CONTEMPORARY GHOST LEGENDS ASSOCIATED WITH THE FALL OF HUẾ CITADEL IN 1885: A DIALOGUE BETWEEN INSTITUTIONAL AND VERNACULAR MEMORY

DOI: 10.18173/2354-1067.2025-0018

Abstract

This article analyzes the role of ghost legends related to the Fall of Huế Citadel in 1885 in the formation of collective memory in contemporary Huế and Vietnam. Through a discourse analysis approach combined with ethnographic data from 42 in-depth interviews between 2022 and 2024, the study investigates the narrative motifs currently circulating in both official and vernacular commemorative spaces. Based on theoretical frameworks of collective memory and contemporary folklore, the article reveals the parallel, and often tense, operation of two memory streams: (1) Institutional memory and (2) Vernacular memory. These two streams are simultaneously oppositional and conciliatory, showing that ghost legends serve not only as commemorative media but also as a form of cultural reflection. This research thus proposes a new direction for engaging with contemporary legend as a genre