Hmong American Identity in Literature
Hmong American identity in literature is a reflection of the historical and cultural experiences of the Hmong people, particularly in the context of their migration to the United States following the Vietnam War. Indigenous to parts of Southeast Asia, the Hmong faced significant challenges during and after the war, leading many to seek refuge in the U.S. Upon arrival, they encountered the complexities of acculturation, including language barriers and the struggle to adapt their agricultural practices to a new environment. Despite a rich oral tradition, Hmong literature was scarce due to the absence of a written language; however, in the late 20th and early 21st centuries, Hmong Americans began to cultivate a distinct literary voice.
This emerging literary scene has been characterized by poetry, with early contributions from writers like Pos Moua and Khaty Xiong paving the way for future authors. The establishment of platforms such as Paj Ntaub Voice and anthologies like "Bamboo among the Oaks" has provided a space for Hmong narratives to flourish. Notable works include Mai Der Vang's award-nominated poetry collection "Afterland" and memoirs from authors like Kao Kalia Yang. Through these literary endeavors, Hmong American writers explore themes of identity, trauma, and resilience, enriching the broader landscape of American literature while preserving their cultural heritage.
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Hmong American Identity in Literature
Overview
Most of the Hmong peoples of Asia live in what is now the northern part of Vietnam. Indigenous to the area for centuries, the Hmong helped to fight their Japanese conquerors and the French when they attempted to colonize Vietnam. When the Americans engaged in their lengthy and disastrous war of the 1960’s and 1970’s, many Hmong farmers were recruited by agents of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the American Ranger Army forces to fight for the Americans. The Hmong were so situated that their allegiance was seen to be strategic in importance, although the Hmong people were all farmers and fairly primitive in their standard of living. The Hmong were largely known for their unorthodox but successful cultivation processes, usually farming in rows on steep, hilly land that was not particularly fertile. By strapping their plows around their necks, they were able through agility and strength to develop crops in areas that seemed nonfarmable.
Americans recognized that many, perhaps all, Hmong would be treated badly by the North Vietnamese, the enemy, who was winning. American troops and others helped Hmong move to South Vietnam and ultimately to ships and airplanes headed for the United States. Many Hmong did not make the trip for diverse reasons, and although many died under the new rule in Vietnam, the Hmong still exist as a people in Southeast Asia.
Once in the United States (the largest populations settled in California, Colorado, and the upper Midwest), the Hmong faced most of the problems that immigrants have faced. The primary issues facing the Hmong in acculturation were the language and being able to make a living. Their form of agriculture simply does not work in the United States, and, as typically happens, the children were immersed in American culture and thinking, along with the English language.
As the Hmong began to acculturate, some of the people fell prey to what social scientists have described as lucid dreaming, a process by which a member of the Hmong who remembered Vietnam would lapse into destructive dreams. Many Hmong believe that dreaming is parallel to living, that there is really no difference, so many believe that what they dream will actually happen. Bad dreams of memories of war and of culture shock have resulted in difficulties for Hmong Americans.
Historically, Hmong people have had little literature of their own. There is a strong oral tradition of stories and poems, but as there is no written Hmong language, they were not recorded. As Hmong Americans who were either born in the United States or arrived as young children began to reach adulthood in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, some began working toward the creation of a distinct Hmong literature in English. To this end, Mai Neng Moua, who had come to the United States as a refugee at the age of three, founded the literary magazine Paj Ntaub Voice, focused on Hmong writing, in 1994. In 2002 she edited the first anthology of Hmong American writing, Bamboo among the Oaks: Contemporary Writing by Hmong Americans. The Hmong American Writers' Circle was formed in 2004 by poet and short-story writer Burlee Vang; in 2011, the group published an anthology, How Do I Begin? A Hmong American Literary Anthology. While Paj Ntaub Voice and the various anthologies have included many types of works, including short fiction, essays, and drama, the Hmong American literary scene is dominated by poetry. Pos Moua was the first Hmong American writer to publish a book of poetry with his 2001 collection Where the Torches are Burning, and Khaty Xiong's Poor Anima (2015) was the first published poetry collection by a Hmong American woman. In 2017 one Hmong American poet, Mai Der Vang, reached wider audiences when her poetry collection Afterland, which focused on her family's experiences during the Vietnam War and as refugees, was longlisted for the National Book Award for Poetry. Vang also won the 2016 Walt Whitman Award from the American Academy of Poets.
There are also several notable memoirs by Hmong American writers, including Kao Kalia Yang's The Latehomecomer (2008) and The Song Poet (2016) and Mai Neng Moua's The Bride Price (2017). May Lee Yang, a poet and playwright, received some attention in 2010 for her two-person performance piece Confessions of a Lazy Hmong Woman: A Memoir.
Bibliography
Brown, Patricia Leigh. "A Hmong Generation Finds Its Voice in Writing." The New York Times, 31 Dec. 2011, www.nytimes.com/2012/01/01/us/a-hmong-generation-finds-its-voice-in-writing.html. Accessed 15 Aug. 2019.
Moua, Mai Neng, editor. Bamboo among the Oaks: Contemporary Writing by Hmong Americans. Minnesota Historical Press, 2002.
Quincy, Keith. Hmong: History of a People. Cheney, Wash: EWUP, 1995.
Smalley, William Allen. Mother of Writing: The Origin and Development of a Hmong Messianic Script. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1990.
Vang, Mai Der. "Writing from the Absence: Voices of Hmong American Poets." Poets.org, poets.org/writing-absence-voices-hmong-american-poets. Accessed 15 Aug. 2019.