The Unimagined Community: Imperialism and Culture in South Vietnam (Cultural History of Modern War)

293 Pages·8.195 MB·English

by  Duy Lap Nguyen

The unimagined community
Cultural History of Modern War
Series editors Ana Carden-Coyne, Peter Gatrell, Max Jones,
Penny Summerfield and Bertrand Taithe
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https://www.alc.manchester.ac.uk/history/research/centres/cultural-history-of-war/
The unimagined
community
Imperialism and culture in
South Vietnam
•
DUY LAP NGUYEN
Manchester University Press
NGUYEN 9781526143969 PRINT.indd 3 08/11/2019 10:08
Copyright © Duy Lap Nguyen 2020
The right of Duy Lap Nguyen to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted
by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
Published by Manchester University Press
Altrincham Street, Manchester M1 7JA
www.manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 978 1 5261 4396 9 hardback
First published 2020
The publisher has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for any
external or third-party internet websites referred to in this book, and does not guarantee
that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.
Cover image: Reproduction of a South Vietnamese government propaganda board set up
in 1964 at the intersection of Nguyễn Huệ and Lê Lợi Boulevards in the center of Saigon.
The Vietnamese text reads: “All people unite to defend the South and liberate the North.”
Typeset in Minion by
Servis Filmsetting Ltd, Stockport, Cheshire
Per Annalisa

Contents
List of figures viii
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction 1
1 Colonialism and national culture 23
2 Vietnamese anti-colonialism and the Personalist critique of
capitalism and liberal democracy 51
3 The other Vietnamese revolution: The Strategic Hamlet
Campaign and US imperialism 96
4 Psychological warfare, counterinsurgency and the society of
spectacle in South Vietnam 153
5 Mass culture in the later Republic 175
6 Surveillance and spectacle in Bùi Anh Tuấn’s Z.28 novels 214
7 Image-making and US imperialism: Sovereignty, surveillance
and spectacle in the Vietnam War 248
Conclusion 265
Index 273
v vii v
Figures Acknowledgments
2.1 Emmanuel Mounier (courtesy of the Association les Amis This project has benefited immensely from conversations with numer-
d’Emmanuel Mounier). 54 ous friends, family members and acquaintances on history, politics and
2.2 Ngô Đình Nhu (Office national de radiodiffusion télévision philosophy, even though these conversations have failed to correct the
française). 63 innumerable faults, omissions and errors that must be contained in this
2.3 Ngô Đình Diệm (courtesy of Hoover Institution Archives). 74 book. I thank Nguyễn Văn Hưởng, Sean R. Garner, Justin Vandergrift,
2.4 Ngô Đình Nhu at the inauguration of the Strategic Village of Đinh Thị Dĩ, Bùi Công Tường, Elaine Woo, Olga Dror, Keith Taylor,
Củ Chi, March 3, 1962 (courtesy of Harry S. Truman Library Ivan Small, Bradley Davis, Travis Tanner, Travis Workman and Gavin
& Museum). 83 Walker for ideas and causal insights that led me to critical arguments
4.1 Lê Lợi on Sacred Sword Patriotic League propaganda flyer in the course of completing this project. My colleagues at the University
(Joint United States Public Affairs Office). 157 of Houston, including Robert Buzzanco, Karen Fang, Cedric Tolliver,
4.2 Thích Quảng Đức’s self-immolation (AP Photo/Malcolm Hosam Aboul-Ela and Alessandro Carrera, have been a vital source of
Browne). 161 both inspiration and encouragement. Special thanks to Julie-Françoise
5.1 Sài Gòn traffic, Hàm Nghi Street (John Beck). 177 Tolliver for her much-needed advice on earlier drafts of the manuscript.
5.2 Bookstall on Tự Do Street, Sài Gòn, April 1969 (Brian As a fellow at the Pembroke Center at Brown University, I gained a
Wickham). 191 great deal from discussions with Lilia Topouzova and Debbie Weinstein,
5.3 Taping of the daily news on RVN TV, January 1967 (Đài who were co-participants in the seminar on socialism and postsocialism
Truyền Hình Việt Nam Cộng Hòa). 193 in 2013. A portion of the project was originally conceived while I was
7.1 IBM computers at the US AID Information Center, 1971 a graduate student at University of California, Irvine, working under
(courtesy of Michigan State University Archives). 252 the direction of Dina Al-Kassim and Charles Wheeler. Their mentor-
ship, together with that of Neil Larsen and Raul Fernandez, continues
to be an invaluable resource. Finally, I would like to thank my editors at
Manchester University Press, Emma Brennan and Paul Clarke, for their
patience, support and guidance in helping to realize this project.
v viii v
Acknowledgments
This project has benefited immensely from conversations with numer-
ous friends, family members and acquaintances on history, politics and
philosophy, even though these conversations have failed to correct the
innumerable faults, omissions and errors that must be contained in this
book. I thank Nguyễn Văn Hưởng, Sean R. Garner, Justin Vandergrift,
Đinh Thị Dĩ, Bùi Công Tường, Elaine Woo, Olga Dror, Keith Taylor,
Ivan Small, Bradley Davis, Travis Tanner, Travis Workman and Gavin
Walker for ideas and causal insights that led me to critical arguments
in the course of completing this project. My colleagues at the University
of Houston, including Robert Buzzanco, Karen Fang, Cedric Tolliver,
Hosam Aboul-Ela and Alessandro Carrera, have been a vital source of
both inspiration and encouragement. Special thanks to Julie-Françoise
Tolliver for her much-needed advice on earlier drafts of the manuscript.
As a fellow at the Pembroke Center at Brown University, I gained a
great deal from discussions with Lilia Topouzova and Debbie Weinstein,
who were co-participants in the seminar on socialism and postsocialism
in 2013. A portion of the project was originally conceived while I was
a graduate student at University of California, Irvine, working under
the direction of Dina Al-Kassim and Charles Wheeler. Their mentor-
ship, together with that of Neil Larsen and Raul Fernandez, continues
to be an invaluable resource. Finally, I would like to thank my editors at
Manchester University Press, Emma Brennan and Paul Clarke, for their
patience, support and guidance in helping to realize this project.
v ix v