Contructions of national identities the alteration of street names in hanoi, vietnam (2013) phan thị diem huong

CONSTRUCTIONS OF NATIONAL IDENTITIES: THE ALTERATION OF STREET-NAMES IN HÀ NỘI,' VIỆT NAM • * Phan Thị Diễm Huong* - Peter Kang Introduction Vietnamese street names have experienced several dramatically changes due to regime change Under Vietnamese feudal regimes, most o f the streets in Vietnam had no official names When the French came, they implemented the modern naming system on the streets and many streets were named after famous French figures Later in the post-colonial period most o f street names are renamed after famous Vietnamese figures Some o f these men have not any relation with streets There is no connection between these men and street naming after them Therefore, these street-names can not represent places This example shows that street-names not only have the purpose o f orientation but also used to commemorate key events or personalities from the national history, which expresses the ideology o f the dominant authorities Therefore, street-names own the powerful symbolic importance in displaying a particular political identity.2 On the other hand, since the street-names are served as a tool for a political regime in expressing its political identity, a newly-established political regime would usually change them to its own purpose Therefore, the renaming o f streets is a common practice to inscribe new narratives o f national history and identity onto the urban landscape However, since street-names exist as the most o f common things in our life so they get less attention than their meaning That is whv Ducan says “at first glance, street names may seem a trivial o f investigation' * Graduate Student, Dept o f Taiwan and Regional Studies, National Donghvva University, Taiwan ** Prof., Dept, o f Taiwan and Regional Studies, National Donahwa University Nguyễn Vĩnh Phúc, Phố Đường Hà Nội (Streets o f Hà Nội) (Hà Nội: Nhà Xuất Bản Giao Thông Vận Tải (Transport Publishing House, 2010)), p.5 Ducan Light, "‘Street names in Bucharest, 1990-1997: exploring the modern historical geographies o f post-socialist change” , Journal o f Historical Geography, Vol.30, (2004), pp 154-172 Light, Ibid., p 155 166 CONSTRUCTIONS OF NATIONAL IDENTITIES In contrast to this background, recent studies of place-naming or toponomy have moved from the traditional focus on etymology and taxonomy to the political implication o f place-naming And it is what the scholars called the "critical turn’* in toponvmic scholarship In the late 1980s the social sciences and humanities focused on the relation between language and power In toponymy, the traditional approach usually traces to the linguistic transformations and origins o f the place-names.2 In contrast, following the tendency of the critical turn in social science, the case today turns to understand the power relations that inhere in geographical naming In Việt Nam, little attention has been paid to the relationship between streetnames and official ideology Nguyễn Vĩnh Phúc has shown the history o f practice o f street naming in Hà N ội.4 This history is not a deep historical analysis but a short story about street-naming in Hà Nội This text focused on the origins o f Hà N ộ i’s street-names In this paper, I will borrow the concept from the “critical turn” to the critical interrogation o f the politics o f place-naming on national identity The article explores the ideological and political motivation which is supported by each political regime in their nation building behind the street-names changes in Hà Nội, the capital o f the Socialist Republic o f Việt Nam (SRPV) On the other hand, according to Azaryahu, changing capital’s street names is one o f the ways that new states choose to declare their ideology and orientation o f people.5 Therefore, the question o f SRPV’s capital is at the same time the question o f the Vietnamese national identity To analyze the street-names, I investigate the principles o f street-naming and the distribution in street maps At first divide the street-names into different staees based on the political regimes Then I divide the street-names in each stage into categories, those (i.e., names) happening on the designated space (i.e., streets) versus those not on the