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“A ground-breaking and highly original study of the Indochinese in France during the entire colonial era. Beautifully written and meticulously researched, this is one of the most important books published on colonial Indochina and imperial France in decades.”—Christopher Goscha, Professor of History, Université du Québec à Montréal
“Subjects and Sojourners complicates simplistic narratives of the metropole as a site that radicalized future anticolonial activists to illustrate the myriad ways that France shaped, and was in turn shaped by, Indochinese sojourners of all backgrounds. A must-read for students and scholars of European imperialism, Southeast Asian history, cross-cultural encounters, and migration.”—Martina Thucnhi Nguyen, author of On Our Own Strength: The Self-Reliant Literary Group and Cosmopolitan Nationalism in Late Colonial Vietnam
“With meticulous research in Vietnamese and French sources, Charles Keith provides a nuanced history of the French empire and decolonization seen from Southeast Asia, while simultaneously demonstrating that the transformations of Indochina’s culture and society during this period can only be understood in a global context.”—Joshua Cole, author of Lethal Provocation: The Constantine Murders and the Politics of French Algeria
List of contents
Contents
List of Illustrations
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1 • To the Docks
2 • Crossings
3 • From Contact to Conquest
4 • Cultural Sojourners
5 • Labor Sojourners
6 • Daily Life
7 • Political Sojourners from Peace to War
8 • Political Sojourners from War to Decolonization
9 • Returns
Coda. Final Voyages
Notes
Sources and Bibliography
Index
About the author
Charles Keith is Associate Professor of History at Michigan State University.
