CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2018
| Author | Mehta, Mohini |
|---|---|
| Title | The Vessel, The Wife and The Wagon: Studying Gender, Migration and Resettlement in the Displaced Punjabi Community Through a Culinary Lens |
| Summary | This research seeks to explore the question of sustenance tackled by the Punjabi migrant women to Delhi as part of the rehabilitation in Delhi after the Partition of the Indian sub-continent in 1947, which led to the creation of India and Pakistan as separate nations, along with the large-scale displacement, violence, and uprootment. Through the lens of food, I wish to look into the assertion and reclamation of agency by the women from the very kitchens where the gendered division of labour often relegates them to. This will gauge the process of changing gender dynamics within families, along with a change in the perceived notions of femininity and womanliness of the displaced women. The argument is two-fold—contextualizing the creation of a new cuisine which neither was the part of the displaced community nor was consumed by the previous inhabitants of Delhi, but later went on to become synonymous to the quintessential ‘Punjabi’ food, making national and global presence, and; exploring the simultaneous evolution of food and identity of the refugees as a character. The debate on the authenticity of the cuisine has been questioned and challenged by employing the socio-cultural dynamics of nostalgia, and the economic implications of recreation and innovation. All these arguments address the question of the gendered culinary subaltern history of the Partition (using oral narratives), around which there has been a looming silence. |
| Supervisor | Kowalski, Alexandra |
| Department | Sociology MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2018/mehta_mohini.pdf |
Visit the CEU Library.
© 2007-2021, Central European University