lOMPETENZNETZLATEINAMERIKAETHNICITYCITIZENSHIP13CLONGINGDurante los ltimos dos decenios, el deve~ir

social y cultural en Latinoamrica ha estado marcado porfenmenos como la migracin laboral de carcter transnacional, el

ascenso de protagonismo poltico por parte de los movimientos indgenas olas declaraciones constitucionales de multiculturalismo. Desarrollos de este tipo

han arrojado preguntas en torno a las dinmicas de diferenciacin e integracin social,que la presente recopilacin aborda desde tres ejes temticos de gran potencial interdisci-plinario: la etnicidad, la ciudadana y la pertenencia, con un enfoque especial en la significa-

cin del espacio en tales procesos.

Dunng the last two decades. social and cultural developments in Latin America have been markedby phenomena like transnationallabour miqration, the rise o political protagonism by indigenous

rnovernents or the constitutional declarations of multiculturalism. These kinds of developments haveraised questions abaut the dynamics of social differentiation and social integratian. The anthology

addresses the concepts ethnicity, citizenship and belonging from three thematie angles with agreat interdisciplinary potential and with a special focus on the importance of space.

SarahAlbiez (Antropologade lasAmricas),Nelly(astro (FilologaRomnica),LaraJssen(EstudiosRegionalesde Latinoamrica)y EvaYoukhana(Antropologa,Sociologa)sonmiembrosde la Red

de InvestigacinsobreLatinoamricadesdeel 2010.

SarahAlbiez(Anthropologyof the Amencas).NellyCastro(RomanceStudles),LaraJssen(RegionalStudiesof LatinAmerica)and EvaYoukhana

(Anthropology,Sociology)aremembersof the ResearchNetwork for LatnAmericasince2010.

ISBN: 978-84-8489-605-0

I I9"7 8 8 4 8 4 8 9 6 o 5 o

ETHNICITY, CITIZENSHIPANO BELONGING IN

LATIN AMERICA

~'O.

,!!1ero

"Oro

"O::1'"O'ro

"O'c:...UJ

cr>eOleoQJen"C

eroo...cVIeQJN

u>-,~

u

e.s:...L.U

Sarah Albiez,Nelly Castro,Lara Jssen,

Eva Youkhana (eds.)

Series/Coleccin"Ethriicity, Citizenship and Belonging in Latin America"

Sarah Albiez/Nelly Castro/Lara jssen/Eva Youkhana (eds.)

This series promotes an internacional scientific dialogue about thesocial, political and cultural irnplicarions of rhe concepts etbnicity,citizenship and beLonging,which serve as conceptual tools for rhe

inrerdisciplinary Research Necwork for Latin America to investigareborh social dynamics and processes of inclusion and exclusion in

past and presenc Larin American societies as well as in orher regionsof the world.

Ethnicity; Citizenshipand Belonging: Practices,

Theory and Spatial Dimensions

Etnicidad, ciudadana. /. /Y pertenencIa: practIcas, teorra

y dimensiones espaciales

Esta coleccin busca promover el dilogocientfico e internacionalsobre las implicaciones sociales, polticas y culturales de los tres

concepcos etnicidad, ciudadana y pertenencia que constituyen parala Red de Investigacin sobre Amrica Latina instrumentos

conceptuales para investigar de manera interdisciplinaria tantodinmicas sociales como procesos de inclusin y exclusin ensociedades pasadas y presences de Amrica Latina y en otras

latitudes del mundo.

Iberoamericana . Vervuert . 2011

"

The projecr, on which rhis book is based, has been funded by rhe German Federal Minisrryof Educarion and Research (Bundesminisrerium fr Bildung und Forschung, BMBF)under rhe supporr code 01 UCI012A-E. The responsibiliry for [he conrenr of rhispublicarion lies wirh rhe edirors.

