Cultural Series (a.m): the hisotry of Hanoi through the city’s street names

Understanding how streets are named and why certain names are given to specific streets, reveals how cities grow, who held power and how daily lives have changed over centuries.  Exploring the topic of street names is a different and an intriguing way to learn about the history of a town/city.

We are delighted that Dr Phùng Thị Thanh Lâm (fromVNU-Institute of Vietnamese Studies and Development Sciences) has kindly accepted to our invitation to give a presentation to FVH on her research into the naming of Hanoi’s streets.

The Agenda is being finalized but topics Dr Lâm will explore include:

• how streets were named after historical figures since the French period,
• the trend and process of naming streets,
• the role and importance of specific names that inspire patriotism and identity, streets named after people who were spiritual symbols in fights against, invaders and names of victorious places are often combined to build collective memories which remind the Vietnamese people of the nation’s heroic past,
• The naming of streets before 1945, the rational during  the period 1954 to 1975, and of course how names are now chosen nowadays……

Numbers: 8 pax max 20 pax

Venue: TBC

Please RSVP to: stella@fvheritage.org

Amount: 250,000 VND pp (to cover donation to host and contribution for venue hire)

Please note Dr Lâm is a very busy person and may be called away at short notice for work, academic trips in which case we will rearrange. But at the moment Sunday 22 November is a good date for her.

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