Situation coloniale et pratique de l’archéologie en Indochine

Abstract

Rethinking of the interactions of the multiple cultural, economic, and political forces present in Indochina, including French, Vietnamese, and Chinese, also calls for a renewed analysis of the role played by archeology in the development of this colonial society. Praising the virtues of past civilizations of Indochina through their archaeological remains was both a project of promoting the colony aimed at the French public and a politically and economically important issue placed at the center of the colonial civilizing mission. However, archaeological practice in Indochina can not be reduced to a tool of governance of the colonial state. Analyzing the organization of the archaeological service of the French School of the Far East, the concrete practices of excavation of the time, and the various interpretations and impacts of the discoveries allow us to consider a lesser known aspect of the history of archeology in colonial Indochina. Finally, the parallel between colonial practices and their extensions in post-independence Vietnam invites us to think on the intentions accompanying these practices as well as the social and political spaces towards which they were aimed.

Keywords

• archéologie
• Éfeo
• historiographie
• Indochine
• Vietnam