Bamboo in Vietnam: An Anthropological and Historical Approach

This book presents interdisciplinary research on bamboo in Vietnam, combining anthropology, ethnobotany, and technology history, and offers a technological approach to understanding bamboo terminology and its applications in various fields. It features illustrations from lithographic, literary, and historical sources and is valuable for students and scholars of Vietnam, anthropology, history, environmental history, and architecture.

Format: Hardback
Length: 238 pages
Publication date: 13 October 2023
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd

Bamboo has been an important resource in Vietnam for centuries, with its versatile properties making it useful in a wide range of applications. In this book, interdisciplinary research on bamboo in Vietnam is presented, drawing on the anthropology of gesture, ethnobotany, and the history of technology. The authors have adopted a technological approach to identify the terminology of different parts of the bamboo plant in dictionaries in Romanized Vietnamese or in Vietnamese vernacular writing (nôm). This approach has enabled them to identify not only the plant but also each technical gesture for its appropriation by the artisan. Lithographic, literary, and historical sources from the chronicles have been mobilized to illustrate the many uses of this versatile plant. The book is richly illustrated throughout, making it appealing to students and scholars of Vietnam, anthropology, the history of science and technology, environmental history, and architecture. It will also be of great value to those interested in the applications of bamboo in the contemporary world.

Weight: 630g
Dimension: 234 x 156 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781032395715