Making Families Across Ethnic Divide: Khmer-Kinh Intermarriage in Viet Nam

Abstract

This thesis investigates intermarriages between ethnic Khmer and Kinh people in a province of southern Vietnam. Khmer-Kinh interethnic marriage raises paradoxes, for the very possibility of such unions is sometimes questioned owing to the socio-economic gaps and assumed differences in cultural practices between these groups, their historical tension, and mutually unfavourable stereotypes. Nevertheless, this type of marriage is real and has been increasing in recent years. This thesis aims to explore the facilitating factors behind this type of marriage; how Khmer-Kinh couples experience their relationship with each-other and with their families; and how ethnic identity is transmitted to the children of such unions. It demonstrates that Khmer and Kinh couples engage in a dynamic process of negotiating multiple constraints and adapting to differences to make their marriages viable.

This thesis draws upon in-depth interviews and observations from a field study undertaken by the author in 2012 in An Giang Province. Thirty-five Khmer-Kinh interethnic couples took part in the study that examined marriages in rural and urban areas as well as ethnically segregated and ethnically mixed settings. The participants were drawn from diverse socio-economic backgrounds and included couples made up of individuals of similar and dissimilar socio-economic standing.

The findings highlight that geographical and socioeconomic disparities are significant barriers to Khmer-Kinh interethnic marriage. Historical tensions also have led to the development of pejorative stereotypes between the ethnic groups, which significantly impede the formation of such intimate unions. The findings unpack the complex factors and conditions facilitating the incidence of Khmer-Kinh interethnic marriage, highlighting the significance of modernization and development factors in bridging the geographical, social, cultural and psychological gaps between groups, and the role of new marriage markets and personal experiences in facilitating such conjugal unions.

By examining couples’ relationship with each-other and with their families, I found two core factors—class disparity and cultural differences—account for many of the tensions and conflicts arising in their marital life. The findings also highlight the differential capacity of spouses and their families to cope with cultural differences. Educational level, residential location, ethnicity, gender expectations and practical utility were influential factors shaping the capacity of spouses to cope with the cultural differences encountered in their married lives.

The study further highlights the dynamics and variation in the transmission of language, identity and heritage to the children in Khmer-Kinh families, finding that all interviewed couples supported the proposition that their children embrace both cultural identities and acquire multicultural capacity. Nevertheless, the findings show that such transmission to these mixed children is shaped not only by individual choices or familial preferences but also by several other factors including gender, socialization context and socio-economic factors.

The thesis confirms that regardless of the socio-economic disparities, preconceptions and cultural differences between these groups, such unions are possible and viable in contemporary Vietnam. The study uncovers the sources of tension in their marriages and reveals that when conflicts do arise, most of the couples in this study make multiple negotiations and adaptations to make their relationship last.