What Effect does Timothy Mo use the Imagery of Food in Sour Sweet: English Literature Essay, NUS, Singapore

How, and to what effect does Timothy Mo use the imagery of food in Sour Sweet, to discuss how the identities of Chinese immigrants to England are shaped?

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• Introduction
• Literary Review
• Argument
• Conclusion
• Works cited

Outline:

Research Question:

How, and to what effect does Timothy Mo use the imagery of food in Sour Sweet, to discuss how the identities of Chinese immigrants to England are shaped?

Cultural negotiation

• Pressure from dominant culture to assimilate
• How am I going to construct my identity in a new place?
• Back-and-forth relationship
• How much autonomy exists in the

Three representations

• Prove how it is true through each character’s relationship with food
• Concrete evidence
• Eg: uses his own

Thesis Statement:

In the novel Sour Sweet, Mo uses food as a literary device to better illustrate to readers the lives of Chinese immigrants to England.  In doing so, Mo presents three varying states of hybridity an immigrant is willing to adopt when transitioning to life in a foreign country, these being — the staunch rejection of one’s new environment; the complete disavowal of one’s ethnic traditions; and finally, an equilibrium formed between the retainment of one’s cultural values and the willingness to adapt to form a new home.  Through these portrayals of different immigrant experiences, Mo impresses subtly upon the reader that a balance is necessary for self-preservation.

Argument – need to develop based on below 3 key argument points

(1) the staunch rejection of one’s new environment (in Chen)

(2) the complete disavowal of one’s (Chinese) ethnic tradition (in Mui)

(3) the balance is formed (in lily)

• Chen is the patriarch of the Chen family, and in the beginning of the novel, is the sole breadwinner
• He works at a Chinese restaurant, and despite 3 years of living in Britain, never strayed from his daily routine of home and workplace
• What eventually motivates a change in his way of life is not an intrinsic beckoning for a more fulfilling life, but rather an external threat posed upon him by the Chinese Triad, a sub-plot in the novel.
• Chen is not fully lacking in ambitions, but they are modest. This is epitomized by his contentment in running a small restaurant in a run-down suburb and by his obsession with creating the perfect vegetable garden

Chen—stocky, with a pale, bun-like face and chubby torso atop short legs—gives the impression of “wrong focus, as of looking at him through a fuzzy range-finder,” and his unprepossessing appearance combined with his stolid nature makes him the perfect foil to the volatile Lily.

Make a connection to food

2)The complete disavowal of one’s ethnic traditions

Mui is introduced as a stereotypical traditional Chinese woman – compliant, dutiful, and submissive.

– Her personality undergoes a tremendous shift as she begins to manifest herself in a wide-ranging curiosity about her new country.

– Initially, she becomes addicted to British television and develops a fascination with British cultural nuances.  At the restaurant, she begins to develop personal friendships with her customers, silently integrating herself into their social communities.

– While this may be a greater indicator of the other family members than Mui herself, Mui remains the only member of the Chen family who is able to distinguish one English person from another.

– In the eyes of Lily, Mui becomes an un-Chinese person and the epitome of Western debauchery after she bears a child out of wed-lock

Make a connection to food
Food connection

Is the first to acknowledge Man Kee’s changing appetite, and his taste for “mince, jam tart, and custard”

Eventually, Mui opens a fish-and-chips restaurant, the quintessential British-ness, symbolic of the complete disavowal of her Chinese traditions and heritage.

3)A balance is formed

• Character of Lily
• Initially (and stays) apprehensive of British people by and large; is willing to open her mind, initially for commercial profit, later on for a better more wholesome life
• Yin and Yang
• An embodiment of successful integration, while retaining distinct cultural values

Make a connection to food

“motif” might be better here.

From your descriptions, it seems to me the novel is, at one level, a discussion of how different people “negotiate” their relationship with a new, surrounding culture. Some let it shape their identity in profound ways; they”assimilate.” Others resist the culture’s influence with great vigor. Still, others strike a balance or “blend,” allowing their view of themselves, others, and “the world,” to be only partially shaped by the new culture.

As you are aware, I am sure, some of this “negotiation” I describe here happens unconsciously in us all, and some happens consciously.

From your descriptions of the book, the author is showing this negotiation to the reader through the illustration of three characters. Their relationship with food, its production, and consumption, is part of this illustration.

As a critic, your job is to show the reader moments in the novel where the depiction of food and food moments contributes to the overall characterization of each character. To put it another way:

The author is building three characters: “assimilator,” “resister,” and “the one who strikes a balance.” From what you have told me, his illustration of food and food moments helps with each character’s construction. Your job is to show us how the food motif contributes to the character-building or “characterization.