spot I treat the latter as the spatial representation the Rose-Redwood, Reuben, Derek Alderman, and Maoz Azaryaliu, “Geographies o f toponymic inscription: New directions in critical place-name studies", in Progress in Human Geography, Vol.34, No.4, (2010), pp.453-445 Lawrence D Berg and Jani Vuolteenaho, “Toward critical toponymy", in Lawrence D Berg and Jani Vuolteenaho, eds., Critical Toponymies: The Contested Politics o f Place Naming (Burlington: Ashgate, 2009), p.l Ibid., p.2 Nguyễn Vĩnh Phúc, op cit., pp 1-768 Azaryahu, Maoz, “Street-names and political identity: The case of East Berlin” in Journal o f Contemporary History, Vol.21 (SAGE, London, Beverly Hill, Newbury Park and New Delhi, 1986), p p 1-604 167 VIỆT NAM HỌC - KỶ YẾU HỘI THẢO QUÓC TÉ LẦN TH Ứ T ideology imprinted by the political reeim es.1 In order words, I will focus on the second category to examine what kind o f criteria for street-naming in political orders There are some difficulties in this process First, not all the streets have names in each periods, some o f them have names being known to us on one or two stages Second, some naming principles are overlapping Therefore, the tables are not one-hundred percent accurate and not without doubts Nevertheless, these odds only account for small percentage with 3.1% Thus it will not affect to the result o f analysis The analysis will be followed bv a quantitative comparison o f streetnames according to name categories in each period In analysis o f street-names, will try to explain the names from historical context Second, the street-names will be presented by maps and they will be read as spatial-texts The spatial-text could offer more explanation on street-names rather than historical-political one In the following sections, the first one describes what kind o f principles that the French government used for street-naming? What are the important principles o f street-naming that could express the French colonial power? The second section focuses on the changing street-naming in post-colonial period Attention would be given to how the communist government used the street-names to promote their ideologies and express the Vietnamese national identity in the independent period The majority o f source materials that use are as follows: Nguyễn Vĩnh Phúc, Phố Đường Hà Nội (Streets o f Hà Nội) (Hà Nội: Nhà Xuất Bản Giao Thông Vận Tải (Transport Publishing House, 2010)), pp 1-768 The map o f Hà Nội in 1936 from the website Sommaire http://n3uyentl.free.fr/html/cadre_s0mmaire_vn.htm The map o f Hà Nội published by the National Imagery and Mapping Agency in 1968, from the digital archives o f the University o f Texas Libraries http://www.lib.iitexas.edu/maps/world_cities/txu-oclc-23233796 l-hanoi-1968.jpg Street-names under French colonial regime In the early days o f when Sài Gòn became the political headquarters o f the French colony in Cochin-China, the colonial authorities sought to impose a system of street-names that reflect their power in colonial city.2 Latter on the capital o f However, it does not mean that we treat the street-names belonging to the first category bears no political implication promoted by different political regimes Phan Thị Diễm Hương & Peter Kang, "Contesting national identities: the changing imprints o f Vietnamese street-names, case o f Ho Chí Minh City (Sài Gòn), Việt N a m ”, in The Conference o f Southeast Asian Area Studies (Taiwan, April 27-28, 2012), p.4 168 CONSTRUCTIONS OF NATIONAL IDENTITIES French Indochina was moved to Hà Nội in 1902 As an administrated centre for French colonial government, Hà N ội’s landscape was dominated by French colonial style In this respect, street-naming system was also imported to administrate and express the colonial power in Hà Nội To analvze the principle o f street-naming, we divide the street-names o f Hà Nội's under French colonial regime into several principles ( Table 1) For those not happening on the designated spot, I further regroup them into categories (1) Peoples: Vietnamese and French figures (2) Things: battle, event, organization, movement et al (3) Ideology: ideas or slogans (4) Geography: all the place names (5) History: dynastical titles Furthermore, to analyze the spatial texts I divided street-names in Hà Nội into boulevards 01' avenues on the one