Colonial and post-colonial constructions of "Champa"

Abstract

Like the kingdom and civilization of Angkor, Champa was virtually unknown to the Western world until the advent of colonial rule in Indochina, at which point it drew the attention of French scholars. Historians, art historians, epigraphers, and archaeologists constructed - or reconstructed - a "chronicle" of a kingdom of Champa which remained largely unchallenged until well into the 1970s. At that point, however, a group of revisionist academics centered in Paris began to question the standard view of Champa in several important ways. Meanwhile, with the reunification of Vietnam in 1975-6, Hànôi-based scholars began to study the history and culture of Champa to assess its role in Vietnam's past and to correct what they perceived as mistakes and distortions by writers during the colonial period and in the Republic of Vietnam (1955-75). The latter group in particular produced a nationalistic and Southern-centered narrative which went counter to that produced in the North under Party auspices. Champa and its history pose a thorny and awkward problem for Vietnamese scholars. The kingdom of Champa no longer exists, and its disappearance is the direct consequence of Vietnamese expansion and colonization. Although evidence of an ancient Cham presence has been found as far north as Quang Bình province, the group's present numbers in Vietnam are confined to small areas along the south-central coast (Bình Thuân and Ninh Thuân) and the Cambodian border. This situation is the result of gradual ethnic and cultural assimilation rather than any sort of genocide, but the fact remains that the present-day Cham are a mere remnant of what was once a regional power. Thus, the study of their past is a minefield of sensitive issues relating to Vietnam's historical relations with its neighbors and to old tensions among various peoples who are now part of a single multi-ethnic nation. Different assumptions - and agendas - have led various groups of scholars to significantly different conclusions about the history and composition of Champa. This paper will compare the "Champas" constructed by four groups: (1) French colonial writers, (2) scholars in the Democratic and Socialist Republics of Vietnam, (3) scholars in the Republic of Vietnam, and (4) recent revisionists in France. Finally, it will look at newer views of Cham history written by scholars in Vietnam over the past decade. Such a comparison will not only broaden our understanding of the different ways to approach Cham history, it will also shed light on the various historiographical and political agendas that influence the study of this aspect of Vietnam's past. © 2011 Trâàn Kỳ Phuong & Bruce M. Lockhart. All rights reserved.