Tangled Threads

My experience with Hmong culture has been limited. When I was a child, I had Hmong friends before I even knew what that term means. However, through my various courses I had learned a fair amount about the history of the Hmong people, particularly with concern towards the lack of home for an entire ethnic group.

As I read Tangled Threads: a Hmong Girl's Story, I felt as if the book tried to present me with emotions tied to that experience. I've read about these experiences in a general sense as they were reflected on in Edward Said's “Reflections on Exile,” but Tangled Threads attempts to portray these emotions in a personal aspect specific to the unique experience of a people – though I would argue it fails to do so. A the same time that the book serves to discuss what it means to be without a home, it also serves to illustrate both the discomfort and the wonder in the immersion in something new.

As in The Circuit (as well as other texts we've encountered this semester), Language once again plays a critical role in the experience of what it means to be human. Mai struggles with the conflict between assimilating into a new culture while trying to hold on to an old one. In this struggle, language plays a central role.

However, I felt difficulty becoming immersed in the text. It did not feel genuine. I've previously read Kao Kalia Yang's The Latehomecomer: A Hmong Family Memoir, and that felt in relaying an individual experience. In contrast, Tangled Threads seems to read more like an archetypical immigration story. Struggles with language, culture, religion, and finding a new home seem almost cliché when presented in this text.

If I wanted to incorporate a text about Hmong people into my class, I would prefer to use The Latehomecomer for older students rather than Tangled Threads. I don't think it has to do with whether or not the text is factually accurate (it's presented as a novel). Sold, for example, felt genuine in capturing the experience of a young girl being taken from her home and experiencing significant trauma. Unfortunately, Tangled Threads did not connect with me in the same way.