The Vietnamese Periodical and Newspaper Collection at the British Library

Abstract

Vietnamese newspaper and serial collection at the British Library is a rich resource for anyone who is interested เท undertaking research on contemporary Vietnam, especially the pre and post Indochina War period. The local and provincial newspapers from former North Vietnam during 1 964-65 record an attempt of the Vietnamese Communist Party to create a successful socialist state in its nascent stage. It also demonstrates how printed media was used as a war propaganda machine. Likewise, printed media from former Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam) during this period reflects an attempt by the state to use media as a counter propaganda machine. When Vietnam was officially reunited in 1 976 and some Vietnamese chose to leave the country as refugees, the birth of newspapers and journals published by these overseas Vietnamese add a new aspect of Vietnamese studies. Their publications were used as a machine against the Hanoi regime. At the same time, they offered space for the overseas Vietnamese to discuss the problems of Vietnamese identities and ‘Vietnam-ness’.