FORUM FOR ANTHROPOLOGY AND CULTURE ANTROPOLOGICHESKIJ FORUMRUS | ENG
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Antropologicheskij forum, 2017, no. 32
Evgenia Gulyaeva The Russian Museum of Ethnography Abstract: Based on research on Armenian restaurants in St Petersburg and on interviews with Armenians living in St Petersburg about Armenian cuisine, this article questions what makes an ethnic restaurant ethnic, what can be learned about ethnicity from such restaurants, and how the representation of Armenian cuisine in Armenian restaurants relates to narratives of Armenian informants. The conclusion is that it is difficult to determine what type of restaurant can be identified as Armenian, since the criteria used for the definition of a restaurant as being ethnic are ambiguous. The contents of Armenian restaurant menus reflect the Armenian inner group vision of Armenian cuisine. The representation of ethnicity is achieved primarily in a discursive way. Neither owners and staff, nor the visitors of the relevant ethnic group, nor indeed interior style or music are considered to be necessary elements for the restaurant to be recognised as an ethnic one. At the same time, these qualities are taken into consideration when a judgement about authenticity is being made. In the end, the question of authenticity of an Armenian restaurant is not essential or significant for Armenian informants, whose attitude to definition tends to be flexible and accommodating. Keywords: Armenians, ethnicity, ethnic restaurants, national cuisine, authenticity, St Petersburg. To cite: Gulyaeva E., 'Chto delaet restoran etnicheskim? (na primere armyanskikh restoranov v Sankt-Peterburge)' [What Makes an Ethnic Restaurant Ethnic?: Armenian Restaurants in St Petersburg], Antropologicheskij forum, 2017, no. 32, pp. 67–94. URL: http://anthropologie.kunstkamera.ru/files/pdf/032/gulyaeva.pdf |
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