folk festivals
Today the Gioi has me editing descriptions of folk festivals in central and Southern Vietnam. It has been very informative- I have not heard of any of them and they are not listed in the Lonely Planet! The most interesting details to me is how they suspect that some of the festivals originated with the Cham people whom were here before the Vietnamese- especially with Goddess worship. The text has been forthcoming in describing that the rituals and texts have been made over by the Confucians, Buddhists and lastly the Communists. One particular Goddess statue that has been worshipped is actually suspected to be a statue of a man with Indian influences- but in the mid 20th century an artisan has altered it to be more feminine. One particular motif that keeps reoccurring in Vietnamese folklore and myths is of women self sacrificing. I think this is the Confucian ethics at work- as a Western feminist I am grappling with the fact that the Trung sisters the most famous heroines of Vietnam committed suicide rather than give in to the Chinese. Committing suicide in certain circumstances is seen as sacrificial, honourable, to be celebrated and desirable- witness the Buddhist immolations in the sixties. I think that the self sacrificing ethic is one that clashes with Western individuation and causes lots of problems for women (and not only Vietnamese women!)
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about 5 years ago
Hm, I wonder which is the more noble – to commit suicide or to ‘give in’ to the conqueror? Western literature is, of course, also full of these sacrifices, right? You have Antigone (no guesses on my thoughts on her heroism), Daphne (okay, not actually suicide, but a plant… albeit a beautifully scented one) and of course, Cleopatra (not just literature, that one!). It certainly signals powerlessness, some sort of ultimate resignation, but it is at the same moment, the ultimate power – when all that is left to you is power over your own body, and that only if you take it away from those who would steal even that. I’m also thinking of asylum seekers sewing their lips shut, obvious symbolism, but also the only symbolic act available to people who were otherwise powerless. Is there a position for feminists on this sort of rebellion? If the actors in these dramas had no other available position, how can we theorise ourselves out of that?
Keep up the stimulating streams, Hoa!!
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