Eating Chinese: Culture on the Menu in Small Town Canada (Cultural Spaces)

COVER; CONTENTS; LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS; ACKNOWLEDGMENTS; Introduction; 1 Sweet and Sour: Historical Presence and Diasporic Agency; 2 On the Menu: Time and Chinese Restaurant Counterculture; 3 Disappearing Chinese Café: White Nostalgia and the Public Sphere; 4 Diasporic Counterpublics: The Chinese Restaurant as Institution and Installation; 5 'How taste remembers life': Diaspora and the Memories That Bind; Conclusion; NOTES; WORKS CITED; INDEX; A; B; C; D; E; F; G; H; I; J; K; L; M; N; O; P; R; S; T; V; W; Y. Chicken Fried Rice, Sweet And Sour Pork, And An Order Of Onion Rings, Please. Chinese Restaurants In Small Town Canada Are At Once Everywhere - You Would Be Hard Pressed To Find A Town Without A Chinese Restaurant - And Yet They Are Conspicuously Absent In Critical Discussions Of Chinese Diasporic Culture Or Even In Popular Writing About Chinese Food. In Eating Chinese, Lily Cho Examines Chinese Restaurants As Spaces That Define, For Those Both Inside And Outside The Community, What It Means To Be Chinese And What It Means To Be Chinese-canadian. Despite Restrictions On Immigration And Explicitly Racist Legislation At National And Provincial Levels, Chinese Immigrants Have Long Dominated The Restaurant Industry In Canada. While Isolated By Racism, Chinese Communities In Canada Were Still Strongly Connected To Their Non-chinese Neighbours Through The Food That They Prepared And Served. Cho Looks At This Surprisingly Ubiquitous Feature Of Small-town Canada Through Menus, Literature, Art, And Music. An Innovative Approach To The Study Of Diaspora, Eating Chinese Brings To Light The Cultural Spaces Crafted By Restaurateurs, Diners, Cooks, Servers, And Artists. Contentsintroduction 1chapter Onesweet And Sour: Historical Presence And Diasporic Agency28chapter Twoon The Menu: Time And Chinese Restaurant Counterculture70chapter 3disappearing Chinese Cafe: White Nostalgia And The Public Sphere125chapter 4diasporic Counterpublics: The Chinese Restaurant As Institution And Installation179chapter 5how Taste Remembers Life: Diasporic Memory And Community In Fred Wah's Diamond Grill214conclusion 259notes 272works Cited 311 Lily Cho. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [189]-201) And Index. COVER 1 CONTENTS 6 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 8 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 10 Introduction 14 1 Sweet and Sour: Historical Presence and Diasporic Agency 31 2 On the Menu: Time and Chinese Restaurant Counterculture 55 3 Disappearing Chinese Café: White Nostalgia and the Public Sphere 91 4 Diasporic Counterpublics: The Chinese Restaurant as Institution and Installation 120 5 ‘How taste remembers life’: Diaspora and the Memories That Bind 142 Conclusion 168 NOTES 178 WORKS CITED 200 INDEX 214 MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict COVER 1 CONTENTS 6 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 8 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 10 Introduction 14 1 Sweet and Sour: Historical Presence and Diasporic Agency 31 2 On the Menu: Time and Chinese Restaurant Counterculture 55 3 Disappearing Chinese Café: White Nostalgia and the Public Sphere 91 4 Diasporic Counterpublics: The Chinese Restaurant as Institution and Installation 120 5 ‘How taste remembers life’: Diaspora and the Memories That Bind 142 Conclusion 168 NOTES 178 WORKS CITED 200 INDEX 214

"Chicken fried rice, sweet and sour pork, and an order of onion rings, please."

Chinese restaurants in small town Canada are at once everywhere - you would be hard pressed to find a town without a Chinese restaurant - and yet they are conspicuously absent in critical discussions of Chinese diasporic culture or even in popular writing about Chinese food. In Eating Chinese, Lily Cho examines Chinese restaurants as spaces that define, for those both inside and outside the community, what it means to be Chinese and what it means to be Chinese-Canadian.

Despite restrictions on immigration and explicitly racist legislation at national and provincial levels, Chinese immigrants have long dominated the restaurant industry in Canada. While isolated by racism, Chinese communities in Canada were still strongly connected to their non-Chinese neighbours through the food that they prepared and served. Cho looks at this surprisingly ubiquitous feature of small-town Canada through menus, literature, art, and music. An innovative approach to the study of diaspora, Eating Chinese brings to light the cultural spaces crafted by restaurateurs, diners, cooks, servers, and artists.

" Chicken fried rice, sweet and sour pork, and an order of onion rings, please. " Chinese restaurants in small town Canada are at once everywhere - you would be hard pressed to find a town without a Chinese restaurant - and yet they are conspicuously absent in critical discussions of Chinese diasporic culture or even in popular writing about Chinese food. In Eating Chinese , Lily Cho examines Chinese restaurants as spaces that define, for those both inside and outside the community, what it means to be Chinese and what it means to be Chinese-Canadian. Despite restrictions on immigration and explicitly racist legislation at national and provincial levels, Chinese immigrants have long dominated the restaurant industry in Canada. While isolated by racism, Chinese communities in Canada were still strongly connected to their non-Chinese neighbours through the food that they prepared and served. Cho looks at this surprisingly ubiquitous feature of small-town Canada through menus, literature, art, and music. An innovative approach to the study of diaspora, Eating Chinese brings to light the cultural spaces crafted by restaurateurs, diners, cooks, servers, and artists.