Authenticity: An Avatar
For my Intro to CCT (Communications, Culture and Technology) Class, I was tasked to create an “avatar” that would recommend the keyword I’ve chosen to guide my research this semester. It must be a physical, 3D made object.
Statement/Description: My avatar represents my keyword, which is authenticity. I used the concept of a “cheese board” to represent my interest in authenticity in food culture. Both sides of the board represent different identities that ultimately authentically represent me. The flags of Vietnam and Chicago are blended to represent how these identities and ingredients mix together to create something that may not be judged as authentic by an outsider, even if it represents me. I've also intentionally used the pre-war Vietnam flag to represent diasporic authenticity: authentic Vietnamese cuisine may look different to an American immigrant who hasn't set foot in the country since the 70s than to someone who is living there now.
DEC 18: Avatar Updates
After a full semester researching authenticity and foodways, I’ve decide not to change my avatar. Throughout the semester, my exploration of food studies has centered around the work of William Woys Weaver. In Food And Place, he talks about the ethnographic work that he finds essential when studying foodways for any culture. I was particularly struck by his critique of text based research, as there are often aspects of a culture’s food scene that are intentionally or unintentionally left out of the dominant text on a community. He stressed the need for fieldwork, and the need to view a culture’s foodways by looking at what everyone in the community eats on a day to day basis. It’s in the dishes that don’t make it into magazines and cookbooks where authenticity lives. My avatar speaks to this point of view in that it is an amalgam of ingredients I eat every day. Some of them are more Vietnamese, some of them are more American. You can break down the American foods into typical “Midwestern” foods as well. But to holistically take a look at what is potentially authentic to a Vietnamese diaspora living in the midwest, a holistic approach must be taken.
