Street food as an ethnic border
The background for this study is migrants’ shared problems of finding familiar or culturally important foodstuffs, as well as the tendency for foodstuffs and cuisines to become emblematic symbols for minority groups. The case in question is young Swedish labour migrants living in Oslo in the first d...
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| Format: | Article ou chapitre numérique |
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Anthropology of food
2019
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| Hasła przedmiotowe: | |
| Dostęp online: | Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM |
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openedition-oai:revues.org:aof_9155 |
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openedition |
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OpenEdition Journal |
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Article ou chapitre numérique |
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0/Bibliothèque numérique/ 1/Bibliothèque numérique/OpenEdition Journals/ |
| topic |
street food migration Scandinavia ethnicity migration Scandinavie ethnicité street food |
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street food migration Scandinavia ethnicity migration Scandinavie ethnicité street food Tolgensbakk, Ida Street food as an ethnic border |
| description |
The background for this study is migrants’ shared problems of finding familiar or culturally important foodstuffs, as well as the tendency for foodstuffs and cuisines to become emblematic symbols for minority groups. The case in question is young Swedish labour migrants living in Oslo in the first decades after 2000, and the article discusses how one specific dish – the German-Turkish döner kebab – is used as symbolic border-marker towards Norwegians by Oslo Swedes. My aim is to explain how an arguably originally Middle Eastern dish could take on such a surprising role among Nordic youth. The study is based on fieldwork on a large Facebook group for Swedes in Oslo, conducted from 2008 onwards. This is supplemented by a media study exploring the trajectory and perception of kebab in Scandinavia. The döner kebab, invented in Germany in the 1970s, has become a semi-international dish, changing according to local tastes in different countries. While it is strongly associated with postcolonial migration in Europe, I show that it has taken on somewhat differing symbolic values in different countries. In Scandinavia, among these specific migrants, at a certain point in time, knowing what a good, Swedish kebab should taste like has become an identity marker. The döner kebab has become important in establishing an ‘us’ and a ‘them’ for Swedes living among Norwegians. As such, it is a good example of the relative arbitrariness of banal nationalism, and of identity formation in urban, internationally-oriented but locally lived youth culture. |
| author |
Tolgensbakk, Ida |
| author_facet |
Tolgensbakk, Ida |
| author_sort |
Tolgensbakk, Ida |
| title |
Street food as an ethnic border |
| title_short |
Street food as an ethnic border |
| title_full |
Street food as an ethnic border |
| title_fullStr |
Street food as an ethnic border |
| title_full_unstemmed |
Street food as an ethnic border |
| title_sort |
street food as an ethnic border |
| publisher |
Anthropology of food |
| publishDate |
2019 |
| container_title |
URI:https://journals.openedition.org/aof |
| url |
https://ezproxy.univ-orleans.fr/login?url=https://doi.org/10.4000/aof.9155 https://ezproxy.univ-orleans.fr/login?url=https://journals.openedition.org/aof/9155 |
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1877241797091000320 |
| spelling |
openedition-oai:revues.org:aof_9155 https://doi.org/10.4000/aof.9155 urn:doi:10.4000/aof.9155 https://journals.openedition.org/aof/9155 2019-01-14T01:00:00Z info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess article info:eu-repo/semantics/article urn:handle:20.500.13089/9v1m https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ Street food as an ethnic border Anthropology of food Anthropology of Food Webjournal info:eu-repo/semantics/reference/issn/1609-9168 URI:https://journals.openedition.org/aof Tolgensbakk, Ida street food migration Scandinavia ethnicity migration Scandinavie ethnicité street food The background for this study is migrants’ shared problems of finding familiar or culturally important foodstuffs, as well as the tendency for foodstuffs and cuisines to become emblematic symbols for minority groups. The case in question is young Swedish labour migrants living in Oslo in the first decades after 2000, and the article discusses how one specific dish – the German-Turkish döner kebab – is used as symbolic border-marker towards Norwegians by Oslo Swedes. My aim is to explain how an arguably originally Middle Eastern dish could take on such a surprising role among Nordic youth. The study is based on fieldwork on a large Facebook group for Swedes in Oslo, conducted from 2008 onwards. This is supplemented by a media study exploring the trajectory and perception of kebab in Scandinavia. The döner kebab, invented in Germany in the 1970s, has become a semi-international dish, changing according to local tastes in different countries. While it is strongly associated with postcolonial migration in Europe, I show that it has taken on somewhat differing symbolic values in different countries. In Scandinavia, among these specific migrants, at a certain point in time, knowing what a good, Swedish kebab should taste like has become an identity marker. The döner kebab has become important in establishing an ‘us’ and a ‘them’ for Swedes living among Norwegians. As such, it is a good example of the relative arbitrariness of banal nationalism, and of identity formation in urban, internationally-oriented but locally lived youth culture. Cette étude repose d’une part sur les problèmes, partagés par de nombreux migrants, qui consistent à trouver des aliments familiers ou bien qui s’imposent pour des raisons culturelles, et d’autre part sur la tendance qui fait de la nourriture et des cuisines les symboles emblématiques de groupes minoritaires. L’étude de cas concerne les jeunes suédois qui ont immigré à Oslo pour y travailler au début des années 2000. Cet article s’intéresse particulièrement à un plat spécifique - le «döner kebab» Germano-turc- utilisé comme repère identitaire symbolique vis-à-vis des Norvégiens par les suédois Oslovites. L’objectif de cette étude est d’expliquer comment un plat, a priori originaire du Moyen-Orient, a pu, de manière étonnante, prendre le rôle de repère identitaire entre différents groupes de jeunes nordiques. Cette étude est fondée les échanges au sein du groupe Facebook des Suédois à Oslo sur une dizaine d’années (depuis 2008) et complétée par une analyse du discours publique permettant de mieux comprendre la trajectoire et la perception du kebab en Scandinavie. Le döner kebab, inventé en Allemagne dans les années 70 est devenu un plat semi-international, dont le goût change localement en fonction des différents pays. Alors que le kebab est fortement associé à la migration postcoloniale en Europe, cet article montre qu’il a pris un autre tournant et acquis des valeurs symboliques différentes en fonction des pays. En Scandinavie -parmi les migrants étudiés et à l’époque donnée- être capable de déterminer le vrai goût d’un kebab suédois est devenu un repère, voire un marqueur, identitaire, ce qui est prépondérant dans l’établissement d’un « nous » et d’un « eux » pour les jeunes suédois qui vivent en Norvège. Ainsi le kebab s’avère un bon exemple de l’aspect relativement arbitraire de l’expression courante, ou banale, du nationalisme ainsi que de la formation de l’identité dans une culture jeune, urbaine et internationale mais dont les références sont locales. |