Créer des passerelles entre les mondes… L’œuvre interculturelle de Nguyễn Văn Vĩnh (1882-1936)
At the beginning of the XXth century in Eastern Asia, numerous scholars translated western books in order to get the knowledge of those who, then, where ruling the world. In French Indochina, the Vietnamese Nguyễn Văn Vĩnh was one of these scholars, but his view was unique: he thought his country co...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Université de Provence
2014-12-01
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| Series: | Moussons |
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| Online Access: | http://journals.openedition.org/moussons/3025 |
| Summary: | At the beginning of the XXth century in Eastern Asia, numerous scholars translated western books in order to get the knowledge of those who, then, where ruling the world. In French Indochina, the Vietnamese Nguyễn Văn Vĩnh was one of these scholars, but his view was unique: he thought his country could gain a lot to be inspired by the colonizer to find its own way in the modern world; as the French Republic was the cultural power par excellence and homeland of human rights, the French culture might be an example to Vietnamese people. Vĩnh made use of periodicals and translations of literary works into quốc ngữ (Romanized script) in order to spread new ideas for his compatriots as they would be able to lead their own destiny in the changing Chinese world at that time. In his project, it was important that French and Vietnamese peoples learn how to reach a common understanding. The Vietnamese had to be introduced to the French culture and the democratic values, as well as their own cultural heritage which had to be regained. At the same time, Vietnamese culture had to be introduced to the French, so as the colonizer to endeavour to attain the civilizing mission target which was besides claimed to justify its role in Indochina. Vĩnh kept on working on building bridges between French and Vietnamese, all the time acting as an ‘interpreter’ between worlds. |
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| ISSN: | 1620-3224 2262-8363 |