From “Other Imagination" to “Self-Construction": A Study of the Evolution of the Image of the Hmong in the United States--The Second Series of Overseas Hmong Studies
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.54691/t5kx5r14Keywords:
The American Miao (Hmong); Image Evolvement; cultural landscape.Abstract
This study employs the methods of literature and virtual ethnography to examine the representation of the Hmong in the United States from three perspectives: the media, texts, and cyberspace. It elucidates the internal logic and cultural connotations of the evolving representation of the Hmong in the United States by examining the American imagination of the Hmong and the Hmong's own construction of their image. It is argued that the Hmong culture as imagined by the American mainstream culture represents a perception of "backwardness" and "mysteriousness". Additionally, the Hmong elites have been observed to portray the stereotyped "refugee image" as "aggressive" and "positive". However, the Hmong elites have also been seen to attempt to shift this perception of the "refugee image" towards a more positive and aggressive representation. The Hmong elite attempts to portray the stereotypical "refugee image" as an "aggressive" and successful new immigrant in the United States. Conversely, the new generation of young Hmong people construct a "modern" and "ethnic" image of "struggling" through online self-media.
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