The Hmong 1987 1995

The Hmong, 1987-1995

Hmong-Related Works, 1996-2006

The Hmong (pronounced "mong" in English) are a mountain-dwelling subgroup of the Miao of southwest China. In the 18th and 19th centuries, the Hmong began migrating southeast to Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand. Then in the second half of the 20th century, due mainly to their participation in the Second Indochina War (1954-1975), the Hmong began migrating to the West. Today, the Hmong are one of the fastest growing ethnic origin populations in the United States, growing from about 94,000 in the 1990 census to about 190,000 in the U.S. census bureau's 2005 American Community Survey. With this rapid expansion in the population, a substantially increased interest in Hmong-related written works, multimedia materials, and websites among students, scholars, service professionals, and the general public has arisen. To help meet that interest, author Mark E. Pfeifer has compiled Hmong-Related Works 1996-2006: An Annotated Bibliography, which includes full reference information (including internet links to articles where available) and descriptive summaries for 610 Hmong-related works.

Diversity in Diaspora

This anthology wrestles with Hmong Americans’ inclusion into and contributions to Asian American studies, as well as to American history and culture and refugee, immigrant, and diasporic trajectories. It negotiates both Hmong American political and cultural citizenship, meticulously rewriting the established view of the Hmong as “new” Asian neighbors—an approach articulated, Hollywood style, in Clint Eastwood’s film Gran Torino. The collection boldly moves Hmong American studies away from its usual groove of refugee recapitulation that entrenches Hmong Americans points-of-origin and acculturation studies rather than propelling the field into other exciting academic avenues. Following a summary of more than three decades’ of Hmong American experience and a demographic overview, chapters investigate the causes of and solutions to socioeconomic immobility in the Hmong American community and political and civic activism, including Hmong American electoral participation and its affects on policymaking. The influence of Hmong culture on young men is examined, followed by profiles of female Hmong leaders who discuss the challenges they face and interviews with aging Hmong Americans. A section on arts and literature looks at the continuing relevance of oral tradition to Hmong Americans’ successful navigation in the diaspora, similarities between rap and kwv txhiaj (unrehearsed, sung poetry), and Kao Kalia Yang’s memoir, The Latehomecomer. The final chapter addresses the lay of the land in Hmong American studies, constituting a comprehensive literature review. Diversity in Diaspora showcases the desire to shape new contours of Hmong American studies as Hmong American scholars themselves address new issues. It represents an essential step in carving out space for Hmong Americans as primary actors in their own right and in placing Hmong American studies within the purview of Asian American studies.