“vinegar soup improved his womb

《“vinegar soup improved his womb》由会员上传分享，免费在线阅读，更多相关内容在学术论文-天天文库。

1、AsianAmericanLiterature:DiscoursesandPedagogies4(2013)63-75.“vinegarsoupimprovedhiswomb”:Food,Appetite,andtheRedefiningofAsianAmericanMasculinityinKingston’sChinaMenByDanielleCrawfordThestudyoffoodinAsianAmericanliteraturehasrecentlygainedcritical1attention.Inparticular,foodandconsumptionpra

2、cticeshavebeenidentifiedasintegraltothedevelopmentofAsianAmericansubjectivity,asfoodsignifiesthe2historicalpoliticsofAsianandAsianAmericanlabor.WhilefoodandconsumptionareakeydeterminantofAsianAmericanidentity,foodandfoodwaysinAsianAmericanliteraturearetropesthatestablishethnicandculturaldiff

3、erence.FoodoccupiesapivotalpositionintheAmericanculturalimagination,andisoftenamediumthrough3whichtolabelAsianAmericansastheethnic“other.”WecanthusviewfoodandconsumptionasacriticaldiscourseinAsianAmericanliteraturethatisresponsibleforshapingbothsubjectivityandtheWesternconceptionofAsianAmeri

4、canidentity.InadditiontotheimportanceoffoodindeterminingAsianAmericansubjectivity,therehasalsobeensomeinterestintheconnectionbetweenfood,consumption,andgenderroles.Eatingandthedomesticactsofcookingandwashing4dishesareinevitablygenderedactivities.Thisfeminizationoffoodanddomesticlaborthislarg

5、elyduetothe19centurycultofdomesticity,whichseparatedandgenderedtheprivateandpublicspheres.Whiletheconnectionbetweendomesticityandgenderisasocialconstruction,itissimilarlyimpossibletoignorethesignificanceoffoodwaysin5shapingtheconstructionofgendernorms.However,althoughfoodhasbeenhistoricallyl

6、inkedtothedomesticworkofwomen,thetropesoffoodandappetiteinAsianAmericanliteraturecanalsobeinterpretedassignifiersofmasculinity.InherstudyofFrankChin’sDonaldDuk,Xustatesthat“thekitchenbecomesasitefortheassertionofmasculinity,withthelanguageofcookingrepeatedlyevokingimagesofmartialartsandwar”(

7、38).Suchintersectionsofdomesticspacesandmasculineidentitydemonstratethecomplexityoffoodwaysinbothdefiningandreconstructinggenderroles.However,despitethisgrowingfascinationwiththesignificanceoffoodandgenderinAsianAmericanliterature,thereisalackofcri