1993/01/01 by Dang Nghiem Van · 3 citations
Social Sciences · #Vietnamese History and Culture Studies #Southeast Asian Sociopolitical Studies #Cambodian History and Society
paper · doi:10.2307/541423
openalex publication_date 1993/01/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2025/11/06
Virtually every ethnic group in mainland Southeast Asia tells myths of a great deluge that leaves only two survivors alive to reconstitute humanity and to create the ethnic groups of the region. The survivors - typically a brother and sister, or a woman and dog - must consummate an abnormal marriage ; from the incestuous match is born a gourd or a gourd-shaped lump of flesh. The gourd in turn is the source of the various ethnic groups of the locality. With a collection of more than 300 such myths encountered during recent field research throughout Vietnam, the A. traces the main elements of the myth and presents its major variants. The myth in its many forms offers a unique window onto the cultural traditions of mainland Southeast Asia.