This article reexamines the life narrative of Võ Thị Sáu, a young female martyr known throughout Vietnam. It brings together close intertextual readings from varied sources, including archival documents, literary and cultural works, historical scholarship, museum exhibits, and social media to scrutinize the veracity of factually suspect stories and reconstruct a new, more historically sound narrative of her life. This article moreover presents new ways of using rumor in historical research—both as a potential source in empirical historical research and as a means through which historical memory is constructed and reproduced in contemporary Vietnam.

Keywords:
Historical memory, propaganda, First Indochina War, rumors, Vietnam, Côn Đảo
© 2024 by The Regents of the University of California
2024
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