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Libraries in French colonial Vietnam functioned as symbols of Western modernity and infrastructures of colonial knowledge. Yet Vietnamese readers pursued alternative uses of the library that exceeded imperial intentions. Bibliotactics examines the Hanoi and Saigon state libraries in colonial and postcolonial Vietnam, uncovering the emergence of a colonial public who reimagined the political meaning and social space of the library through public critique and day-to-day practice. Comprising government bureaucrats, library personnel, journalists, and everyday library readers, this colonial public debated the role of libraries as educational resource, civilizing instrument, and literary heritage. Moving beyond procolonial or anticolonial nationalism framings, Bibliotactics advances a relational theory of power that centers public reading culture contextualized within the library infrastructure of the colonial information order. As the first comprehensive history of the colonial and national library in Asia, this book contributes new insights into publicity, colonial and postcolonial studies, and the histories of Vietnam, libraries, and information.
Libraries in French colonial Vietnam functioned as symbols of Western modernity and infrastructures of colonial knowledge. Yet Vietnamese readers pursued alternative uses of the library that exceeded imperial intentions. Bibliotactics examines the Hanoi and Saigon state libraries in colonial and postcolonial Vietnam, uncovering the emergence of a colonial public who reimagined the political meaning and social space of the library through public critique and day-to-day practice. Comprising government bureaucrats, library personnel, journalists, and everyday library readers, this colonial public debated the role of libraries as educational resource, civilizing instrument, and literary heritage. Moving beyond procolonial or anticolonial nationalism framings, Bibliotactics advances a relational theory of power that centers public reading culture contextualized within the library infrastructure of the colonial information order. As the first comprehensive history of the colonial and national library in Asia, this book contributes new insights into publicity, colonial and postcolonial studies, and the histories of Vietnam, libraries, and information.
Price: $34.95
Pages: 312
Publisher: University of California Press
Imprint: University of California Press
Series: Asia Pacific Modern
Publication Date:
January 13, 2026
Trim Size: 9.00 X 6.00 in
ISBN: 9780520416222
Format: Paperback
“Bibliotactics makes a substantial contribution to the intersecting histories of colonial Vietnam, urban public culture, and the global history of libraries. . . . The archival richness is undeniable."
“A comprehensive and multifaceted account of the history of the colonial library . . . in captivating and meticulous detail. The book . . . [tells] the story of libraries from the perspective of the very people who engaged with them most closely, ranging from leisurely readers to French-trained archivist-librarians and Vietnamese scholars and intellectuals.”
Cindy Anh Nguyen is Assistant Professor in the Department of Information Studies and the Digital Humanities program at the University of California, Los Angeles.
Contents
List of Illustrations
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1. To Document: Building Libraries and a Colonial Information Order
2. To Be in Public: Infrastructures of Public Reading Culture
3. To Circulate: Libraries as Vehicles of Cultural Propaganda
4. To Read: Bình Dân Thư Viện and Vietnamese Language Nationalism
5. To Reassemble: The Decolonization of Libraries
Epilogue
Notes
Bibliography
Index
List of Illustrations
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1. To Document: Building Libraries and a Colonial Information Order
2. To Be in Public: Infrastructures of Public Reading Culture
3. To Circulate: Libraries as Vehicles of Cultural Propaganda
4. To Read: Bình Dân Thư Viện and Vietnamese Language Nationalism
5. To Reassemble: The Decolonization of Libraries
Epilogue
Notes
Bibliography
Index