Consuming Identities: Food and Resistance among the Uyghur in Contemporary Xinjiang

Abstract

AbstractThis paper focuses on social and cultural aspects of food, given its centrality in identity processes and boundary setting. Such processes often are ambiguous and problematic. In particular, Uyghurs in Xinjiang draw on Muslim dietary prescriptions in order to reinforce boundaries between them and the Han Chinese, while at the same time an ongoing exchange between the two groups is also displayed in the food domain (food items, vocabulary, meal patterns, etc.).Uyghur attitudes to and beliefs about food need to be analysed within the broader context of ethnic relations in contemporary Xinjiang.