Korea around the table : food and global Korean identities / edited by Rory Walsh

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Walsh, Rory, editor.

Series:

Food in Asia and the Pacific http://id.loc.gov/resources/hubs/ad081b94-57ef-1b27-70ee-9b761b6a07b5

Food in Asia and the Pacific

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Food--Social aspects.

Cooking, Korean--Social aspects.

Food habits.

Food in popular culture.

Koreans--Ethnic identity.

Korea.

Physical Description:

1 online resource

Other Title:

Food and global Korean identities

Place of Publication:

Honolulu : University of Hawai‘i Press [2026]

Summary:

"Korea Around the Table: Food and Global Korean Identities brings together leading scholars to examine how Korean cuisine encodes identity, memory, and belonging across local and global contexts. From the early adoption of chili peppers on the Korean Peninsula to the proliferation of sundubu jjigae restaurants in suburban New Jersey, this groundbreaking volume shows how food is not merely sustenance but a powerful site where history, culture, and community intersect. As Korean food enters the global marketplace, the idea of what is and is not authentic Korean food becomes more contentious. Korea, long marked by division and diaspora, emerges here as more heterogeneous than nationalist narratives suggest, with its food culture continually reshaped by intercultural exchanges. The growing worldwide popularity of Korean cuisine highlights the tension between preserving traditions and reducing “Koreanness” to a fixed menu of recognizable dishes. Drawing on perspectives from sociology, history, literature, and anthropology, the contributors explore how everyday eating practices express and contest social identities, raising questions of gender, class, ethnicity, race, and the meanings of being Korean in the twenty-first century. As the first edited volume devoted entirely to food in Korea and the Korean diaspora, Korea Around the Table offers a vital resource for Korean studies, food studies, and global cultural history, while inviting readers to consider how something as ordinary as a meal can illuminate the most complex dimensions of identity"-- De Gruyter Brill

Contents:

The introduction of chilies into Korean cuisine : A comparison with the Iberian Peninsula / Niamh Calway

The origins of two Korean staples : Rice and soybean / Gyoung-Ah Lee

The gender politics of home cooking in Korea in the age of neoliberalism / Hyaeweol Choi

Mukbang as affective labor and gustatory kitsch : Food, eating, and subjectivity in the neoliberal digital era / Jooyeon Rhee

The dumpling dilemma : Food as racialized and gendered performances of culture and care by Asian American mothers / Miliann Kang

Kimchi in diaspora / Sonia Ryang

Digesting Korean diasporic food culture and authenticity in Palisades Park/Fort Lee : BCD Tofu House, migration, and nostalgia / Mi Hyun Yoon and Sonia Singh

Turbulent attitudes to high/low cuisine and Orientalism in Chile / Wonjung Min

“This little piggy went where?” : Koreans and Yemenis at the diasporic and gastronomic crossroads / Robert Ji-Song Ku

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index

Online resource; title from PDF title page (De Gruyter Brill, viewed September 18, 2026)

Other Format:

Print version: Korea around the table

ISBN:

9798880704750

9798880704743

OCLC:

1614966543

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license