Concepts of ‘Individual’ and ‘Self’ in Twentieth-Century Vietnam

Abstract

‘Individual’ (cá nhân) came to the Vietnamese language in the first decades of the twentieth century, along with a host of other evocative neologisms, such as ‘society’ (xã hôi), ‘ethnic group/nation’ (dân tôc), ‘ideology’ (chu' nghĩa), ‘democracy’ (dân chu' chu' nghĩa), ‘science’ (khoa hoc), and ‘progress’ (tiêń hóa). Initially, ‘individual’ was very much the poor relation among these new concepts—merely an irreducible human unit belonging to something else more significant. Thus, each individual was urged to be a loyal citizen of the nation, an eager participant in some new political organization, or a responsible member of society. Individuals were often compared with cells in the body, each one having a legitimate role in sustaining and enhancing the vitality of the organism, but meaningless and incapable of surviving on their own. On the other hand, the danger also existed of individuals acting in a selfish, short-sighted manner, which could jeopardize the larger order of things. Such persons were said to be witting or unwitting perpetrators of ‘individualism’ (cá nhân chu' nghĩa).