Journal of Academic Research for Humanities (JARH) is a double-blind peer-review, Open Free Access, online Multidisciplinary Research Journal
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Vol. 3 No. 3 (2023)
The International "Journal of Academic Research for Humanities"

Review Articles

Deconstructing Ideology in Anne Fadiman's "The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down": A Study of the Hmong American Discourse

Published 29-09-2023

  • Ms Anisa Tul Mehdi
    • ,
  • Moussa Pourya Asl

Ms Anisa Tul Mehdi
Senior Lecturer, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Bahria University, Islamabad

Moussa Pourya Asl


Abstract

The Hmong diaspora in America has faced ongoing social and cultural alienation and exclusion since the 1970s. Despite the discriminatory environment, they have maintained a strong ethnic group consciousness and formed a collective identity to overcome ethnic tensions and racial prejudices. This study argues that Hmong American life writings offer unique insights into the dynamic interplay between dominant ideologies that create and perpetuate stereotypical depictions of Hmong Americans, as well as the multiple ways in which such ideologies are constantly interrogated, challenged, and eventually deconstructed by members of the community. The study focuses on Anne Fadiman's The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down (1997) to examine the omnipresence of ideologies in Hmong American life writings. It analyzes how these ideologies challenge stereotypical representations of the Hmong diaspora as a voiceless and passive minority. To do so, it draws upon Van Dijk's Ideology as Discourse Analysis and Derrida's Deconstructive Criticism to use intertextuality and connotation as functional tools to explore the ideological deconstruction of stereotypical representations of Hmong diaspora as marginalized and voiceless subjects. Through different traditional medical practices, therapeutic exercises, culinary techniques, customs, and other means, diasporic individuals resist cultural impositions while retaining a collective notion of subjectivity. The omnipresence of Hmong ideologies has deconstructed the notion of an insignificant minority stereotypically associated with Hmong Americans. Instead, it has pushed them to the center due to their strong ideological beliefs.

Keywords

Deconstruction, American, Ideology, stereotypical, Discourse

PDF

Author Biography

Moussa Pourya Asl

School of Humanities, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 USM, Gelugor, Penang, Malaysia

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