Email this article Symbolizing (in)dependence: Vietnam, Intercosmos, and the strategic ambiguity of late socialist ritual
- Authors: Sasges G.1
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Affiliations:
- National University of Singapore
- Issue: Vol 3, No 4 (2019)
- Pages: 48-56
- Section: Articles
- URL: https://journal-vniispk.ru/2618-9453/article/view/87023
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.24411/2618-9453-2019-10039
- ID: 87023
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Abstract
This paper uses Pham Tuan’s journey into space in July 1980 as part of the Soviet-led Intercosmos 37 mission to explore how Vietnamese represented themselves and their relationship to the USSR during the late Cold War period. It is based on the news coverage, speeches, and imagery that documented the mission and commemorated its success in issues of the Vietnamese People’s Army daily newspaper (Bao Quan Doi Nhan Dan) and the photo archives of the Vietnam News Agency (Thong Tan Xa Viet Nam). These sources reveal how Vietnamese put the symbolic ambiguity of Intercosmos to strategic use. On the one hand, their participation in the rituals of a kind of socialist “communion” confirmed their membership in a Soviet-led community. On the other hand, however, Vietnamese asserted a unique and independent role within that community.
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##article.viewOnOriginalSite##About the authors
Gerard Sasges
National University of Singapore
Email: gerard.sasges@nus.edu.sg
PhD (History), Associate Professor, Department of Southeast Asian Studies
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