La Comida Y Las Memorias: Food, Positionality, and the Problematics of Making One's Home
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University of Pennsylvania ScholarlyCommons Publicly Accessible Penn Dissertations 1998 La Comida y las Memorias: Food, Positionality, and the Problematics of Making One's Home Erica Irene Rubine University of Pennsylvania, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations Part of the Ethnic Studies Commons, Folklore Commons, Food Studies Commons, Latin American Languages and Societies Commons, Latina/o Studies Commons, Other American Studies Commons, Place and Environment Commons, Race and Ethnicity Commons, Social and Cultural Anthropology Commons, and the Sociology of Culture Commons Recommended Citation Rubine, Erica Irene, "La Comida y las Memorias: Food, Positionality, and the Problematics of Making One's Home" (1998). Publicly Accessible Penn Dissertations. 2139. https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/2139 This dissertation was completed in Folklore and Folklife. This paper is posted at ScholarlyCommons. https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/2139 For more information, please contact [email protected]. La Comida y las Memorias: Food, Positionality, and the Problematics of Making One's Home Abstract This work explores how people talk about food. My original problem was to find how the idea of a cultural group one may see as comprised of "Mexican Americans" may or may not be complicated by a regional comparison (of rural Hispanos in Colorado and New Mexico and urban Mexicans and Mexican Americans in Philadelphia). The main question I asked myself in this exploration (as well as asked field consultants) was: How does food play a role in the enactment of self-definition? Out of a comparison of vo er 30 rural and urban food narratives gathered during fieldwork in both egionsr emerged the interesting link between food, place, and culture. These food narratives demonstrated a sense of place, a topophilia enacted through talking about food in one's life. The men and women interviewed for this thesis use location and space to define and characterize (as well as to perform) the role of food in their lives, an action I call "performative mapping." My conclusion was that the notion of "home" and of cultural borders expressed in narrative contrasts of "us" versus "them," "antes" versus "ahora," and "here" versus "there" are used by interviewees to perform "authenticity" as well as cultural boundary maintenance. Degree Type Dissertation Degree Name Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) First Advisor Margaret Mills Keywords Mexican-Americans, agriculture, place Subject Categories Ethnic Studies | Folklore | Food Studies | Latin American Languages and Societies | Latina/o Studies | Other American Studies | Place and Environment | Race and Ethnicity | Social and Cultural Anthropology | Sociology of Culture Comments This dissertation was completed in Folklore and Folklife. This dissertation is available at ScholarlyCommons: https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/2139 LA COMIDA Y LAS MEMORIAS: FOOD, POSITIONALITY, AND THE PROBLEMATICS OF MAKING ONE'S HOME Erica Rubine A DISSERTATION in Folklore and Folklife Presented to the Faculties of the University of Pennsylvania in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy 1998 Supervisor of Dissertation G raduate Group Chai: Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. COPYRIGHT Erica Rubine 1998 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Dedications To my husband, Ward, my once-in-a-blue partner and friend, and to my family: my mom and dad, Stuart and Kay Rubine, and my big brothers, Ronnie and David, sister-in-law, Ruselle, who have given me such warmth growing up that I can't but see the sun shine, and I can’t but love the world. And to my Sanders family: Bill, Maryella, Joy, Riley, Sandy, Marlene, Christine, Richard, Garrity, Dan, and William, who love me as their own. Finally, I dedicate this thesis to Rex and Alice who are thrilling and affectionate companions. They have made me smile when I felt, at times, overwhelmed. iii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Acknowledgments This dissertation would not have been completed without the guidance and support of many people. First, I would like to thank the people of San Luis, Colorado and Embudo, Valdez, Arroyo Seco, Arroyo Hondo, New Mexico, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, who were interviewed for this dissertation, especially Teresa Vigil, Joe Gallegos, Yvette Gallegos, Corpus Gallegos, David, Trinidad, Sabanita and Fermin Arguello, Mr. and Mrs. Estevan Arellano, Mr. and Mrs. Luis Torres, Ida Valdez, Father Pat Valdez, and Mr. and Mrs. Maclovio Martinez. Without their patience, dedication, permission, and voices, this project would not have been completed. Their intelligent critiques of culture do assert the power of place. I am thankful for their openness and