Digital Vietnam: State of the ‘State of the Field’, Saigonese Motorbike YouTubers, and Diasporic Vietnamese Social Memories of the Republic of Việt Nam

Abstract

This article employs two approaches to characterize the nascent field of research on digital Vietnam. I first analyze the source base and methodologies in state of the field essays about Vietnam. I then turn to digital autoethnography to weave my academic journey with digital Vietnam studies and resources that I encountered along the way. In the second half, I use a case study from an emerging genre in YouTube videos uploaded by Saigonese motorbikers. These motorbikers not only provide a record of the city today that can offer points of entry for social-scientific studies of contemporary Hồ Chí Minh City but also helps historians and members of the Vietnamese diaspora alike to identify histories and memories of a Sài Gòn of the past.