hand and common roads on the other hand I suppose that in street-naming practices the authorities would name something more important on the boulevards than on the common roads In this sense, the boulevards or avenues will be presented by the maps to understand the spatial order Table 1: The principles of street-naming in Hà Nội during the French period P rin c ip le s The translation from the Vietnamese nam e of business street Happening on the spot P e rc en tag e (% ) Suin 41 15 Non-translation The nam e o f imm igrant's original place 24 Original village name (past place name) French figures 18 24 118 43 0.7 Representation ofspace Vietnam ese figures Peopl es French figures Things Battles and Events Ideology Ideas or siogans Place nam es in Vietnam 07 Place nam es in France Not happening in the spot Geography History Place where French colonize Ũ The nam e of countries The title of Vietnam ese dynasty 0 The number Others Unknown T otal 30 11 3.2 275 100 (*)_The nam es could not find the m eaning 169 VIỆT NAM HỌC - KỶ YÉU HỘI THẢO QUÓC TÉ LÀN T H Ứ T Ư Certain themes tended to predominate in the naming o f street in Hà N ộ i (Table / / T h e street-names often commemorated prominent fisures (53.3%) Among 147 street-names after figures are listed on the Table 2, around 96.5% served a commemorative function, French figures accounted 80% whereas their Vietnamese counterparts just made up 16 % Table 2: Commemorative figures of street-naming in Hà Nội during French period Principles Happening on the spot Not ỉưippening on the spot F rench figures V ietn am ese figures F rench figures Total Percentage (%) Sum 24 118 1Ố 80 147 100 The important role o f commemorative figures on street-naming could be sure since most o f important figures named to boulevards/avenues Among 20 boulevards/avenues are listed on M ap l, 17 boulevards/avenues commemorated French figures and Vietnamese figures French figures included contemporary French Prime Ministers (Léon Gambetta who was Prime Minister o f France from 1881 to 1882; Felix Faure who was French Prime Minister from 1895 to 1899); General Bernard Jaureguiberry who was minister o f navy during the Tonkin campaign (1883-1886); Vice-Governor-General o f French Indochina from 1913 to 1915, Van Vollenhoven Joseph; Generals who are leaders o f troops in the Tonkin campaign (General Henri Riviere who was death in the Battle o f c ầ u Giấy in 18831, General Ange Laurent Giovaninelli came to the North in 1883; Brière de I'Isle was the general o f the North from 1884 to 1886); missionary who was helped General Henri Riviere in the Tonkin campaign, Puginier From here we can understand that persons who played an important role in the Tonkin campaign were special paid attention These names gained the power o f French military in sense o f expanding colonial areas Addition, other important French figures also commemorated in boulevard/avenue-names such as H enri d'O rlean, who was French Royal family’s member, came to Indochina in 1901; Victor Hugo who is a symbol o f French Romantic Literature Moreover, the boulevards were not only given to French figures but also honored power Vietnamese figures There were boulevards in names of Vietnamese figures that are Đồng Khảnh, who was Emperor o f Nguyễn Dynasty and was established by French government in 1885 and Gia Long, was the first Emperor o f Ne,uyễn Dynasty Battle o f Cầu Giấy was one o f num erous clashes during Tonkin campaign (1883-1886) between French and Flag Black 17 CONSTRUCTIONS OF NATIONAL IDENTITIES Legend Boulevards I A v (.jra m ! BÒ Oarnol V BÕ V idor Huai* Bii Henri d ’Orlean B d Fa ure (> Av Brie re ? Be G iovanniclli Av Vonenhoven V.Av Pugitiicr HI Bd Rollandes 11 Bd Carrcfiu 12 Bd.G am hcna 13 Bd, D oudartde Lagré 14 Bd H o b i I lo t 15 B d.R ialan 16 Rd I k a r i Riviere 17 B(l D 6nạ Khánh 18 bd G ia Long iỵ ỉìil Jaurcguiberry 20 Bd Beauchamp Map 1: B o u lev ard s an d A venues in H Nội under the French colonial regime In the spatial order, these boulevards/avenues concentrated on the centre area where the most o f government buildings, markets, quarter of business were (Map 1)} On the other hand, there were 127 roads w hich were given to the names o f less important persons However, these persons were considered to have contributed significantly to