Vietnam was colorful and complex in the Europeanization "whirlwind" of the early 20th century since it followed the footsteps of the French colonists, forming smoldering contradictions in society when it contained both the shortcomings of the previous ideology as well as the advances and disadvantages of the new idea, in which emerges the antagonistic relationship between feminism and Confucian ethical standards for women. During this time, Vietnamese intellectuals criticized Confucianism in many aspects, bringing it to a crisis. The Confucian ethical practices expose problems that are directly incompatible with feminism's emancipatory and equal thinking. In reality, there was reconciliation, but this compromise also concealed underlying issues that were not associated with the nature of either new or old thoughts but rather with nationalism and the colonial issue. This, in specific, helps in our understanding of the cultural resistance and assimilation phenomena. Based on the survey of this antagonistic relationship in the female newspapers of the early 20th century, from both the situation and the solution, the paper focuses on explaining the reasons for reconciliation between these two opposing ideas. From there, to answer a more profound question, how were cultural resistance and assimilation dealt with in Vietnam during the French colonial period? The rapid reconciliation, on the one hand, distinguishes Vietnamese feminism; on the other hand, it refers to a nation's internal strength and identity, which are the controlling factors of acculturation phenomena.

Authors:
Kim Lan Cao, Institute of Literature - Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences, Vietnam

About the Presenter(s)
Dr. Cao Kim Lan is currently an associate professor of Institute of Literature, Vietnamese Academy of Social Sciences (VASS). Her research interests are semiotics, narratology, rhetoric, feminism, modern Vietnamese literature, and cultural studies.

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