Reimagining national identity in neoliberal education: Truyện Kiều, femininity and discourse in Vietnamese textbooks

Research output: Contribution to journalArticle (journal)peer-review

Abstract

This article examines the construction of national identity within Vietnam's neoliberal education framework, specifically how femininity is portrayed in Vietnamese textbooks via the classic poem ‘Truyện Kiều’. Drawing on Feminist Critical Discourse Analysis (FCDA) and an intersectional perspective, it scrutinises the discursive representation of womanhood in the original text Truyện Kiều versus its depiction in the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET)’s national textbooks. The article situates its analysis within the historical context of Vietnamese nationalism, tracing gender and sexuality relations from pre-colonial bilateral kinship systems through Confucian patriarchal norms to twentieth-century feminist and anti-imperialist movements. It also explores the influence of neoliberal reforms, notably the 1986 Đổi Mới policy, on national identity construction and femininity portrayal in educational materials. Through this critical examination, the article unveils how neoliberal ideologies and nationalist narratives intersect, reconfiguring perceptions of gender and national identity in Vietnamese education.
Original languageEnglish
JournalDiscourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education
Early online date3 Dec 2024
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 3 Dec 2024

Keywords

  • National identity
  • Vietnam
  • femininity
  • feminist critical discourse analysis
  • neoliberalism
  • textbooks

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Reimagining national identity in neoliberal education: Truyện Kiều, femininity and discourse in Vietnamese textbooks'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this