Multi-landscapes of Hà Nội in three poetic generations of ethnic minorities

Abstract

Born with the August Revolution in 1945, the generations of modern Vietnamese ethnic minority writers form their own appearance, contributing to creating unique voices and identities. In this paper, we argue that three generations of ethnic minority poets, which represent three waves of writers, create three types of geographical landscapes of Hanoi. Firstly, the country’s capital in wartime is portrayed vaguely in the dreams of the periphery. It is a central geographical entity that holds the beliefs and aspirations of the entire nation. Secondly, Hanoi is presented through its everyday appearance, which is full of contradictions that make residents leave and dream of an idealised mountainous region. Finally, Hanoi is described as a decentralised metropolis through the gazes of ethnic minority poets who were born in Hanoi. This creates in their poetry the process of deterritorialization, i.e. the process of becoming the Other. It can be said that geographical shifts have created new spaces, thus giving people different concepts of home.