“Happy to Be Born Hmong”

Abstract

Members of the Hmong ethnic minority group in Vietnam are making up for shortcomings in state broadcasts by accessing transnational media principally via three new music technologies: video compact discs, cell phones with MP3 playback capability, and the Internet. The musical media supplied via these recently introduced technologies are permitting an unprecedented intensification of cultural interactions with Hmong in other parts of the world. Despite numbering over one million people, the Hmong minority group in Vietnam have been largely ignored by music scholars until recently. This article examines how the Hmong are accessing these musical technologies and considers the impact that the resulting interactions are having on Hmong culture in Vietnam.