Sharing Meals, Making Meanings: Foodways among 2nd and 1.5 Generation Immigrants

Авторы

  • Michelle Wang McGill University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15273/jue.v16i1.12762

Аннотация

Second- and 1.5-generation immigrants must negotiate multiple cultures: the culture(s) of their parents and the dominant culture where they grow up. Foodways, then, play a critical role in the construction of cultural identity, marking group inclusion and/or exclusion. This study explores how people with inherited in between identities construct meaning in their everyday lives through food. It examines the intersections of diaspora, acculturation, and food in Halifax, Nova Scotia—a small city with historically low immigrant retention rates. Through sharing meaningful meals with eight participants and supplementing these insights with semi-structured interviews, I find that foodways act as sensory, material, and symbolic markers of belonging and difference for second- and 1.5-generation immigrants. Participants constructed connections to and were ascribed different from peers, family, and heritage through the relational and multisensory nature of food. This study shows how living together with difference can manifest through meal sharing, which helps create a sense of community for those whose identities are rooted in culturally in-between spaces.

Загрузки

Опубликован

2026-03-17

Выпуск

Том 16 № 1 (2026)

Раздел

Articles

Лицензия

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