Cassava, coconut and curry: Food and national identity in post-colonial Fiji.

摘要

This thesis aims to explore the relationship between food, nationalism and national identity in the Fijian Islands. I argue that food provides an area in which an inclusive national identity has developed against a backdrop of division. By utilising the framework of imagined communities (Anderson 1991), I hope to demonstrate how food, as a part of the imagining of the nation, has worked to form an area in which a shared identity has developed. Food provides a point of similarity within a national narrative full of differences. Through foods, such as rice, cassava, coconut and curry, a culinary experience is shared by all peoples of Fiji. These foods, despite their origins, are consumed by everyone. Food in Fiji has become an area of the national identity in which it is possible for all people to be represented. In this thesis, I will outline the current foodways in Fiji and look at how they connect with the Fijian national identity.