食物不仅滋养个体的生理肌体,而且还建构其社会及文化身份;食物既标识食者所归属的群体,亦定义其与其他群体的差异;食物造就食者,而食者也试图通过进食来成就自己。在美国华裔女作家伍琦诗的小说《无声告白》中,饮食在主人公詹姆斯的族裔身份建构方面起到重大作用。鉴于美国主流社会广泛存在华裔饮食习惯低劣的话语,詹姆斯试图通过拒绝中餐来否认自己的族裔身份;然而当他融入主流社会无果并再次品尝到叉烧包时,他终于意识到族裔身份是他永远无法否认的一部分。詹姆斯与饮食的互动关系展现了以其为代表的美国华裔在族裔身份建构过程中的挣扎和无奈,揭露了美国霸权文化的运作模式。

Food not only nourishes one’s biological organism, but also constructs his social and cultural identity. It marks the group that an eater belongs to and defines the otherness of a different group; it makes the eater and the eater makes himself by eating. In Chinese American woman writer Celeste Ng’s Everything I Never Told You, foodways play an important role in constructing James’ ethnic identity. Due to the widespread discourse of the inferiority of Chinese foodways in mainstream American society, James tries to deny his ethnic identity by refusing Chinese food. However, when his efforts to integrate into the mainstream society go futile, and when he eats cha siu bau again, he finally realizes that ethnicity is an undeniable part of his identity. The interaction between James and the foodways not only shows the struggle and helplessness of Chinese Americans in the process of ethnic identity construction, but also exposes the operating mode of American hegemonic culture.