From Spiritual Houses to National Shrines: Religious Traditions and Nation-Building in Vietnam

TY - JOUR

T1 - From Spiritual Houses to National Shrines:

T2 - Religious Traditions and Nation-Building in Vietnam

AU - Roszko, Edyta

PY - 2012/3

Y1 - 2012/3

N2 - As in China and Soviet Russia, religion in Vietnam was considered to be harmful superstition. However, a glimpse into the Governmental Gazette - Công Báo - displays the important transformation of the state's policy toward religion that became translated into national representation. While this article focuses on nation-building as a dynamic cultural process that leads to the promotion of selected religious practices as 'national heritage,' it also explores the state-society relationship beyond binaries. By looking at religious spaces and local communities I argue that in Vietnam religion is a powerful form of nation-building process and constitutes a creative space in which different actors exercise their agency beyond resistance and accommodation.

AB - As in China and Soviet Russia, religion in Vietnam was considered to be harmful superstition. However, a glimpse into the Governmental Gazette - Công Báo - displays the important transformation of the state's policy toward religion that became translated into national representation. While this article focuses on nation-building as a dynamic cultural process that leads to the promotion of selected religious practices as 'national heritage,' it also explores the state-society relationship beyond binaries. By looking at religious spaces and local communities I argue that in Vietnam religion is a powerful form of nation-building process and constitutes a creative space in which different actors exercise their agency beyond resistance and accommodation.

UR - http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12140-011-9156-x

U2 - 10.1007/s12140-011-9156-x

DO - 10.1007/s12140-011-9156-x

M3 - Journal article

SN - 1096-6838

VL - 29

SP - 25

EP - 41

JO - East Asia

JF - East Asia

M1 - 4

ER -