Eating Identities: Reading Food in Asian American LiteratureUniversity of Hawaii Press, 2018 M03 31 - 208 pages The French epicure and gastronome Brillat-Savarin declared, "Tell me what you eat, and I will tell you who you are." Wenying Xu infuses this notion with cultural-political energy by extending it to an ethnic group known for its cuisines: Asian Americans. She begins with the general argument that eating is a means of becoming—not simply in the sense of nourishment but more importantly of what we choose to eat, what we can afford to eat, what we secretly crave but are ashamed to eat in front of others, and how we eat. Food, as the most significant medium of traffic between the inside and outside of our bodies, organizes, signifies, and legitimates our sense of self and distinguishes us from others, who practice different foodways. |
Contents
1 | |
1 Enjoyment and Ethnic Identity in NoNo Boy and Obasan | 18 |
2 Masculinity Food and Appetite in Frank Chins Donald Duk and The Eat and Run Midnight People | 37 |
3 Class and Cuisine in David Wong Louies The Barbarians Are Coming | 62 |
4 Diaspora Transcendentalism and Ethnic Gastronomy in the Works of LiYoung Lee | 94 |
5 Sexuality Colonialism and Ethnicity in Monique Truongs The Book of Salt and Mei Ngs Eating Chinese Food Naked | 127 |
Epilogue | 162 |
Notes | 171 |
181 | |
191 | |