Leiden University Student Repository

Yang, Baiyue (2015)

Food and Identity Changes in Taiwan (1949-2013)

Master thesis | Asian Studies (60 EC) (MA)

From the perspective of food, I describe the identity changes of the Taiwanese people from 1949 to 2013: in the Japanese colonial period, Taiwanese preferred Chinese food and showed their Chinese identity. After 1945, followed by accepting mainland food, mainlanders became an ethnic group of Taiwan. From 1988, Taiwanese began to hybrid the food in Taiwan and create its own Taiwanese cuisine. Local people that labeled themselves as Taiwanese instead of Chinese were guided by the government and other mediums. When it comes to the step of global promotion, it can be found from the food festivals and night markets that Taiwanese want to sell its food culture to the foreign tourists. Food, as uniqueness in Taiwanese minds, is chosen to identify what is Taiwanese and to be consumed by others.

Taiwan

Food

Identity

Author

Yang, Baiyue

Faculty

Faculty of Humanities

Specialisation

Politics, Society and Economy of Asia

Supervisors

Gerritsen, A.T.

ECTS Credits

15

Language

en