Ti Wei & Fran Martin, "Pedagogies of food and ethical personhood: TV cooking shows in postwar Taiwan"

Number nine in an occasional series of summaries of articles related to communication practices in Taiwan.

Wei, T., & Martin, F. (2015). Pedagogies of food and ethical personhood: TV cooking shows in postwar Taiwan. Asian Journal of Communication, 25(6), 636-651, DOI: 10.1080/01292986.2015.1007333

This article uses representative cooking personalities on Taiwanese TV--Fu Pei Mei (傅培梅), Chen Hong (陳鴻), and Master Ah-Ji (阿基師), together with Chef James (詹姆士)--to analyze "the history and changing cultural meanings of the cooking show in the context of Taiwan’s postwar social history and TV industry" (p. 637). The authors trace the transformation of television programming in Taiwan from its start in the martial law period to the commercialization of the industry in the post-martial law years, including the rise of cable TV. They show how the representative cooking shows reflected both changing industry priorities and some consistency in cultural values. They also contrast the more paternalistic authoritative approach to imparting lessons in cooking and "life ethics" in Taiwan with an ethics based on more "plural, practice-based everyday knowledges" that researchers have found in Western cooking shows (p. 637). 

In the case of Fu Pei Mei, the authors observe that her shows, which started in the early 1960s, reflected the KMT's goals of teaching the audience to see themselves as part of the Chinese nation. Fu's emphasis on mainland Chinese cultural traditions in her shows and in interviews with domestic and international audiences made her a representative of the KMT government's "soft power" in the ideological battle with the CCP (p. 641). At the same time, the authors argue that she represented a kind of modernity through her own image as an "autonomous, modern woman," as well as through her introduction of "modern" (Western cooking). As they conclude, Fu's image "can be seen as a fusion of traditional and modern elements of femininity" (p. 641). 

In comparison to Fu Pei Mei, Chen Hong's image, according to Wei and Martin, models "cosmopolitan taste, high cultural capital, and refined masculinity[, which] bespeaks an implicit pedagogical project centered on the production of a clearly (middle-)class-inflected aspirational ideal of young, urban, educated personhood" (p. 642). In addition, Chen also "reinforces his own authority" through his lessons in cooking and references to classical Chinese works (p. 644). Chen's image as a 型男 (which the authors translate as metrosexual) coincided with a rise in consumerism in post-martial law Taiwan that commodified cultural knowledge as cultural capital; it also fit in with the rising competitive cable media landscape. 

The last cooking program that Wei and Martin examine reflects the consolidation of the cable industry in Taiwan and the increasing competition for viewers that resulted in an emphasis in lifestyle programming on entertainment over information. In this media landscape, cooking shows like Metrosexual Uber-Chef (型男大主廚) tended to stress entertaining audiences over teaching them about cooking or inculcating ethical values. While Master Ah-Ji, the older chef paired with the younger "metrosexual" James in the program, represents traditional values such as "frugality, endurance, obedience, and so on" (p. 647), in the context of a more postmodern and entertainment-oriented show, "[t]his older discourse of the ‘self-made man’ was thus unexpectedly effectively – or perhaps, absurdly – fused into a postmodern form of entertainment TV" (p. 647). Master Ah-Ji maintains, argue the authors, a different kind of cultural capital than the two previous chefs--one that reflects the values of an industrializing Taiwan of the 1970s.

One thing that the article made me think about was the evolution of the pedagogical project of Chineseness that they suggest characterized Fu Pei Mei's shows. It's interesting that, according to the authors, an important part of Fu's cultural pedagogy connected her audience to the Chinese mainland (they quote her as frequently saying, "we northerners" when referring to her own background); being Chinese, in this sense, was concretely tied to the KMT project of "mainland-izing" Taiwan by emphasizing geographic relations as well as culinary connections.  I'm reminded, in fact, of PRC foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying's widely mocked tweet arguing for the PRC's sovereignty over Taiwan based on the large number of Shandong dumpling places and Shanxi noodle restaurants in Taipei. 

As Rachel Cheung observes, the tweet found a receptive domestic audience. Cheung quotes scholar Gina Anne Tam, who argues that domestic Twitter users were Hua's primary audience, and the tweet was calculated "to muddy a logically indefensible case with appeals to vague feelings." And, as Cheung notes, these emotional/culinary appeals were further supported by observations that many of Taipei's own streets have been named after Chinese locations (a project that was also part of the KMT's "mainland-ization" of Taiwan during the martial law period). It appears, then, that the culinary/geographic connections exemplified by Fu Pei Mei's cooking programs have come full circle.

In contrast to Fu's appeals to geography, in Chen Hong's work, Chineseness is represented by references to classical texts and sayings. As the Wei and Martin suggest, "the ethical dimension connects with the value of literary education" (p. 644). In a sense, then, Chinese identity as represented by Chen Hong is based on shared texts. Arguably--at least based on Wei and Martin's descriptions of the programs--Ah Ji's authority is the most rooted in the particularities of Taiwan's late martial law historical context, since it appears that he reflects the values that purportedly built Taiwan's "economic miracle." This appears to be less based on an appeal to a common Chinese (in terms of mainland-based) identity and more on an appeal to the common experiences of the people of Taiwan.

Another point to raise regarding Ah-Ji is his "fall from grace" subsequent to a 2014 scandal reported in Next Magazine. According to Wikipedia, there is some controversy over whether he intentionally stepped away from the media, but it appears he is no longer a television personality. He appears, however, to have a following on Facebook, which suggests how Wei and Martin's article might be followed up in the future, in regards to how social media might contribute to the further evolution of cooking shows in Taiwan. (In the TTV program linked to below, Chen Hong touches on social media and "self-media" [自媒體] and how it has changed the media landscape and how it affects self-promotion and interaction.) 

One final point: the authors describe Chen Hong as losing popularity in Taiwan after 2005. That might be the case, but more interesting are the recent developments in his professional life. Ah-Hong (陳鴻) has evidently expanded his audiences to Southeast Asia in addition to Taiwan, suggesting an appeal to "Greater China" and "Overseas Chinese." In this program about him from TTV, he talks about the challenges of life, arguing that they have taught him important life lessons that he is grateful for (and indirectly teaching viewers to consider the lessons he has learned). 

In addition, the reception in Taiwan of Ah-Hong's openness about his sexuality suggests a further development in the relationship of celebrity and "ethical personhood" in Taiwan. There are probably articles about this (guess I should look for them), but the general acceptance (with some vocal exceptions) of LGBTQ people in Taiwan is reflected in, and perhaps encouraged by, the visibility of public figures such as Ah-Hong and others who have been public about their sexuality. In addition to Ah-Hong, I think of Li Jing 利菁, for instance--"Taiwan's first mainstream transgender entertainer," and Audrey Tang 唐鳳, Taiwan's first transgender cabinet official. Their openness could be described as a kind of pedagogy of ethical personhood that has contributed to Taiwan's status as the most LGBTQ-friendly country in Asia.

Overall, it seems that Wei and Martin's article has given me a lot to think about!