Week6_Emily_Ninh_ASA_114

Stuart Hall's "Cultual identity and Diaspora" highlights the different definitions and narratives of identity within a diaspora, specifically with Afro-Carribieans. Cultural identity can be defined as "... critical points of deep and significant difference which consitute 'what we really are; or rather ... 'what we have become'. We cannot speak for very long, with any exactness about 'one experience, one idenity', without acknoledging its other side" (Hall, 225). This quote directly ties to what second generation Asian Americans experience. Many diasporas face cultural and emotional differences when moving to different countries. While we were watching the documentary about the Vietnamese American community in San Jose around the 1990s and 2000s, we witnessed this. For example, the man who was a military leader had to adjust to life in America by starting out cleaning toilets at stores. Also, a second generation Vietnamese American woman who won Miss Vietnam discussed the divide in between her generation that does not speak Vietnamese and her father's generation that does. Even within the Vietnamese community, people from the same family have different narratives and cultural identities. There is no one definition of what culture is "right", so we should respect everyone's narratives and identities.  



Bibliography
Stuart Hall. “Cultural Identity and Diaspora.”
https://www.thestar.com.my/news/regional/2019/12/08/professional-model-tran-crowned-miss-universe-vietnam