The article considers various dimensions of researcher–informant relationships arising while leading research in Vietnam, which inevitably influence the fieldwork done among the Vietnamese. The specificity of the relationships between the anthropologist and the researched is caused by one of the most characteristic features of Vietnamese language – the complicated system of terms of address and reference, based on such factors as sex, age and social position of the interlocutors. Due to the relational nature of Vietnamese terms of address, speakers entering into interaction are forced to define their own role and its relation to the role of the interlocutor. Adopting the interaction strategy imposed by the features of Vietnamese language brings twofold methodological implications. On one hand, the anthropologist experiences serious limitations of her ability to control the research situation, while on the other hand, she gains the opportunity to approximate the experience of being in a particular role: that of a woman subordinated to a man, a ‘niece’ subordinated to an elderly aunt or an ‘older sister’ whose status is higher than a younger man’s.
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