The metaphor of sadness: Hakka's Bean Jelly as culture and consumption through tourism

ABSTRACT

This paper presents a sensory ethnography of an ethnic Hakka specialty known as ‘Luodai Bean Jelly’ (or the Sad Bean Jelly) in Luodai Ancient Town in the suburban area to the east of Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China. From the perspectives of objectivity, historicity, modernity and sociality, the metaphorical meanings of the Sad Bean Jelly as an ethnic food used for the transformation of a place through tourism are explored. Individual feelings and collective memories of the ethnic food are constructed in the context of tourism-driven commercialization, which is felt to have transformed the ancient town into a place for out-of-town visitors. The research sheds light on, and hence has implications for managing change of a place associated with ethnic culture, food and tourism.

摘要

本文以位于四川省成都市东郊洛带古镇的‘洛带凉粉’ (也叫作伤心凉粉) 为研究对象, 采用通感民族志方法, 考察了其为何能成为客家特产的代表。从客观性、历史性、现代性和社会性等方面, 文章探讨了作为族群日常饮食的凉粉, 如何通过旅游实现了在地方变迁中的隐喻意义。在旅游驱动与商业化的背景下, 人们建构了对族群饮食的个人情感与集体记忆。这一过程使得传统的古镇变成了供外地客人参观、游览及品尝传统美食之地。这项研究有助于揭示与族群文化、食物和旅游相关的区域社会文化变迁问题。

KEYWORDS:

• Ethnic food
• sensory ethnography
• food tourism
• destination change
• China

关键词:

• 族群饮食
• 通感民族志
• 美食旅游
• 目的地变迁
• 中国

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by China Ministry of Education – Humanities and Social Sciences General Research Project [grant number 12YJC850025].

Notes on contributors

Lijuan Yang

Lijuan Yang, PhD, is Professor in the School of Management at Chengdu University of Information Technology, Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China. Her research interest includes culture and heritage tourism, anthropology, and visual methodology.

Bin Lai

Bin Lai, PhD, is Professor and Director of the School of Tourism at Chengdu Polytechnic, Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China. His research focuses on tourism development, transport planning, and resources management.

Honggen Xiao

Honggen Xiao, PhD, is Associate Professor in the School of Hotel and Tourism Management at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong SAR, China. He researches on tourism and culture, leisure and society, knowledge development, and China tourism. He is the corresponding author of this article.