Rice ambiguity' and the taste of modernity on Siberut Island, Indonesia

Bibliographic Data

ID5766548
AuthorsDarmanto (0000-0002-5327-7658, corresponding author), Darmanto Darmanto (0000-0001-6523-8827)
Year2023
Volume54
Issue1
Pages64-88
Publication date2023-02-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Southeast Asian Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0022-4634 • E-ISSN: 1474-0680
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0022463423000188
OpenAlexW4362586203
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited17

Indigenous Mentawai on Siberut Island (Indonesia) consume sago and tubers as their staple foods. Since the early twentieth century, Dutch colonial officers, missionaries, migrants, and Indonesian state agencies have strongly encouraged the cultivation and consumption of rice in lieu of these native staples. While Mentawai find rice tastier, easier to serve, and more prestigious, they also discover that rice fails to satisfy their appetites or fortify their bodies. They show little interest in cultivating rice. Mentawai view rice as a symbol of modernity and associate it with powerful mainland people who have long diminished their autonomy. In this article, I argue that the desire to consume rice and the reluctance to produce it reflect a desire to be modern without losing autonomy. Further, this 'rice ambiguity' reveals that food is more than just a symbol of social processes and basic sustenance. Rather, food is a transformative agent that can be used to create, enact, and alter identities, values, and ideas

Consumption · Mainland · Sustenance · Symbol (formal · Culinary Culture and Tourism

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