Abstract
While food is important to everyone’s identity, it is particularly important to second- generation immigrants who must juggle two or more cultures. Using in-depth interviews, I look
at the factors that affect how second-generation Chinese immigrants make food choices and how
these food choices reflect their ethnic identity. I also look at the degree to which second- generation immigrants use food to project their desired identity. The interviewees identified with
a hyphenated identity because they were not “Chinese” enough or “American” enough to adopt a purely Chinese or American identity. However, it is clear that their hyphenated identities exist on a spectrum. Some interviewees are more strongly connected to their American identity, while others are more strongly connected to their Chinese identity. Their identity is reflected in the way they eat. The factors that affect how second-generation immigrants identify are the same factors that affect their food choices. These factors include: path of assimilation, convenience, family’s support, degree of contact with the native-born, geography, embeddedness in co-ethnic community, and peers. My findings support much of the previous literature about food and immigrant identity, but because the sample is very specific, there were several conflicts with the literature.
Type of Work
Thesis - Limited Access
Department or Program
Sociology
Institution
Hamilton College
Degree
Bachelor of Arts
Date of Graduation
5-2019
Faculty Advisor
Stephen J. Ellingson
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Citation Information
Yang, Zhi, "Split Between Two Identities: How Second-Generation Immigrants Use Food to Project Their Ethnic Identity" (2019). Hamilton Digital Commons.
https://digitalcommons.hamilton.edu/soc_theses/17