The Caodai religion of Vietnam has often been labeled as a peasant-driven, politico-religious sect due to its anti-colonial activities during the first half of the 1940s. This paper conducts an historical analysis of Caodaism’s formative years (1926-1941) to show that the religion was in fact primarily managed by Cochinchinese (South Vietnamese) elites who appropriated many of the governance and economic models introduced by the French colonial government. Combining their knowledge of Western bureaucratic systems with Asian religious traditions into a form of hybridity that exhibited both cultures, these elites founded the religion of Caodaism. The paper uses the concept of hybridity to look at how other aspects embody the negotiation and reappropriation of ideas by Caodaists. These include the concept of salvation, the religion’s spirit pantheon, Caodaism’s most famous Western convert (Gabriel Gobron), and the Caodai community in Tay Ninh province. I argue that these hybrid forms allowed Caodaists to overcome a sense of cultural inferiority by establishing cultural parity with the West. Furthermore, I look at the recent developments within Caodaist communities that have formed in the wake of the 1975 Vietnamese Diaspora. I first examine the influence of restrictive state policies on Caodaists in the homeland and compare it with the experiences of diasporic Vietnamese in rebuilding their religion outside of Vietnam. I find that these diasporic communities are caught between two poles in their attempts to revive the religion. Some overseas Caodaists feel that it is necessary to preserve the tradition by supporting mainland Caodaism from the outside. Others find it more suitable to begin reinventing the religion to cater to diasporic needs and challenges. This tension, I argue, also constitutes a type of hybridity in which individuals must delegate between these two approaches to decide the future of their religion. / text

Le paysage religieux québécois a connu depuis les années 1960 des transformations profondes, que l’on associe classiquement au processus de sécularisation de la province et à la diversification des régions d’origine de son immigration. Le passage d’une immigration surtout européenne, et donc principalement chrétienne ou juive, à une immigration issue d’autres régions de monde participa à l’émergence d’une nouvelle diversité religieuse au Québec. Ce mémoire se propose d’explorer le cas d’une des religions qui fut introduite suite à l’accueil de réfugiés vietnamiens entre les années 1970 et 1990, le caodaïsme. Bien que très faiblement représentés à Montréal et au Québec comparativement aux Vietnamiens bouddhistes et catholiques, les caodaïstes ont rapidement formé leur propre congrégation, celle-ci ayant été un lieu de soutien pour les nouveaux arrivants vietnamiens. Basées sur un terrain mené en 2014 et en 2015 auprès du Temple Caodaïque de Montréal, les analyses proposées dans ce mémoire mettent en lumière le rôle particulier qu’a pu jouer cette congrégation religieuse auprès de ses membres dans leur insertion à la société québécoise, tout en soulignant l’évolution qu’a connue le rôle de ce lieu de culte après trois décennies d’existence et le déclin de l’immigration vietnamienne au Québec. Par ailleurs, nous analysons les différentes adaptations qu’a connue la pratique, collective comme individuelle, du caodaïsme au Québec en mettant en exergue l’importance de l’influence du contexte sécularisé et de la condition minoritaire. Nous montrons finalement la manière dont les adeptes de cette congrégation cherchent à mettre leur doctrine en cohérence avec la société québécoise. / The religious landscape in Quebec has undergone profound changes since the 1960s. These transformations are typically associated with the process of secularization of the province and the diversification of the origins of its immigrants. The transition from a mainly European immigration, and therefore mainly Christian or Jewish, to an immigration from other regions of the world, contributed to the formation of a newly established religious diversity in Quebec. This master’s thesis explores the case of Caodaism a religion that was first introduced by Vietnamese refugees between the 1970s and 1990s. Although Caodaists were few in numbers in Montreal and Quebec compared to Vietnamese Buddhists and Catholics, they quickly formed their own congregation, which became a site where new Vietnamese immigrants could seek support. Based on fieldwork conducted in 2014 and 2015 with the Temple Caodaïque de Montréal, I examine the role that this religious congregation played in the integration of its members into Quebec society, while demonstrating the transformation of the role ascribed to the Caodaist place of worship through the last three decades of existence and the decline of Vietnamese immigration in Quebec. Furthermore, I analyze how the collective and individual practice of Caodaism in Quebec has adapted though time, emphasising the importance of the influence of the secularized context and the religion’s minority status. I finally show how the members of this congregation strive to make their religious doctrine consistent with Quebec society.