Digital Vietnam: State of the ‘State of the Field’, Saigonese Motorbike YouTubers, and Diasporic Vietnamese Social Memories of the Republic of Việt Nam

What is it about?

This article employs two approaches to locate the nascent field of research on digital Vietnam. I first analyse the source base and methodologies of state of the field essays about Vietnam. I then turn to digital autoethnography to weave my academic journey with the digital Vietnam studies and resources I encountered along the way. In the second half, I use a case study from an emerging genre in YouTube videos uploaded by Saigonese motorbikers. These motorbikers not only provide a record of the city today that can offer points of entry for social scientific studies of contemporary Hồ Chí Minh City but also help historians and members of the Vietnamese diaspora alike locate histories and memories of a Sài Gòn of the past.

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