This dissertation examines the
transformations of “Taiwanese cuisine” under three different political
regimes. In the Japanese colonial era, “Taiwanese cuisine” emerged as
food for the elite and as the “food of the colony.” However, the arrival
of the Nationalist government and migrants from mainland China
transplanted a condensed Chinese culinary map to Taiwan, while Taiwanese
cuisine became a regional cuisine which was placed at a much lower
level in the culinary hierarchy. After the establishment of the
Democratic Progressive Party government in 2000, Taiwanese cuisine was
imbued with symbolic meanings and began to be viewed as a “distinctive
national cuisine.” The exploration of Taiwanese cuisine shows that
“national cuisine” is a relational and performative concept, as well as a
commercial product. Nationhood, in the context of food, can render
itself perceivable only to those who perceive the symbolic meanings of
cuisine or those who embed meanings in particular dishes. It thus
suggests that there are three stages leading to the embodiment of
nationhood in food consumption and which together form a circle. First,
specific cuisines are symbolized and performed as “national.” Second,
the symbolized cuisines are commodified. Finally, only when consumers
perceive and practice these cuisines as national, nationhood can be
embodied in these particular cuisines.LEI Universiteit LeidenThe Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation for International Scholarly Exchange and the Institute of Taiwan History of Academia Sinica, Taiwan.Asian Studie