“If you have good knowledge, close it well tight”: Concealed and framed meaning in the funeral music of the Hmongqeej

Abstract

This paper argues that embedded and framed meaning addressed to specific audiences is a consistent structural and structuring force in Hmong expressive arts and that the use of secret or disguised meaning is a consequence of the harsh realities of Hmong history and of the need both to protect and to project their identity. It demonstrates that the deliberate opacity and obfuscation of meaning in various Hmong spoken and sung forms culminates in the funeral music of the Hmong six‐piped free‐reed mouth organ, the qeej, and suggests that models of framing found in social organization, verbal art forms, poetic structures and graphic designs can be extended and applied to the musical and social roles of the qeej in funerals.

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