilitating the incidence of Khmer-Kinh interethnic marriage, highlighting the
significance of modernization and development factors in bridging the geographical, social,
cultural and psychological gaps between groups, and the role of new marriage markets and
personal experiences in facilitating such conjugal unions.

By examining couples’ relationship with each-other and with their families, I found two
core factors—class disparity and cultural differences—account for many of the tensions
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and conflicts arising in their marital life. The findings also highlight the differential
capacity of spouses and their families to cope with cultural differences. Educational level,
residential location, ethnicity, gender expectations and practical utility were influential
factors shaping the capacity of spouses to cope with the cultural differences encountered in
their married lives.

The study further highlights the dynamics and variation in the transmission of language,
identity and heritage to the children in Khmer-Kinh families, finding that all interviewed
couples supported the proposition that their children embrace both cultural identities and
acquire multicultural capacity. Nevertheless, the findings show that such transmission to
these mixed children is shaped not only by individual choices or familial preferences but
also by several other factors including gender, socialization context and socio-economic
factors.

The thesis confirms that regardless of the socio-economic disparities, preconceptions and
cultural differences between these groups, such unions are possible and viable in
contemporary Vietnam. The study uncovers the sources of tension in their marriages and
reveals that when conflicts do arise, most of the couples in this study make multiple
negotiations and adaptations to make their relationship last.

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