Local Dynamics of Renegotiating Ritual Space in Northern Vietnam: The Case of the Dinh
Author(s)
Endres, Kirsten W.
Abstract
Before the revolution swept through the villages of Northern Vietnam, the village communal house (dinh) was the centre of male-dominated power and the place where the status hierarchy of village society was ritually reproduced. With the advent of the revolution, the dinh became a major target of socialist ritual reform aimed at building a new egalitarian and just society. This paper looks at the failures and attainments of ritual reforms, and the various local dynamics of negotiating and restructuring ritual space and practices in different periods of recent Vietnamese history.
