French Colonialism In Vietnam

This paper looks to define and explore three books which are a crux to various food histories which in the last decade has become a scholarly journey as food history is becoming increasingly studied as a scholarly endeavor by historians where previously it was not seen in such a scholarly light. The three texts which are going to be examined are: Planet Taco: A Global History of Mexican Food by Jeffery M. Pilcher, The Invention of the Restaurant: Paris and Modern Gastronomic Culture by Rebecca L. Spang, and lastly To Live and Dine in Dixie: The Evolution of Urban Food Culture in the Jim Crow South by Angela Jill Cooley. Each of these books seek to redefine how people see their perspective topics whether it be Mexican identity rooted in cuisine, the evolution of southern food in a racially divided south, or even the concept of the restaurant emerging from a revolutionary culture. These texts bring awareness to various topics which have both social, cultural, and economic stigmas associated with them.

The streets of Ho Chi Minh City are beautiful around the summer time, but my favorite city was Huế, the city of cheap eats. My siblings and I have never been to Vietnam before, so it was an experience for all of us. As we were sitting down in a restaurant, looking at the menu, an old lady came up to us to take our order. My mother used to order for my brothers, so she ordered for them. When the lady looked at me, waiting for me to give her my order, all I could do was point at the picture on the menu and give her a smile. The look on her face was clear displeased. “She was born in America. She doesn’t know Vietnamese,” my father quickly told her, apologizing for my lack of knowledge. I felt embarrassed, lowering my head whenever she came near us. It was not my fault that I did not know my native language, but it was not my fault entirely for being able to learn it all these

For this paper I will examine Vietnamese culture according to the five essential questions all cultures must answer (according to Kluckhohn and Strodtbeck). I will then take those answers and compare then to out culture here in America. I realize that some might argue that using North American culture as a starting point is an attempt to simplify this writing, but I believe that any initial examination of something new is most effectively done in comparison to what one already knows.

The 1945 Declaration of Independence of Vietnam is a key event in history, which caused and by which caused consequences that affected not only them, but other countries of the world as well.

Ha’s mother is grieving the disappearance of her husband and the fall of Vietnam to Communism. The fallout of the Vietnam War causes separation for Ha and her family. Once in America, Ha finds that many in the small township move to ignore her culture and her heritage. Vietnamese culture and

From this, readers are aware that French men held important roles in Vietnam’s crop development system. This again matches Elson’s article which states that when European populations decide the official positions of natives in the trading system, or hold the power themselves, the native populations are often further exploited and overworked. For the sake of higher profits in the trade network, working conditions of the Asian producers were difficult and often deadly, especially compared to their Western managers. In the views of the author, the French owners in Vietnam treat the Mandarin workers as “their servants; they treat them no better than their dogs.” For their own business development and for the prospect of greater Asian trade relations, the Western powers would stop at nothing to enhance their profit through Asian trade

The Fall of Saigon on April 30th, 1975, marked the end of nearly two decades of fighting between the Russia and China backed communist North Vietnam and the US backed right wing South Vietnam. When the North Vietnamese army entered Saigon, the free world was horrified at what it believed to be major drawback in its attempt to defeat communism around the world. In accordance with the domino theory, that same year, the capitals of neighboring former french colonies, Cambodia and Laos, both of which were also run by right wing regimes supported by the US, fell to communist insurgencies Khmer Rouge and Pathet Lao respectively. It took the communists three decades, millions of lives, and the destruction of billions of dollars in infrastructure and assets overthrow these western backed governments. So what gave these people, especially in Vietnam, incentive to sacrifice so much to “free” themselves from those governments and embrace communism as their system of governance? As this question is answered, it is important to identify aspects of the communist ideology that appeal to the general population, as well as how it goes along with Vietnamese culture, the actual practice and execution of the ideology.

When I was a toddler, my family visited Vietnam for the first time together. It was the also the first time my mom returned since she got married and immigrated to the United States. We arrived around the time of the Mid-Autumn Festival that summer. The humid streets swelled with clusters of vendors selling handmade paper lanterns, small candles, vibrant-colored toys, and a variety of cakes.

People only focuses on where they are but forgets where they came from. In “The Trip Back”, Robert Olen Butler criticizes self and family importance on cultural perspective through the story of Khánh, a Vietnamese man living in Louisiana, who is on a way back of picking up his wife’s grandfather. Butler sets cultural difference viewpoint as the crucial aspect of the story through Khánh’s behavior.

The Vietnam War was one of the bloodiest wars in the history of Vietnam. Vietnam use to be a peaceful country until the idea of communism started spreading across Vietnam. Many wanted to stay democratic but saw what happened to the Germans and started to lean towards communism. Many also wanted to stay democratic and still had it hopes high that it will soon get their lives and economy back on track.

In the book The Quiet American Phoung, the beautiful Vietnamese girl caught in a love triangle with an American spy and a war correspondent, is seen as a commodity, something to be bartered, without actually taking her feelings into consideration. She is treated as a delicate victim who needs saving by the men in the book but although it seems like Greene is portraying Phuong as nothing more than an object, he means for her to represent much more than that. Greene’s portrayal of Phuong as an object represents the treatment of the Vietnamese people in the hands of the Americans. She is meant to be symbolic of her country, both men, American and British want to possess her, much like the war raging in Vietnam.

When someone hears the word “McDonald’s,” they may automatically associate it with various descriptions and words such as American food, hamburgers, french fries, and chicken nuggets. Others may assume that McDonald’s is only famous in the United States, but what they do not know is that McDonald’s expanded their success outside of its origin to over 100 countries around the world. In the novel, Golden Arches East, the author, James L. Watson, focused on the company’s expansion in East Asia and studied how the American culture and traditions of McDonald’s influenced the Asian countries and their people.

To understand the US involvement in Vietnam, it is necessary to understand the background of traditional independence and opposition to larger powers throughout Vietnamese history. The Vietnamese had a long history and tradition of opposing invading powers. This opposition and culture was to draw the U.S. into the longest war it has been involved in. This was an indirect but vitally important cause of US involvement in the Vietnam War. As early as 500BC, Vietnam was a country that held a strong sense of nationalism, and endeavoured for the goal of autonomy, independence, and self-rule. Up until modern history, there have been several events that have contributed towards intensifying this sense of nationalism and resistance against foreign powers. National resistance against the Chinese empire was one of the earliest examples of resistance against nationalism. Throughout the period of pre-modern history from 210 BC to 1789, resistances against foreign control and rule such as that against the Nan Yue, the Song, the Ming, and the Qing, were frequent. These attempts at national resistance came down to the basis that the nationalist Vietnamese did not want foreign influence determining the political future, culture, or customs of their country. Another main example that increased a sense of nationalism was French Colonialism. The French, who were appealed by Vietnam’s unique location, natural resources, and the extensive economic opportunities

Profit gains acted as the main factor triggering French colonization of Indochina to be in their presence. The French companies and the colonial officials engaged in the transformation of the Vietnam subsistence economy to a system that is proto-capitalist on the bases of low wages and exports, increased production, and land ownership (Kolko 7). Thus, the Vietnamese never worked for their profits, but for the benefit of the colonies of the French.

On one hand, Vietnamese gastronomy is not just about Vietnamese food; the gastronomes can try Chinese, Thailand, French food and many other dishes from different countries in the world right here in the Vietnamese restaurants. It is really a paradise of food bringing tourists to Vietnam. On the other hand, many Vietnamese restaurants located abroad contribute to present the image of Vietnamese gastronomy to the world. Misses Wendy Chan, an expert from Definity Marketing assumes that Vietnamese food is the most fashionable choice for the Americans.