Hero and Deity is an eloquent and fascinating journey into the world of the worshippers and the cult of Tran Hung Dao. The legendary fourteenth-century hero and savior of Vietnam has evolved as a key symbol of the nation as well as an efficacious deity in its spiritual pantheon. Today he is a ubiquitous, multivalent symbol of the contradictions of contemporary Vietnamese society.
Intertwined with this rich ethnography is a work of self-interrogation and engagement with the author’s complex and changing “home,” and with the diverse women and men – intellectuals, Communist Party cadres, and market sellers alike – whose lives are centered to a significant degree around the cult
of Saint Tran and other deities. The book is a contribution to the ethnography of Vietnam, cultural studies, and Asian studies and also an original and stimulating introduction to contemporary Vietnamese society.
