Notizen von einer Reise nach Vietnam

Abstract

This report is based on my diary and on notes I took during my stay in Vietnam. It conveys my (subjective) impressions as a supporter of the former anti-war-movement, the tense and often strange atmosphere of meetings and the ambivalent feelings in such situations - not normally recorded by journalists - perceived against a background of historical studies and political discussions. As a social anthropologist, I originally wanted to visit ethnic minorities, the Meos in particular, to study the model of autonomous zones. Furthermore, I wanted to investigate what had become of the "Visions of the Future" as expressed earlier by Vietnamese students, a field I had already investigated in the Federal Republic of Germany in 1968. When, after a wait of more than two years, I finally received my visa in October 1979, I was no longer able to do the research I had planned due to the Vietnamese-Chinese border conflict; my journalistic investigation had to be adapted to the new situation. Instead I concentrated on women's problems. Although I was not a guest of the government, my programme was organized by the "Committee for Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries" which did its best to fulfill at least some of my wishes. Although aware of the limits to free research, travel and information in "socialist" countries, I was nonetheless rather shocked by the extent to which able man-power is expended on control rather than reconstruction: "Big Brother" was watching me all the time. Nevertheless, I did have some worthwhile meetings, official and otherwise, with women-writers, teachers, and social workers, apart from the usual contacts with party cadres and deputy-ministers. My report begins with some general impressions about the beauty and the poverty of the country, its isolation and its problems due to continuing war. My notes include Sundaywalks in Hanoi and Ho-Chi-Minh-City (Saigon); my meeting with representatives of national minorities; shopping in Hanoi; an informal visit to the theatre; a reception at the "People's Committee" in Saigon and with actresses at the "Cultural Committee"; and a visit to a state farm near Saigon. They are also about Vietnamese-Chinese relations and refugees. These notes reflect my sympathy for the people, not the regime, and raise once more the question of the West’s responsibility for the misery of the country.