Fragments of the Present

In one of the first in-depth accounts of a society long rendered virtually inaccessible by war and political closure, Philip Taylor explores the ways in which modernity has been adapted as an indigenous identity in Vietnam and traces the volatile path of such self-identification. The post-war government's policies towards southern Vietnam's popular music and international cultural exchange altered from initial rejection to qualified embrace. However, the state policies drew criticism from many locals with different ideas about their own identity as 'modern', as they were concerned about the impacts of economic liberalisation and political authoritarianism. Taylor pays particular attention to the many dimensions of Vietnamese music as a rich response to profound historical and social upheavals, the policies which saw much popular music being banned on the grounds that it was not authentically 'modern', and the ways Vietnamese people imagined and talk about their identity and history through the reference point of music. A case study of the diversity of ways in which social, political and economic change is interpreted locally, Fragments of the Present is an important guide to the challenges to global integration faced by the world's remaining Communist states. Philip Taylor researched this book while undertaking doctoral studies in anthropology at the Australian National University. He has spent more than two years in southern Vietnam where he undertook additional studies on pilgrimage, popular religion, and gender.