URBAN CULTURAL CHARACTERISTICS REFLECTED IN THE FOLK LITERATURE OF HO CHI MINH CITY

Abstract

Folk literature in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) constitutes a distinctive component of Southern Vietnamese folklore, shaped within a multi-ethnic and dynamic urban environment marked by cultural hybridity. Despite its significance, this body of oral tradition remains understudied. Through processes of urbanization and migration, HCMC folk literature has not diminished but has been continuously recreated and adapted to modern life, while its modes of transmission have expanded from oral circulation to print and digital media. This article identifies representative genres and highlights the defining features of HCMC folk literature, particularly its adaptability and creative vitality in an urban context. The study employs two main approaches: the documentary-historical-textual method and the analytical-typological method, enabling an examination of the dynamics of folk forms while synthesizing their aesthetic traits and cultural identities as manifested in contemporary urban folklore.