INDEX/NDICE

SPONSORED BY THE

.m. IFederal Ministry~y 01Education

and Research

PREFACE/PREFACIO 9

Sarah Albiez, Nei1y Castro, Lara [ssen and Eva YoukhanaINTRODUCTION/INTRODUCCI6N 11

r.ETHNICITY ANO CITIZENSHIP IN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

ETNICIDAD y CIUDADANA EN PERSPECTIVA HIST6RICAReservados todos los derechos

Iberoamericana, 201 1Amor de Dios, 1 - E-28014 MadridTe!': +34 914293522Fax: +34 91 429 53 97info@iberoamericanalibros.comwww.ibero-arnericana.ner

Karoline NoackLa construccin de diferencia en la zona de contacto: inrerroganresal respecto de la etnicidad . 35

Wolfgang GabbertShifting Boundaries, Emerging Communities - Erhniciry and Ethno-genesis on Nicaragua's Adantic Coast . 65

..

Vervuert, 2011Elisaberhensrr, 3-9 - 0-60594 Frankfurr am MainTe!': +49695974617Fax: +49695978743info@iberoamericanalibros.comwww.ibero-arnericana.ner n.

ETHNIC ANO SPATIAL AsPECTS OF CrTIZENSHIP

AsPECTOS t.TNICOS y ESPACIALES DE LA CIUDADANA

Cecilia Mndez G. y Caria Granadas MoyaGuerra, formacin del Estado e imaginario nacional en el Per . 93

ISBN 978-84-8489-605-0 (Iberoamericana)ISBN 978-3-86527-658-2 (Vervuerr)

Depsito Legal: SE-5967-2011 Rodolfo StavenhagenDerechos humanos y ciudadanas ind genas en Amrica Latina 121

Cubierta: Marcela Lpez ParadaImpreso en Espaa por PublidisaThe paper on which rhis book is prinred rneers rhe requiremenrs ofISO 9706

Santiago BastosPropuestas mayanistas e ideologas rnicas en Guatemala 137

NOSTALGIA, FOOD AND BELONGING:

ECUADORIANS IN NEWYORK CITY

Mara Amelia Viteri

.,

ABSTRACf

Nostalgia is part o/a migrant's everyday lifo: although liued; imagined, inuented andre-inuented in dramatically diffirent ways. In ibis article, 1 use an interdisciplinaryapproach and base my analysis upon two components o/ research: 1) Firstly; data col-lected at the Queens Museum o/ Art in Queens, Neto York City; tbrougb 'the multi-media installation Al Lacro Lado, iobereby, my uoice and that o/ my Ecuadoriananthropology colleague, tuere brought togetber with tbose o/the audience while explor-ing material elements related to food, nostalgia, identities, symbols, nationbood andmigration. 2)And secondly; data collected betioeen 2009 and 20 10 within tbe Ecuado-rian community mostly in Queens, New York. 1 use tbese findings to re-think notions o/space and the continuum o/ transnational identities in relation to flod and citizenship.

INTROOUcrION ANO THEORETlCAL FRAMEWORK

According to Stewart (1988, 227) nostalgia is "not a given content as itsforms, meanings, and effects shift with the context - it depends on where thespeaker stands in the landscape of the present". The irnpossibiliry of a returnto orie's homeland - whether actual or imagined - permeates the lives ofimmigrants across the globe. From rhe re-enactrnent of rituals and re-cre-ation of spaces that resemble the homeland to rhe circulation of "nostalgiafood produces", an estimated 350,000 Ecuadoriarr' immigrants in Queensand Brooklyn are actively defining alternative ways of belonging to rheirhomeland as well as to the new land, ways thar are never complete nor linear.According to Yuval-Davis (2007) neither citizenship nor identiry can encap-

I Ecuador has been officially declared as a rnulti-ethnic and plurinarional Srare. Accord-ing ro rhe lasr survey conducred by INEC (Insrirure for Narional Surveys) in 2006, mestizosrepresenr 79.8%; followed by 7% rhar self-idenrify as indigenous. Needless ro sayo staristicsfrom differenr sources vary grearly as rhese figures are polirically loaded.

