Module 5: Storytelling as Resistance: Cultural Expression
Despite the US Secret War in Laos, have Laotian Americans found home in the United States?
Storytelling shows us the myriad ways refugee communities make meaning of their lived experiences. Earlier scholarship on refugee policy and resettlement often depicted refugees through dominant tropes of “victims” in need of help, “unwelcoming intruders,” or “good refugees.” These simplistic tropes see refugees and their children as objects of suffering or as passive recipients of the United States’ generosity of rescue rather than subjects with stories of rich and complex lives.
This module centers on the lives and voices of Laotian Americans, exploring how they tell their stories through art, literature, theater, and food, all of which highlight their rich and complex lives.
How have first- and second-generation Laotian Americans forged their own cultural spaces in the United States?
In what ways do Laotian Americans use storytelling and cultural expression to stay connected across borders?
How have Laotian Americans cultivated other ways of seeing and being in America?
