Continuation and acculturation : a study of foodways of three Chinese immigrant families in St. John's, Newfoundland

This thesis is a study of the foodways of three Chinese immigrant families in St. John's, Newfoundland. The focus is on two forces, continuation of Old World food habits and acculturation of New World practices, in the current foodways complex of these three families. My findings are that two tendencies, the tendency to acculturate and the tendency to keep separate from the host culture, exist in juxtaposition in the three immigrant Chinese families. Both forces assume their own place in the resultant foodways complex for the Chinese families, specifically, with regard to the procurement of foodstuffs, meals, and food in relation to custom and belief. However, differences in the degree of foodways acculturation is evident among all three families. A consideration of such factors as the length of time spent in the New World, the age of immigrants upon arrival, the cultural backgrounds of immigrants' spouses, the occupation and social role of the family heads, and the inclination either to acculturate or to keep separate, led to my conclusion that this inclination plays a most important and influential role in determining the degree of acculturation of each family -- also reinforced by the occupation and social role of the family heads. While other factors can play a role in determining the degree of acculturation, they are certainly not as crucial as these last two factors: the occupation and social role of the family heads and their inclination either to acculturate or to keep separate. It is argued that these conclusions are especially applicable to the foodways of immigrant families whose heads have lived in both the Old World and the New.