222 Maria Amelia Vireri

;.

sulate the norion of belonging (as conrradictory definitioris are called inroquestiori). This author defines belonging as being where "rhe sociology ofemorions inrerfaces wirh rhe sociology of power, where identificario n andparticipation collude", Yuval-Oavis analyses how, like other hegemonic con-strucrio ns, belonging rends to become "naruralised", becoming invisible inhegemonic formations. In rhe aurhor's words: "it is only when one's safe andstable connecrion to rhe collecriviry, the homeland, the stare, becomes threat-ened, that ir becomes articulared and reflexive rather rhan jusr performative."

In accordance with Holrzman (2006, 373) we need to consider rhe ubiq-uiry of food in maintaining hisrorically constiruted idenrities, as ir owes noronly ro rhe properries of the food itself but also to rhe social and culturalcondirions that allow 01' encourage this to be a space for resilient identitieswhere orher arenas are far more stigrnarised. Taking a closer look at rhe waynostalgia in relarion to food manifests irself in a rnulripliciry of nacional iden-rities - ranging from Ecuadorian to Latino to American - ir could offer apotencial window into forros of memory that are more hereroglossic, ambiva-lenr, layered, and texrured (Holrzrnan 2006,373).2

Food as nostalgia has been primarily conceprualised as a nostalgic enacr-rnent of idenriry, as a celebrarion of a diasporic cornmuniry's resilience and asan opporruniry ro bring history and memory rogerher under difficult cir-cumstances. One of the quesrions guiding my currenr research is how readilyavailable Ecuadorian food in Queens, New York City (NYC) (labelled bybusiness and marketing people as "nosralgia food produces") acts as a signifi-el' in rhe way Ecuadorians re-define their own nacional idenriry wirhin rhediaspora as ir overlaps with orher pre-discursive erhnic, racial and genderidenrities. What we homonymically label as "mernory" ofren refers to anarray of very differenr processes which nor only have a rorally differentdynamic, but rhat we also aim ro undersrand for very different reasons too -ranging from monumental public archirecrure to the nostalgia evoked by area-soaked biscuir (Holrzrnan 2006, 361). A useful concept used by Appadu-rai (2003, 339) is the terrn "rranslocaliries" ro talk about rhe cornplex condi-tions for rhe production of ties of marriage, work, business and leisure thatare connecred ro the homeland. According ro Anrhias (2009, 6), a key ques-

1 Similarly, aurhors like Valenrine (1999) illusrrare rhe cornplex ways in which idenriry isproduced, articula red and conresred rhrough food consumprion and rhe sparial dynamics ofcooking and earing ar rhe specific culrurallocarion of"rhe home".

Nostalgia, Food and Belonging: Ecuadorians in New YorkCiry 223

rion is how ro think of belonging and identiry wirhin a transnarional and"rranslocarional" frame which recognises that people have rnulriple locarions,posirions and belongings, in a situated and conrextual way, but which doesnot end up as a thorough reificarion 01' deconsrrucrion of difference.

Similar to Pribilsky (2007), my inicial research findings also identify howLatino immigrants - in this particular case Ecuadorians - go from stableidenriries as villagers, farhers, sons and brorhers ro ambiguous subjecr posi-tions of "illegal'? aliens and second-class cirizens. As we continue ro furtherproblematise rhe inrerdependence berween these state caregories and those ofothers including race, ethniciry, gender and sexualiry, rhe posirions of suchambiguous subjecrs become even more unsrable. For insrance, if we are tocombine the totaliry of escalaring anti-immigrant discourse in rhe U.s. wirhthe srrong presence of Latinos in cities such as New York then cases willappear such as rhar of Marcelo Lucero, who was stabbed ro dearh by a younggroup of reenagers who called him Mexican in November 2008.

