The Dynamics of Nostalgia in the Construction of Diasporic Identity

Abstract

This chapter shows how elements of nostalgia are embedded within the food recipes of this particular diasporic community as well as in their songs. I analyse and show how the recipes and the songs function as pieces of nostalgia. I show how the idea of autonetic consciousness can be applied to recipes in diaspora. I explore the notion of mnemonic strategies employed to maintain culinary practices. My work is informed by writers who have concentrated on the value of culinary fiction in diasporic communities. My analysis focuses on the cultural practices which occupy the domestic sphere of those who reside in diaspora in Lockwood. I explore how aspects of nostalgia are embedded within the psyche of first-generation immigrants and how nostalgia is transmitted to the following generations. I call this particular type of nostalgia ‘migrational nostalgia.’ I show how the subjects from my cohort engage with this particular type of nostalgia and memory.