public works and urban development The local political figures were commemorated by street-names such as Ensèbe Irènée Parreau, who served as the first governor o f Hà Nội in 1883; D estenay, who was governor o f Hà Nội from 1901 to 1903; A lfred Logerot, who was the governor o f Hà Nội from 1906 to 1914 The prominent citizens, civil servants, martyrs and missionaries were honored: Rue Laque and Rue H ébrard were named after architects, Rue René D aurelle after a member o f city council, Rue Jean Nicolas Cleon after a translator, Rue Capitaine Labrrousse, Rue M ontgrand and R ue Barona after the martyrs who sacrificed in the battle o f Tonkin campaign, Rue Alexandre de Rhodes and Rue P'ere Map was drawn basing on the map o f Hà Nội in 1936 from the website Sommaire http://nguyentI.free.fr/html/cadre_sommaire_vn.htm VIỆT NAM HỌC - KỶ YẾU HỘI THẢO QƯÓC TÉ LÀN THỦ TƯ Lecomu after missionaries In addition, those Vietnamese who worked for the French colonial government or contributed to the French colonial business were also named after the streets Rue Cao Đắc Minh was named after a pilot who worked for French air force in Great War, Rue Hà Văn Kỷ after an officer o f French military who was died in a suppressing o f Vietnamese rebellion in Bắc Sơn in 1914, Rue H oàng Cao K hải, after a Nguyen’s mandarin who support to French government, Rue Nguyen D uy Hàn after Nguyen'S officer who was considered as French lackey and was killed by the Phục Quốc association m em ber.1 The 2nd category is the important things from the regime’s perspective In this respect, FIà N ội’s street-names were used to celebrate the important events which justified the French power in Indochina Rue Pescadores, was named after the last campaign o f the Sino-French war (1884-1885) Rue Tien Tsin was celebrated the Treaty o f Tien Tsin in 1885 which formalized France’s victory in the Sino-French war in which the protectorate right o f French colonial over Annam and Tonkin The 3rd category is the ideology promoted by the coionial regime In this sense, The République (Republic) term was celebrated on street to orient people to the political point o f French colonial Map 2: The distribution of street-naming under French colonial regime The Phục Quốc Association is a Vietnamese political party which was established in 1939 for the purpose o f driving French o ff Indochina 172 CONSTRUCTIONS OF NATIONAL IDENTITIES In the 4lh category Hà N ội's street-names also articulated the geopolitical dimension o f French colonial power These street-names referred to eeosraphy of France and also place names where they signed the Treaty o f Tien Tsin which was their achievement in campaign of controllirm Indochina, then we have rue de France and rue de Takou, respectively In addition, the numbering system was used to name after streets by French government, it accounted for 11 % (Table 1) and most o f them were distributed in the sub-urban area (Map 2) Thus, it could be understood that durina French colonial period in Hà Nội, the commemorative street-names concentrated in centre area of city while street-names in sub-urban area they just have the administrative function Renaming streets in the post-colonial period: independent period nation-building in All street-names o f Hà Nội after the independent o f Việt Nam can be divided into several principles (Table 4) I also follow the categories which are used for the street-names under the colonial period for discussion Table 3: C h an g e s an d Increases of street-names in Hà Nội Y ears/ Periods Total number of street-names The number of streetnames being changed The number of new street- names 1945 -194S 255 (9 ) Ũ 1949-1954 255 (2.7) 1955-1575 325 60 ( 18.5) 70 (2 1.5) 1976-2010 568 (0 5) 244 (4 3) Following the proclamation o f the Democratic Republic o f Việt Nam in 1945, around 97% streets in Hà Nội were renamed and the total number o f streets in this stage declined from 275 to 255 since in the process o f street-renamine some streets are combined However, soon after the independent o f Việt Nam, in the end of 1945 with the supporting o f British, French returned in the South o f Việt Nam The communist o f 'Việt Nam tried to secure a peace deal with France but it was failed Then the fighting between French forces and Việt Minh which so-call the