EATING BETWEEN BINARIES: FOOD AND YOUNG ADULT FICTION A Thesis submitted to the faculty of f i t San Francisco State University In partial fulfillment of VOW the requirements for the Degree Master of Arts In English: Literature by Ailyn Natividad Pambid San Francisco, California May 2018 Copyright by Ailyn Natividad Pambid 2018 CERTIFICATION OF APPROVAL I certify that I have read Eating Between Binaries: Food and Young Adult Fiction by Ailyn Natividad Pambid, and that in my opinion this work meets the criteria for approving a thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree Master of Arts: English Literature at San Francisco State University. Gitanjali Shahani, Ph.D. Associate Professor Kathleen DeGuzman, Ph.D. Assistant Professor EATING BETWEEN BINARIES: FOOD AND YOUNG ADULT FICTION Ailyn Natividad Pambid San Francisco, California 2018 Eating Between Binaries examines the different ways first generation young adults use food to remember their cultural heritage while also navigating a new American identity. Looking at texts from Filipina-American author Melissa de la Cruz and Russian- American author/artist Vera Brogsol, I argue that media centering around first generation young adults not only uses food and methods of consumption as cultural markers, but that the use of more visual genres of literature— including novels, Netflix shows and documentaries, and food blogs—provide new outlets for community building and storytelling. This thesis juxtaposes the visual and the textual to show how visually seeing consumption can enrich or contradict the written word. By studying the intersections of food and social media, the young adult is better able to see themselves represented in popular media and respond to challenges around identity and authenticity. The interdisciplinary nature of this thesis highlights how intertextuality and media ultimately shape how and why we eat. I certify that the Abstract is a correct representation of the content of this thesis. Q. S h a h ami is Chair, Thesis Committee ' Date ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost, I would like to express my appreciation and gratitude to my advisory committee: Dr. Gitanjali Shahani and Dr. Kathleen DeGuzman. Thank you for introducing me to food studies and all the rich opportunities for research and discussion that comes with the field. Your patience, generosity, and guidance have enriched my graduate learning experience more than I can express on this page. Also, thank you to my colleagues Joshua Lindo, Christine Amador, and Nidia Melgoza for always being there to lend a helping hand (or ear) and for keeping me sane during this process. Thank you, Jon, for your constant love and support through the sleepless nights. Thank you to my family: my mother, grandmother, and brother. Thanks for putting up with all my debates and overstuffed bookshelves. Special thanks to my father. Thank you for all the trips to the library. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction..................................................................................................................................... 1 Chapter 1....................................................................................................................................... 11 I. Fresh off the Boat and Into the Kitchen.................................................... 12 II. “Doin’it for the ‘Gram”: How and Why We E at...........................................22 III. I’ll Have What She’s Having: Visualizing Consumption and Desire 34 IV. Eating Bodies in Master of None..................................................................... 44 V. Coda: Getting a Seat at the T able.................................................................... 57 References.....................................................................................................................................60 LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1. Anya’s reflection................................................................................................................ 5 2. R am en................................................................................................................................. 23 3. Henry Hargreaves..............................................................................................................24 4. Sushi.....................................................................................................................................28 5. B runch............................ 31 6. Anya and Pop Tarts...........................................................................................................38 7. Anya’s lunch.......................................................................................................................43 8. Dev’s search results.......................................................................................................... 46 9. Dev’s tex ts..........................................................................................................................49 1 Introduction “What on earth do people who don’t eat their feelings do to survive being human?” —Roxane Gay, Twitter The prototypical first-generation tale has a well-loved recipe with more-or-less similar ingredients: a rags to riches storyline in which some sort of the American Dream is realized, commensality through culturally authentic meals, and first generation young adults grappling with both their parents’ culture and their newfound American culture. Although novels such as Amy Tan’s The Joy Luck Club, Jessica Hagedom’s Dogeaters, or John Okada’s No-No Boy1 engage with these themes, newer middle grade and young adult novels such as Gloria Chao’s American Panda, Jennifer Torres’ Stef Soto, Taco Queen, and Maurene Goo’s The Way You Make Me Feel also use food as a lens to look at how first generation young adults navigate a multicultural upbringing. Yet despite the consistent mentions of food in young adult literature, little research has been done about why and how food is so important to ethnic young adults, especially when food is widely used as a tool to project, signal, and reclaim cultural identity. Perhaps this is due to the fact that the young adult genre has been overshadowed by its counterparts—the children’s storybook and fairy tales, which has received more consistent attention in the work of Hans Christian Anderson, Maurice Sendak, and even Dr. Seuss. G. Robert Carlsen defines young adult, or YA, literature as “...literature wherein the protagonist is either a teenager or one who approaches problems from a teenage perspective...Typically, they describe initiation into the adult world, or the surmounting 1 For an insightful analysis on food and psychoanalysis in No-No Boy, see "Consuming the Other: Subverting Desire Through Consumption" (Joshua Lindo). 2 of a contemporary problem forced upon the protagonist(s) by the adult world” (“Young Adult Literature: A Writer Strikes the Genre.”)- Young adult novels, compared to children’s books, deal with individuals who are navigating the space between adolescence and adulthood. I want to study young adult literature in the context of food studies and observe how first generation young adults consume, curate, and create food that not only reflects their ethnic identity, but their newfound American identities. By analyzing these texts, I hope to illuminate the complex nature of foodscapes in how they can both empower the young adult or can act as a site of trauma and conflict. Food, especially for ethnic minorities, is a way to remember, express, create, and challenge the cultural hierarchy they face after immigration to an unfamiliar place. First generation young adults face their own challenges within this situation, because they then must deal with assimilating with their American peers while honoring the culture of their ethnic origin. The result is that they grow up not feeling “ethnic enough” while also never feeling American enough. Through the works I have chosen to write about, I ultimately want to examine how food contributes and challenges this notion of cultural belonging while also allowing young adults to carve out their own space to express this hybrid identity. First generation young adults, while inhabiting more traditional foodscapes such as the restaurant, grocery store, and the kitchen, are seeking out other means of expression and do so within the digital landscape, one which—thanks to the advent of social media—continues to grow. For this project, the two primary texts I will look at are Fresh off the Boat by Melissa de la Cruz and Anya's Ghost by Vera Brogsol. Although both books share more 3 differences than similarities—one is a coming-of-age novel about a Filipino American, while one is a graphic novel about a Russian American attempting to get rid of her physical and cultural ghosts—both depict young adults seeking out alternative means of expression, documentation, consumption. In de la Cruz’s novel, 14-year old Vicenza Arambullo has just moved with her family to San Francisco from the Philippines and must adjust to both social and financial burdens both directly and indirectly caused by her and her family’s ability to assimilate in American culture. Although I previously mentioned the immigrant tale’s tendency to deal with upward mobility, de la Cruz’s novel looks at the reverse—what happens when one of the upper class in the Philippines immigrates to San Francisco and is forced to work in food service and buy their clothing at the local Goodwill? In this way, Melissa de