Vietnamese women's literature in the early 20th century from the perspective of language and gender in colonial contexts

Abstract

The early 20th century marked a period of significant social upheaval in Vietnam. This period was characterised by notable shifts in perceptions of gender and gender dynamics. While the issue of gender during this time has been explored from various perspectives and interpretations, there remains a need to introduce a broader range of feminist critical theories and research practices to the context of early 20th-century Vietnam for those interested in gender as a lens for literary analysis. This article first introduces Ben Tran’s theory on the relationship between women and
language (particularly literary language) in the early 20th century. According to Ben Tran, although Vietnamese writers of that era adopted Western-style first-person pronouns to express individuality and autonomy, there was a notable absence of the first-person singular pronoun “I” when referring to female authors and characters. Building on this observation, the author re-examines the literary works of the first female authors published during this period, analyses their presence through language and, consequently, raises the question of the actual potential of the feminist voice during that period.