Madeleine Aitchison | University of Hawaii at Manoa (original) (raw)

Thesis Chapters by Madeleine Aitchison

This thesis analyzes the conception of two different ideal archetypes for Vietnamese women during... more This thesis analyzes the conception of two different ideal archetypes for Vietnamese women during the late colonial period, from 1918 until 1934. I use women's newspapers (primarily Phụ Nữ Tân Văn) and other contemporary literature to first trace the creation of "historical" Vietnamese heroines in the early 20 th -century. Second, I examine the creation of a cosmopolitan international woman who demonstrated Vietnamese women's encounters with the broad concept of "modernity." With these two archetypes, writers targeted women and communicated differing idealized feminine traits to emulate. With Vietnamese heroines, advocates wished to promote an invented tradition that emphasized women's duty to the potential nation of Vietnam and, further, pushed women to commemorate women such as the Trưng Sisters or Lady Triệu. Within the context of the cosmopolitan New Woman, Vietnamese writers looked to international news to find exceptional women whom Vietnamese readers should emulate. Importantly, Vietnamese women came to endorse both of these ideals through their own writing. The formation of two differing feminine models demonstrates Vietnamese women's engagement with historical time and global space to promote what they perceived as ideal feminine traits. Additionally, these two models show a growing Vietnamese engagement with global trends and international news, as well as rising nationalism within Indochina.

Book Reviews by Madeleine Aitchison

Papers by Madeleine Aitchison

Histoire sociale/Social history

This thesis analyzes the conception of two different ideal archetypes for Vietnamese women during... more This thesis analyzes the conception of two different ideal archetypes for Vietnamese women during the late colonial period, from 1918 until 1934. I use women's newspapers (primarily Phụ Nữ Tân Văn) and other contemporary literature to first trace the creation of "historical" Vietnamese heroines in the early 20 th -century. Second, I examine the creation of a cosmopolitan international woman who demonstrated Vietnamese women's encounters with the broad concept of "modernity." With these two archetypes, writers targeted women and communicated differing idealized feminine traits to emulate. With Vietnamese heroines, advocates wished to promote an invented tradition that emphasized women's duty to the potential nation of Vietnam and, further, pushed women to commemorate women such as the Trưng Sisters or Lady Triệu. Within the context of the cosmopolitan New Woman, Vietnamese writers looked to international news to find exceptional women whom Vietnamese readers should emulate. Importantly, Vietnamese women came to endorse both of these ideals through their own writing. The formation of two differing feminine models demonstrates Vietnamese women's engagement with historical time and global space to promote what they perceived as ideal feminine traits. Additionally, these two models show a growing Vietnamese engagement with global trends and international news, as well as rising nationalism within Indochina.