Bibliotactics

Libraries and the Colonial Public in Vietnam

Cindy Anh Nguyen

$157.95

Hardback

Forthcoming
Pre-Order now

QTY:

English

University of California Press
13 January 2026

Library & information services; Asian history; Colonialism & imperialism; Media studies

Series: Asia Pacific Modern

A free ebook version of this title is available through Luminos, University of California Press's Open Access publishing program. Visit www.luminosoa.org to learn more.

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 from colonial to 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.

By: Cindy Anh Nguyen
Imprint: University of California Press
Country of Publication: United States
Volume: 22
Dimensions: Height: 229mm, Width: 152mm,
ISBN: 9780520423602
ISBN 10: 0520423607
Series: Asia Pacific Modern
Pages: 312
Publication Date: 13 January 2026
Audience: Professional and scholarly , College/higher education , Undergraduate , Further / Higher Education
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

Cindy Anh Nguyen is Assistant Professor in the Department of Information Studies and the Digital Humanities program at the University of California, Los Angeles.