Question

How did the textbooks represent Vietnamese during the period of French colonization? Explain.

Answer 1

Answer:

• School textbooks glorified the French and justified colonial rule while Vietnamese were represented as primitive and backward.
• They were capable of manual labour but not of intellectual reflection.
• They could work in the fields but not rule themselves.
• They were ‘skilled copyists’ but not creative.
• School children were told that only French rule could ensure peace in Vietnam. Since the establishment of French rule, the Vietnamese peasant no longer lives in constant terror of pirates.