Third Edition Spring 2013 - Institute of East Asian Studies, UC ...

ary China History Studies, P85-92 Mar., 2009 Vol.16 No.2.Unpublished DocumentBeijing Foreign Studies University, “2012 nian 9 yue yingjiemalaixiya jiaoyubu” (Welcoming the KPM Delegation in September2012), (unpublished document), September 2012.Kong Zi Institute For the Teaching of Chinese Language atUniversity of Malaya, “Ma Da Kong Yuan PPT” (Introduction to theKZIUM), (unpublished document), 06/23/2012.Zhao Wanzhen, “Speech at the Opening Ceremony of the2012 Malaysian Mandarin Teacher Training Program at BFSU” (unpublisheddocument), September 2012.InterviewZhao Wanzhen, interview by author, 12/05/2012.Constructing “Culture”Mark PortilloAbstractDespite the vast amount of research surrounding Western photojournalist’srole in the Vietnam War, little is known about photography and its uses bythe Vietnamese communist leadership during and after the war. Western photojournalistsaimed to highlight the unnecessary suffering of the GI and the brutalviolence occurring overseas, but what were the Vietnamese aiming to achievewith their images? To answer this question, I conducted a comparative historicalanalysis of communist leadership relationships to modes of culture production,specifically photography. Through this comparative analysis I demonstrate howphotographs have served the nation’s Communist leadership by aiding in theconstruction of a cultural memory and consequently, a politicized identity. Thisresearch is part of a growing body of research on memory, culture production,and their role in politics. By utilizing photography and drawing attention to its importantrole in struggles for power, it is my hope that this research will contributeand promote future related projects.IntroductionHow can the culture of an entire country be constructed?The answer lies in cultural memory. In this essay I will discussmemory, what it means for a culture to remember, how that culturalmemory is constructed, produced, and for what purpose. I willlook specifically at the changing Vietnamese cultural memory beginningfrom the Vietnam War to the present. Through a comparativehistorical analysis of communist leadership relationships to25 Kankan Xie Constructing “Culture” 26