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

0572356 - OÚ 2024 RIV SG eng J - Journal Article
Darmanto, Darmanto
‘Rice ambiguity’ and the taste of modernity on Siberut Island, Indonesia.
Journal of Southeast Asian Studies. Roč. 54, č. 1 (2023), s. 64-88. ISSN 0022-4634. E-ISSN 1474-0680
Grant - others:AV ČR(CZ) StrategieAV21/24
Program: StrategieAV
Institutional support: RVO:68378009
Keywords : rice ambiguity * Mentawai * Siberut * modernity * taste
OECD category: Social sciences, interdisciplinary
Impact factor: 0.6, year: 2022
Method of publishing: Open access

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.
Permanent Link: https://hdl.handle.net/11104/0343523