Fist Indochina war began in late 1946 In 1949, France fashioned a semi-independent State o f Việt Nam, within French Union, with Bảo Đại as a head o f State and took Sài Gòn as the capital Since most o f fighting, during the war took place in Northern Việt Nam there was no change in the total numbers o f Hà N ội‘s street-names and 173 VIỆT NAM HỌC - KỶ YÉU HỘI THẢO QUỐC TÉ LẰN TH Ử T just streets were renamed during Emperor Bảo Đại period The next stage is a 1955 - 1975 period After Geneva Conference in 1954 the French ended their colonial rule in Indochina and the communist government (DRVN) reeain their power in the North o f Việt Nam and also took Hà Nội as the capital Durine this period, there were 18.5% renamed streets and 21.5% increased streets in Hà Nội Then in the period o f Việt N am 's reunification under communist rule, 1976- 2010, only streets were renamed and 244 streets are added in term o f urbanization (Table 3) Table 4: The principles of street-naming in Hà Nội in post-colonial period P rinciples 1945-1954 1955-1975 1976 -2010 57 (22.4) 58 (18) 58 (10) The name of immigrant's original place (0.3) 0(0) (0) Representation of space 31 (1 4) 39 (1 i.8) 59 (10) Original village name (past place name) 20 (7.8) 53 (16.4) 150 (26) (0) (0 ) 2(0 3) Non-translation I{(wpertui9 on the spot Vietnamese figures French figures 0(0 ) (0 ) (0 ) 121 (47 5) 157 (48.6) 280(49) (0.4) (0.3) (0.2) People from other countries (0 4) (0 ) 00 Battles and Events (0.4) 11 (3.4) 11 (2.1) Things Organizations and Movements 0(0) (0.3) (0 2) Ideology Ideas or slogans (Ũ 8) (0.3) (0 2) (0 9) 3(0 7) Vietnamese figures Peoples N ot iuqjpemng on the spot French figures Geography Place names in Vietnam (0) History The title o f Vietnamese dynasty (O S) (0.3) (0 2) The number Others 10 (3.9) (0 ) 00 Unknown 0(0) (0) i (0 2) Un-name (3 1) (0 ) (0) 255 (100) 325 (100) 5ỐS (Ì00) Total These renaming o f streets followed the principles after the French colonial one However, the post-colonial Vietnamese governments set up different criteria for the principles they followed.1 In the first stage o f independent period, nearly a half o f streets were renamed after commemorative figure and it still plays an important role in the principles o f street-naming with 48.9 % and 49.2 % in period o f 1955 - 1975 and period o f 1976 - 2010, respectively However, in the comparing Phan Thị Diễm Huong & Peter Kang, op cit., p 10 174 CONSTRUCTIONS OF NATIONAL IDENTITIES with those o f French colonial period, there was a shift from commemorative French figures to Vietnamese figures, decreasing from 43% to around 0.3 % and increasing from 8.5% to around 50%, respectively (Table & Table 4) As is illustrated by Map 3, among 21 boulevards, exception to boulevards have the function of representative space, boulevard Cửa Đôn? (The Eastern Door ) and boulevard Quán Thánh, rest o f them (19 boulevards) honoured outstanding Vietnamese figures The principal boulevard formerly commemorated Communist leaders, Tran Phú, who was the first General Secretaries o f Communist party from 1930 to 193land Lê Hong Phong, who was the second General Secretaries o f Communist party from 1935 to 1936, Hoàng Văn Thụ, who was the General Secretaries o f the Northern Communist party in 1939 Other boulevards celebrated the Vietnamese nationalist activists (anti-French colonial) such as Phan Chu Trinh, Phan Bội Châu who were leaders o f Đ ông Kinh Nghĩa Thục movement in early 20 century Other major boulevards celebrated the prominent figures from the golden dynastic traditions of Việt Nam The celebrating o f the first Kina in the narrative o f Vietnamese history, boulevard H ùng Vương Naming after the Kings o f dynasty in the early age of Vietnamese independent from China, boulevard Ngô Quyền, boulevard Đinh Tiên Hoàng, boulevard Lý Thái Tổ Naming after famous General from Lý and Trần dynasties who led Vietnamese troops to win Chinese invader and considered as Vietnamese national heroes, boulevard Lý Thường Kiệt, after famous Generals from Trần Dynasty, boulevard Trần Hưng Đạo, boulevard Trần Khảnh Du, boulevard Trầr Nhật Duật in term o f spatial text, these boulevards still concentrated in core of political and major business areas (Map 3) The common roads continue to commemorate persons who were considered to have