The symposium " Vietnamese women : creativity and commitment " features Vietnamese women from several generations. What these women have in common is their commitment to the values they have each chosen to stand up for. Some have participated in wars and revolutions since 1945 or 1975, others were born or grew up after 1975, in different Vietnamese contexts, still others reside abroad or come from other countries to settle in Việt Nam. They include academics, researchers, social activists, journalists, writers, artists and businesswomen. They will tell us about their experiences in Việt Nam, with Việt Nam or as Vietnamese women in a globalized world. To overcome the heavy legacies of the past, to remedy the problems of the present, to face up to current and future challenges both socially and in their personal and intimate lives, we will see them deploy various strategies, overcome trying obstacles, propose innovative solutions, initiate new values, and always show themselves to be imaginative, resilient, responsible, strong not in any authority or political power, but rather in their ability to survive, to build, to edify, to create. And yet, heirs to the precious resources of their native culture, enriched by new knowledge and practices learned from other world cultures, are they not also and at the same time still carrying the burden of a long history as well as a conflicted recent past and a constraining present ? Their diverse testimonies, and the debate generated during the colloquium, will give us a clearer picture of evolving plural feminine identities.
Symposium