MYTHS AND THE PERCEPTIONS OF ORIGINS OF ETHNIC MINORITIES IN VIET NAM MYTHS AND THE PERCEPTIONS OF ORIGINS OF ETHNIC MINORITIES IN VIET NAM Lư Thị Thanh Lê (PhD Candidate, Lecturer) Vietnam National U[.]
7th Engaging with Vietnam Conference MYTHS AND THE PERCEPTIONS OF ORIGINS OF ETHNICLư MINORITIES Thị Thanh Lê (PhD Candidate, Lecturer) Vietnam National University, Ha Noi IN VIET NAM USSH – Department of Literature Content Acknowledgment Classification of origin myths of ethnic minorities in Viet Nam Narrating context of origin myths in ethnic minorities’ communities Mapping Vietnam according to different origins imagined by its people Conclusion and proposals Acknowledgment Different approaches to origin of ethnic groups in Vietnam Perception of ethnic origin through origin myths Origin myths of ethnic minorities in Vietnam Different Approaches to Origin of Ethnic Groups in Vietnam Benedict Anderson (1987): Southeast Asian groups “almost all existed first and foremost in the mind of Europeans”, Frank Proschan (2001): there’s preexisting local conceptions of ethnic groups, as reflected in oral literature (eg The myth of People from the Gourd) Dang Nghiem Van (1990, 2005): insists the essential unity of Vietnamese ethnicity (all ethnic groups are from the same origin) 5 Perceptions of ethnic origins through origin myths Origin myths help to understand the history before the time of written history Origin myths are stories about the past, but they help to understand the issues of ethnicity & nationalism in the present - To educate people of their origin - To identify someone to some specific ethnic group - To strengthen community spirit and to consolidate the sense of belonging (to the group, to the country) Classifying origin myths of ethnic minorities in Viet Nam Creation myths: most ancient myths, about the formation of people on earth Re-creation myth, origin myths in later time : when there’s society, state already, often shows the relation between different ethnic groups living close together, the migration of the ethnic groups to Vietnam, the perception of we and others Re-invented myths: ancient myths reconstructed with some specific intentions Examples: Creation myths: Đẻ đất, đẻ nước (Mường), Myths of Mother Goddess Po Inur Nugar (Chăm), etc Re-creation myths, myths in later time: Quả bầu thần (the gourd- Khmu) which tells the difference and kinship relation between Khmu and other ethnic group (Kinh), myths of Thủy – local Tay section migrating from China to Vietnam Re-invented myths: “đồng bào” (people from the same egg sac) Narrating contexts and functions of origin myths in ethnic minorities’ communities Narrating contexts: Funerals: Mo Mường (Mo lên trời), Then Tày (then đám tang), Thái epics (bài hát tiễn hồn người chết) Marriages: the groom has to tell the origin of the group to the girl’s family in order to be accepted (e”g: Ede group) Community’s activities and rituals: “chụ cư” – telling the stories of origin (người Hà Nhì), Cha Bun festival (Chăm) National festivals: are organized by the state, tell the legitimized myth of origin 9 Example: Narrating Cham’s origin myths Cha Bun festival: myth of Mother Goddess – the mother of Cham people, the goddess of Champa Kinngdom, and myth of kinship between Cham and Raglai (in the Champa Kingdom) are chanted in the ritual ceremony National festival (Festival of Culture, Sports and Tourism in Cham Compatriots Area 2012 in Ninh Thuan): ancient myth of Cham people is mobilized as a theatre performance; reinvented myths of the unified Vietnam nation are insisted 10 Myth of Mother Goddess: “Sinh đất đai sinh người Sinh gỗ trầm hương thần Pô Inư Nưgar Sinh vạn vật đời, Dựng lên làng xóm ruộng vườn thần Pơ Inư Nưgar” (quoted from Ngô Văn Doanh 2005) “The one who gave birth to the human, The one who gave birth to valuable wood was Mother Goddess The one who gave birth to everything in the world The one who built up the villages and the fields was Mother Goddess” Cham’s proverb: “Cham and Raglai are siblings” (quoted from Sakaya: 2003) 11 Myths of origin of Cham in national festival “Đồng bào” (people from the same egg sac) or the transformation of perception of ethnic origin of Cham people 12 Myth of “People from the same egg sac” Source : http://my.opera.com/thhiep/blog/show.dml/19585072 The inclusion of Cham people into Vietnamese Ethnicity (dân tộc Việt Nam) 13 Ảnh: Tiết mục sân khấu “Những sắc màu văn hố” (Nguồn: Bộ Văn hóa – Thể thao – Du lịch chi nhánh Sài Gòn) Theatricalizing rituals worshipping Mother Goddess 14 Source: Báo Ninh Thuận 15 Mapping Vietnam according to different origins imagined by its people Native ethnic groups (Kinh, Muong, Cham, Raglai, Khmu): originated from different nations/kingdoms in the past Ethnic groups immigrated from China, Lao, Cambodia, Thailand at some specific historical periods (H’mong, Tay, Nung,…) Conclusion and Proposal 16 Origin myths are not consistent from ancient past to modern society As ethnic identification process, origin myths are also relational and situational and have its function in negotiating ethnic identity, strengthening the sense of belonging of ethnic minorities Conclusion and Proposal 17 Not the same myths but different myths are narrated in different circumstances (ancient myth or modern reinvented myths) Many ethnic groups have parallel systems of origin myths for events inside and outside community There should be a way to respect the ancient origin of ethnic groups (from China, from Champa Kingdom, etc…), but not only unifying the history of the ethnic groups to the history of majority group References 18 Anderson, Benedict 1983 Imagined communities New York: Verso Đặng, Nghiêm Vạn 2002 Tổng tập văn học dân tộc thiểu số Việt Nam (tập 2), Nxb Đà Nẵng Ngô, Văn Doanh 2005 “Tháp bà Pô Nagar: Từ nữ thần Devi Ấn Độ đến nữ thần Pô Inư Nưgar người Chăm” Tạp chí Nghiên cứu Đơng Nam Á Smith, Anthony D Myths and memories of the nation Oxford University Press 1999 Smith, Anthony D 1986 The ethnic origins of nations Oxford, UK; New York, NY, USA: B Blackwell Pelley, Patricia 2001 “Barbarians and younger brothers: the remaking of role in postcolonial Vietnam” Peace Research Abstracts 38 (2) Proschan, Frank 2001 “Peoples of the Gourd: Imagined Ethnicities in Highland Southeast Asia” The Journal of Asian Studies 60 (4) Sakaya 2003 Festivals of the Cham [Lễ hội người Chăm] Ha Noi: Van hoa Dan toc