Seminar "The National Question and Nationalism in Vietnam at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries"

The seminar was organized by the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi, and the National Museum of Japanese History on September 10, 2008. It brought together many leading history experts from universities in Vietnam and Japan.

The seminar heard and discussed three main presentations on: “The Formation of the Nation and Nationalism in Vietnamese History” (Prof. Phan Huy Le), “The Development of Nationalism in Modern Vietnam - New Conditions, Perspectives and Typical Manifestations” (Associate Professor Pham Xanh), and “The Nation from a Cultural Perspective of Vietnam in the Late 19th and Early 20th Centuries” (Associate Professor Nguyen Hai Ke).

In the past and present, the issue of nation and nationalism has received special attention from the world's scientific community and has been explored by nations for their own national interests. However, the process of nation and nationalism formation varies from region to region and country to country due to unique historical and cultural conditions. Starting from the basic concepts of nation, state, nationalism, and patriotism, the presentations delved into analyzing the context of formation and manifestations of nationalism in Vietnam throughout different historical periods. Through this, the discussions at the seminar raised many theoretical and practical issues regarding the formation of nation-states in Vietnam and the region from a comparative perspective with Asia, specifically East Asian and Southeast Asian countries such as China, Japan, South Korea, and Thailand.