Affects, Ceremonial Gift-Givings and Social Structures

Forms and expressions of tình cảm in northern rural Vietnam

Abstract

This article proposes to describe and analyze a central emic notion of contemporary Vietnamese society, the tình cảm, which refer to the emotional charge involved in a relationship. This affect is described through the lens of the flow of ceremonial gifts which constitute one of the principal means of expressing tình cảm in northern rural Vietnam. By testing the Spinozist approach of Lordon in The Society of Affects (2013), this paper shows how tình cảm are expressed, how they are a driver of social action and in which social structures they are produced.