Eating, Abjection, and Transformation in the Work of Hiromi Goto

Abstract

This article concentrates on the representation of food and eating in Hiromi Goto's novels, The Kappa Child and Chorus of Mushrooms. In these novels, eating is a gendered and cultural act that charts how the characters see themselves psychologically, emotionally, and nationally as Canadians. Using a framework that connects feminist psychoanalysis and postcolonialism, and concentrates on the writings of philosopher Julia Kristeva, this article examines concepts of identity and subjectivity in connection with the positive, psychologically transformative power food has in the novels. Often linking consumption to moments of identity slippage or abjection, eating in both novels connects to how the characters push against and play with the boundaries of their identities and, in turn, come to terms with themselves and their families.