contributed significantly to public In this sense, prominent figures from Vietnamese dynastic traditions are still given names to streets: from Lý dynasty (1009-1225): Lý Đạo Thành, Lê Phụng Hiểu etc.; from Tran dynasty (1226-1400): Dã Tượng, Yet Kiêu, Nguyễn Khoải, Đặng Dung, Lê Văn Hưu etc., from Lê dynasty (1428-1527): Lê Thái Tô, Lê Lai, Lê Thạch, N guyễn Trãi, Ngô Sỹ Liên etc., Tây Sơn dynasty (1788-1802): Quang Trung, Ngơ Văn Sở, Phan H uy ích etc Some streets took names o f figures from anti-French movements in the latter o f 19th century and early 20th century such as Phan Đình Phùng, Cao Thẳng, Cao Đạt, Nguyễn Thiện Thuật, Đinh Công Tráng etc from c ầ n Vương movement which was a Vietnamese movement in late 19th century that against French colonial rule; P haĩ Bội Châu, Phan Chu Trinh, Lương Ngọc Quyên, Lương Văn Can etc from Đông Du movement which was was a Vietnamese political movement took place in early 20lh century that encouraged youne Vietnamese to go east to Japan to study, in the lope o f training a new era o f revolutionaries to rise against French colonial rule 175 VIỆT NAM HỌC - KỶ YẾU HỘI THẢO QƯÓC TÉ LÀN THỬ Tư In term o f local history, Hà N o i’s streets were named after General Secretaries of Communist party in Hà Nội durins the First Indochina War such as Lê Quang Đạo, Khuất Duy Tiến In addition, many poets, writers, song writers, who concerned as patriots, are given names to streets such as: Nguyen Đình Chiểu, Nguyễn Khắc Hiểu Moreover, there is one street in Hà Nội named after French figure, Y-Éc-Xanh (Yersin) who is a French phvsician and bacteriologist He came to Indochina in late 19th century and established Institute Pasteur in Nha Trane He is also the first Principal o f Hà Nội Medical University Another important fisure from other country was celebrated in Hà N ội’s street in following the country’s independence is Tôn Trung Sơn who was Chinese revolutionary first president and founding father o f the Republic o f China It is quite familiar with case o f Hồ Chí Minh who was contemporary president founding father of the Democratic Republic o f Việt Nam Thus, celebrating o f Tôn Trung Sơn in Hà N ội's streets could represent the relationship between Việt Nam and China, which was a big supporter to the Việt Minh durina the first Indochina War Following category is the important things included: key battles/events and important organizations/ movements In a period 1945-1954, there was only one street was named after battle Hàm Tử Quan is the first battle between Đại Việt and the invading Mongolians or Nguyên Mông in the 13lh century (Trần dynasty) Latter on in the period o f socialist buildins in the North (1954-1975) and Việt N am ’s reunification in 1976, street-names in this theme increased to 12 Basically, these street-names can be divided into several topics included: one is prominent battles in the resistance o f Chinese invader from Vietnamese dynastic traditions such as Bạch Đằng, Chương Dương, Hàm Tứ Ouan, Văn Đồn: second is the battles in the resistance o f French colonial in the pre­ revolution such as Yên Bái, Yên Thế, Bắc Sơn third is the key date of the Vietnamese communist-nationalist revolution in fighting with French colonial, Mười chin tháng mười hai (December 12th); fourth is Điện Biên Phủ (1954) is the glorious victory o f Viêt Minh communist-nationalist revolutionaries in Indochina war, leading to the end of the French colonization in Vietnam as well as the total independence o f the Socialist Republic of Việt Nam in the North Next category is the ideas or slogans those promoted bv communist government These kinds o f street-names in Hà Nội were changed by the major historical events o f the Democratic Republic o f Việt Nam The concepts of Dân Qưvền (Rights o f man and citizents) and Hạnh Phúc (Happiness) were celebrated in Hà Nội's street-names after the DRVN was established These perceptions present the rights o f man in the independent country those were lost under colonial regime.1 Hồ Chí Minh, Proclamation o f Independence o f the Democratic Republic o f Việt Nam, 1945 176 CONSTRUCTIONS OF NATIONAL IDENTITIES L e g e n d B ou levards B d P h a n £ > in h P h ù n g H tl II oiknji VA n T h ụ B d C ứ B ổ Ô iig ■4 LA H n g P h o n g S B d ' V r ầ r t P h ú tí B d N g u y ỗ n T h ó i H ọ c II