*Boissons et bouch\u00e9es japonaises vous seront offertes.<\/b><\/p>\n
Familiar and exotic, Japanese food is promoted, defended, \u201cauthenticated\u201d and transformed wherever it moves. The reception of Japanese food in North America and elsewhere over the past century has reflected historical and sociocultural change but remains under the influence of a view of Japan as persistently \u201cGalapagan.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
In her talk,\u00a0Merry White<\/b>\u00a0will explore the ways in which meaning is made in Japanese food in the context of change in global culinary culture. While foods have constantly changed in Japan, adjusting and assimilating to foreign foodways and creating novel foods, the reception of Japanese food overseas is often colored by the view of Japan as a “Galapagos Culture” where unique and exotic ”species” of food persist in isolation and impede understanding as they attract attention.<\/p>\n
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\nMerry White<\/b>\u00a0is Professor of Anthropology at Boston University. She returns to Japan often to continue research in contemporary social and cultural topics. She presently is engaged in research on urban social spaces and social change in Japan, particularly on the history of the cafe. Her teaching includes courses on Japanese society, women in Asia, food and culture, and the anthropology of travel and tourism.<\/p>\n
Dr. White\u2019s past work includes books on Japanese education (The Japanese Educational Challenge, Free Press), internationalization (The Japanese Overseas, Free Press and Princeton UP), adolescence and popular culture (The Material Child, Free Press and University of California Press), and family and social policy (Perfectly Japanese, University of California Press). She has also published work on education and international development, women in Japan, and even two cookbooks, Noodles Galore and Cooking for Crowds (both Basic Books). In addition, her work includes essays on food and culture published in Gastronomica, (University of California Press), and in other media. In 2012, Dr. White\u2019s latest book, Coffee Life in Japan, was published by University of California Press.<\/p>\n
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La discussion (en anglais) sera anim\u00e9e par\u00a0Christopher Laurent<\/b>, candidat au doctorat en anthropologie \u00e0 l’Universit\u00e9 de Montr\u00e9al. Il a v\u00e9cu plusieurs ann\u00e9es au Japon et s’int\u00e9resse aux liens affectifs et \u00e9conomiques entre zones urbaines et rurales v\u00e9hicul\u00e9s au travers de la cuisine r\u00e9gionale japonaise. Sa recherche porte sur les m\u00e9canismes qui permettent \u00e0 ces traditions r\u00e9gionales d’\u00eatre incorpor\u00e9es dans le patrimoine national.<\/p>\n