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I was in Borders bookshop the other day when I was in Central London and as I browsed through the sociology
section, I stumbled across a book entitled: Un/settled Multiculturalisms: Diasporas, Entanglement, Transruptions,
edited by Barnor Hese (Zed Books, 2001).
Basically, the purpose of this book is to examine the social, political and
intellectual meanings of multiculturalism in the West with strong emphasis given
to Britain.
It enables us to analyse and reflect upon multiculturalism and what it stands
for and casts social and academic debates on the subject, in the context of
globalisation, post-colonialism and what Hese calls ‘multicultural
transruptions'. The book contains essays written by various authors on the
Diaspora experience and one that caught my eye in particular was entitled: ‘The Chinese Takeaway and The Diasporic
Habitus- Space, Time and Power Geometries' by David Parker.
The takeaway business is one of the longest serving
traditions, not to mention, cultural stereotypes around, alongside Asians, as
in Indians, working in off- licences and corner shops, and the Blacks as either
criminals, or being financially poor. Not to mention the furore that was The
Black and White Minstrel show in the US when White performers were
wearing what was a form of theatrical make-up, known as ‘Blackface'; hence
their faces were Black.
Here, Parker argues in the main body of his essay how the
Chinese takeaway acts as a metaphor in discussing ethnic food and its
significance and implications within a multicultural society. Likewise, Wong
(1993) argues that those working in the catering business- in particular racial
groups such as Indians and Chinese- are valued by other people as being good at
what they do, which is cooking and serving food to tend to the needs of the
so-called dominant groups in society; i.e. Whites for instances. It is claimed
that over 80% of BBCs work in the catering business alone, in contrast to other
so-called professions (see Youtube video
clip on Being British Born Chinese). Many Chinese takeaways throughout Britain and across
the globe operate as either immigrant run or family- owned businesses.
Not only does it bear the hallmark of what it is to be
Chinese within a multi-cultural society but also the associations people make
with Chinese people and food; likewise the existence of Chinese cookery
programmes hosted by the likes of Nancy Lam and Ken Hom, for example and its
connections with Far Eastern cuisine and Chinese culture itself.
In 1993, British writer Doreen Massey's extract on Chinese
food in relationship with the British eating habits raised questions on how
British and Chinese cultural identities and food itself, are addressed by the
representations of Chinese migration in the UK. In this sense, food is seen as
a form of homogenised culture in a positive sense to contribute towards, as
well as promote a more pleasant and multi-ethnic society.
The aspects of Chinese culture through cultural difference are
signified and represented in everyday social practices and settings, such as
the takeaway business. For Chinese people born in the UK or outside China
and Hong Kong, the concept of being Chinese
living and based within an indigenous culture, the diasporic habitus involves strategies
and the structuring of Diasporas that highlight the reinvention of cultural
forms, practices and emphasises transition on its part, such as the takeaway
franchise. The diasporic habitus is based on French philosopher, Pierre
Bourdieu's Habitus concept, which he coins as a set of thoughts, mannerisms,
tastes- or in other words, behaviours and the way of living of a particular
minority group. Diasporic habitus takes that concept a little further: it is the thoughts, mannerisms,
behaviourisms, tastes of a minority group based on imperial history and
(cultural) resources of power. Cultural resources are things like the
media, education, family, society and art to name and likewise, food, clothing,
music, nationality etc.
Customers of all ages, cultures and races enter the
restaurant and order a dish off the menu; they pay for their meal, wait for it
to be served and packaged up in metal foil containers or those small white
boxes that you get in American Chinese take- outs and placed in carrier bags.
Then the customer takes and consumes their food outside the premises.
Parker's insight into the takeaway counter makes for compelling
reading: he sees that the positioning of the counter occupies a relationship
between facialisation and racialisation. Hence, the Chinese person standing or
sitting behind the counter is making eye contact with the (non) Chinese
customer. Facialisation is the process in which facial features are deemed as
signifiers of a particular racial group. For example, with us Chinese our
facialisations would be eye shape, skin colour, hair. Racialisation is based on
the term racialise/racialize, where one characterises or differentiates us on
the basis of our race.
With the takeaway itself comes the downsides with running a
business such as this: encountering racism and experiencing verbal abuse, it is
mainly manual labour and so everything has to be prepared and cooked from
scratch, working long and unsociable hours with less time allocated towards
family and friends, and for those at school, college or university, studying. As
one says: ‘here I was stuck in on Friday
and Saturday nights, serving people who've been out on the town and having a
good time; and that's when you start getting pissed off... at these times it made
me hate being Chinese- I'd ask myself why couldn't I go out during the weekends
or after school along with all my friends'.
The association of the Chinese with food goes way back,
although in recent years, Chinese restaurants have become more widespread
across East Asia, North and South America, Europe, Oceania and parts of South Africa. In
America, there are already 3
times as many Chinese restaurants as there are of McDonald's fast food chains (A Short History of The Chinese Restaurant-
From Stir-Fried Buffalo
To Matzoh Foo Young, 2005).
The Chinese takeaway is just as much a symbol of Cultural Diaspora,
as it is of identity and as a cultural institution. A cultural institution, in
the sense of that the Takeaway is a franchise; a type of business and so it is
therefore an institution, and cultural because Chinese is a culture- not just a
nationality and a form of racial classification.
And so alongside, the English chippie, Indian Curries, Caribbean, Italian, Spanish cuisine, you can add the
Chinese menu to the world food
hall of fame.
Cited:
Un/settled
Multiculturalisms: Diasporas, Entanglement, Transruptions,
edited by Barnor Hese (Zed Books, 2001)
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