The Conceptualization and Representations of Adolescence in Vietnamese Media during the “Reform Era” of Vietnam (1986–1995)

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to explore the conceptualization and representations of adolescence in the Vietnamese media during the Reform era (1986–1995). Analyzing newspapers targeting adolescents, I argue that the Reform era marked a departure from the conceptualization and representation of Vietnamese adolescents as miniature communists, which dominated the media in pre-Reform decades. It also marked the emergence and convergence of Vietnamese adolescence into a global adolescent sensibility, which emphasizes identity search and mood swings. Factors contributing to these conceptual changes include the adoption of a market economy, a new high school system, and family planning policies.