willingness to let me into their homes and into their lives. I must also thank the co-Principal Investigators of the NEH Project, Devon G. Pena and Ruben Martinez, for asking me to come on board with the most fulfilling and rewarding project of which I have ever been a part. This project has truly been a gift and I am immensely proud to be a member. I am also thankful for the guidance and friendship of Mario Montano who has been a wonderful mentor throughout this research, as well as the person who initially introduced me to the project and to teaching at Colorado College. I also want to acknowledge all of the other team members of the NEH project with whom I have traveled, eaten, and exchanged stories and jokes. I have learned a great deal in our interdisciplinary collegial exchanges. In addition, I want to thank the staff at Colorado College who were so iv Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. wonderful in setting up research appointments and facilitating meetings and travel arrangements: Kathy Kaylan of Southwest Studies and Norma Flemming of the Sociology Department. Suzy and Judy at Southwest Studies have always made me feel welcome and were also very helpful. At the University of Pennsylvania, I would like to thank my dissertation committee, Drs. Margaret Mills, Janet Theophano, and David Hufford, for their support. I would also like to thank Marco Manzo and Louis Mora for their enthusiastic help and good cheer. v Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ABSTRACT LA COMIDA Y LAS MEMORIAS: FOOD, POSITIONALITY, AND THE PROBLEMATICS OF MAKING ONE’S HOME Erica Rubine Janet Theophano Margaret Mills This work explores how people talk about food. My original problem was to find how the idea of a cultural group one may see as comprised of "Mexican Americans" may or may not be complicated by a regional comparison (of rural Hispanos in Colorado and New Mexico and urban Mexicans and Mexican Americans in Philadelphia). The main question I asked myself in this exploration (as well as asked field consultants) was: How does food play a role in the enactment of self-definition? Out of a comparison of over 30 rural and urban food narratives gathered during fieldwork in both regions emerged the interesting link between food, place, and culture. These food narratives demonstrated a sense of place, a topophilia enacted through talking about food in one's life. The men and women interviewed for this thesis use location and space to define and characterize (as well as to perform) the role of food in their lives, an action I call "performative mapping." My conclusion was that the notion of ’home" and of cultural borders expressed in narrative contrasts of "us" versus "them,""antes” versus ahora" ," and "here" versus "there" are used by interviewees to perform "authenticity" as well as cultural boundary maintenance. vi Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Table of Contents Preface p . IX Chapter I. Introduction p .l Chapter II. Methodology p . 2 2 Chapter III. Southern Colorado/northern New Mexico: p. 35 Conversations a. Habitus, the Arellano Family, the Arguello Family, and the power of then and now b. Gender concerns: Joe Gallegos, Ida Valdez, Yvette Gallegos and division of labor in San Luis, Colorado c. Interdependence, agricultural and environmental issues d. Reciprocity: Romantic or strategic? e. Teresa Vigil does not call herself a "curandera": Boundary-making and re-leaming in remedios usage f. "What Grandma used": The reclaiming of remedios and preventative diet practices g. Preventative diet: Hispano foodways and the importance of quelites and verdolagas h. Estevan Arellano and the juxtaposition between then and now: How things have changed i. Between Antes and Ahora: Crops and agricultural methods Vll Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Chapter IV. Philadelphia, PA p. 95 Conversations a. Textualization of recipes: "Writing it out just don't cut it;" or "They have their books over there and we know how it works over here" b. Mexican dishes and place: Alma Roja c. Food, "oldness," and place d. Food, "Indians," and place e. Talking of Food, "taking the word," taking the place f. Mexican beliefs about food g. Missing "home," belonging to other places: Narratives of distance and food h. Imaginings of place and "authenticity": The "real" story about Mexican food, or the "whole enchilada" i. Federico Santoyo's contrast between "traditional" and "American" palate, satisfying "outside" tastes, asserting difference: Making "essential" connections to place j. Food and stereotype: The flip side to "essential connections" to place k. Access and sight/site: "There's just no way you're gonna see these things here" Conclusion for chapter four Chapter V: Conclusion p. 156 Appendix A: Glossary of terms p. 166 Appendix B: Journal entries and reflections p. 169 Appendix C: Sample of questions and goals (Colorado and New Mexico) p. 193 Appendix D: Sample of questions and goals (Philadelphia) p. 195 Bibliography p.