Ecocriticism and National Image in 舌尖上的中国 (A Bite of China)

CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture ISSN 1481-4374 Purdue University Press ©Purdue University Volume 16 (2014) Issue 4 Article 11 Eco cocr crititic iciism aand nd N Naation ional al IIm mage in 舌尖上的中国 ((A A BBititee of C Chin hinaa) Min inggwe wenn Xi Xiaao Tsinghua University Follow this and additional works at: https://docs.lib.purdue.edu/clcweb Part of the Chinese Studies Commons, Film and Media Studies Commons, and the Television Commons Dedicated to the dissemination of scholarly and professional information, Purdue University Press selects, develops, and distributes quality resources in several key subject areas for which its parent university is famous, including business, technology, health, veterinary medicine, and other selected disciplines in the humanities and sciences. CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture, the peer-reviewed, full-text, and open-access learned journal in the humanities and social sciences, publishes new scholarship following tenets of the discipline of comparative literature and the field of cultural studies designated as "comparative cultural studies." Publications in the journal are indexed in the Annual Bibliography of English Language and Literature (Chadwyck-Healey), the Arts and Humanities Citation Index (Thomson Reuters ISI), the Humanities Index (Wilson), Humanities International Complete (EBSCO), the International Bibliography of the Modern Language Association of America, and Scopus (Elsevier). The journal is affiliated with the Purdue University Press monograph series of Books in Comparative Cultural Studies. Contact: <> Recommended Citation Xiao, Mingwen. "Ecocriticism and National Image in 舌尖上的中国 (A Bite of China)." 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This journal is covered under the CC BY-NC-ND license. UNIVERSITY PRESS <http://www.thepress.purdue.edu> CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture ISSN 1481-4374 <http://docs.lib.purdue.edu/clcweb> Purdue University Press ©Purdue University CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture, the peer-reviewed, full-text, and open-access learned journal in the humanities and social sciences, publishes new scholarship following tenets of the discipline of comparative literature and the field of cultural studies designated as "comparative cultural studies." In addition to the publication of articles, the journal publishes review articles of scholarly books and publishes research material in its Library Series. Publications in the journal are indexed in the Annual Bibliography of English Language and Literature (Chadwyck-Healey), the Arts and Humanities Citation Index (Thomson Reuters ISI), the Humanities Index (Wilson), Humanities International Complete (EBSCO), the International Bibliography of the Modern Language Association of America, and Scopus (Elsevier). The journal is affiliated with the Purdue University Press monograph series of Books in Comparative Cultural Studies. Contact: <> Volume 16 Issue 4 (December 2014) Article 11 Mingwen Xiao, "Ecocriticism and National Image in 舌尖上的中国 (A Bite of China)" <http://docs.lib.purdue.edu/clcweb/vol16/iss4/11> Contents of CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture 16.4 (2014) Thematic Issue New Work in Ecocriticism. Ed. Simon C. Estok and Murali Sivaramakrishnan <http://docs.lib.purdue.edu/clcweb/vol16/iss4/> Abstract: In his article "Ecocriticism and National Image in 舌尖上的中国 (A Bite of China)" Mingwen Xiao examines the multi-faceted contents of the popular 2012 television series. Instead of exhibiting delicacies made by professional chefs in luxury restaurants, A Bite of China displays local food and dishes made by ordinary people. By focusing on every-day food preparation, the show constructs a performance where class, ethnicity, gender, age, and other social markers are blurred and the geographically and ethnically diverse ways of food preparation and consumption appear as a cohesive Chinese culinary identity. Xiao argues that A Bite of China plays a role in restoring Chinese citizens' confidence in domestic cuisine and thus aspects of the television show can be understood as an ecocritical perspective of current China. Mingwen Xiao, "Ecocriticism and National Image in 舌尖上的中国 (A Bite of China)" CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture 16.4 (2014): <http://docs.lib.purdue.edu/clcweb/vol16/iss4/11> Thematic Issue New Work in Ecocriticism. Ed. Simon C. Estok and Murali Sivaramakrishnan page 2 of 7 Mingwen XIAO Ecocriticism and National Image in 舌尖上的中国 (A Bite of China) In Chinese the proverb "民以食为天" ("food comes first to people") reveals the priority of food in Chinese culture. The adage "Ruling a great nation just like cooking a small delicacy," originally from 老子 (The Book of the Way), points to the parallel between ruling a nation and cooking a delicacy, both requiring the observance of Dao and law (see Sun 76). While this perspective suggests that cooking can be understood as a metaphor of ruling a nation, eating and its practices contribute to the construction of national cohesion. Further, cooking and the consumption of food can be understood as located in the context of ecocriticism (see, e.g., Estok; Phillips and Sullivan). In "Steak and Chips" Roland Barthes discusses the relationship between food and national identity and he notes that steak is a nationalized food in France, a central dish on French people's dinner table. It is a metaphor for the national family appearing "in all the surroundings of alimentary life: flat, edged with yellow, like the sole of a shoe, in cheap restaurants; thick and juicy in bistros; cubic, with the core all moist throughout beneath a lightly charred crust, in haute cuisine" (Barthes 62). This symbol of the "national family" has been constructed through many generations especially through the difficult times in French history. During the military period, the French steak "follows the index of patriotic values: it helps them to rise in wartime, it is the very flesh of the French soldier, the inalienable property which cannot go over to the enemy except by treason" (Barthes 62). It seems that people's sense of belonging is often expressed through the love of their food. For example, President of France Nicolas Sarkozy proposed in 2008 that French food be listed on the UNESCO World Heritage List (see Brones <http://gadling.com/2008/03/21/sarkozy-wants-french-cuisine-on-unesco-world-heritage-list/>; on food and national character see, e.g., Fiskio). In a simil (...truncated)