As r include a self-reflexive and auro-erhnographic approach ro thisresearch study, r combine my own undersrandings and negotiations of beingan Ecuadorian in rhe U.S. wirh rhose of firsr-generarion immigrants Rober-ro, Franklin and Ricardo and a selecrion of rhe hundreds of nosralgic voicesimprinred in the colourful post-ir notes rhar were part of rhe Al Lacro Ladomulrimedia insrallarion. Lacro, a eypical Andean Ecuadorian dish made fromporaroes represents the symbolic objecr arourid which my colleague MaraFernanda Moscoso and 1 exrracted ingredients ro re-enacr our experiences ofdifferenr places and memories: our neighbollrhaods, friends, ciries, familiesand countries. Al Locro Lado was a multirnedia installarion project composedof objecrs, video, phorographs, sounds and words (Fig. 1 and 2). The projectwas a subjective, rheorerical, polirical, and artisric reflecrion, by which rhevoices of ourselves - rwo Ecuadorian PhO anrhropologists (residing in theUnired Srares and Germany ar the rime) - were broughr rogerher wirh rhoseof rhe audience while exploring material elemenrs relared to nostalgia, idenri-ties, symbols, narionhood and migration.

3 1 fully concur wirh De Genova (2002) in rhar rhere is "norhing marrer-of-lact about rhe'illegaliry' of undocurnenred migranrs" and rhar rhe rerrn and concepr irself needs ro be refor-mulared. In a similar way, Kyle's (2000) research in Andean Ecuador invites us ro re-considerbasic disrincrions berween legal and illegal, labour and enrrepreneurial, economic and poliri-cal, remporary and permanenr migrarions.

224 Maria AmeJia Viteri

AL LOCROLADO

FIGURE 1

Writing out Loud/Escribiendo en Voz Alta. Photograph taken by the author,

1 draw upon Mata Codesal's (2010, 24) NYC research study "whereEcuadorian migrants can easily get into an 'already-present home away fromhorne' creating and sustaining a transnational food sphere". The author illus-trates how migration is then also experienced through rhe body and howfood can be used to fight off the sense of fragmentation or disconrinuirybrought into people's lives by migration. Other authors such as Fischler(1988) discuss the relationship between identity formation and food too,highlighting rhe centrality of food to our sense of identiry, as it asserts diver-siry, hierarchy and organisation.

The Ecuadorian dispora" is a particularly interesting setting to beginexploring these conflations considering the irnportant campaign initiated bythe current president, Rafael Correa, to build a sense of "Ecuadorianness"through certain idealised images of traditional foods found throughout

~ For a more rhorough and updared discussion 011 Ecuadorian migrarion cf. Herrera(2005).

Nostalgia. Food and Belonging: Ecuadorians in New York Ciry 225

.,.

FIGURE 2Insrallarion Al Locro Lado. Phowgraph taken by rhe aurhor,

..

226 Maria Amefia Vireri

Ecuador. Parallel ro rhis carnpaign, President Correas current policies favourlocal investmenr, producrion and consumpcion by applying elevaced raxes onforeign imporcs in an attempc ro creare a sense of pride and "Ecuadorian-ness" for rradirionallocal foods. In rhe words of my colleague Barbara Gr-nenfelder-Elliker (2001, 13) "the massive exodus ofEcuadorians, Azuayos inparticular, ( ... ) obeys rhe forces of a global finance economy as much as irdoes 'choice' at rhe individual level". The author addresses both rhe generaland gendered shifr in the geopolirical orientarion of Ecuadorian emigranrs torhe U.S. and more recenrly, to Spain."

Ir's a challenge ro quantify the exact number of Ecuadorians living in theNYC afea considering thar a large majoriry had ro resort ro coming ro theUnired Stares either wirhour papers or using false docurnentation, - rhis par-ricularly being rhe case afrer Presidenr Mahuad dollarised the currency in1999, a few weeks before he was overrhrown. Furtherrnore, according to theEcuadorian Consulace in NewYork Ciry, rhe respective Ecuadorian cornmu-niry in rhis locarion is a very mobile popularion changing home ar leasr everyrhree months ro avoid being discovered by the immigracion aurhoriries. Fol-lowing Grnenfelder-Elliker's (2001, 9) research work in Azuay, Ecuador'sloss of sovereignty over currency coincides wich rhe expansion of "PlanColombia" ro include a foreign milirary base on rhe counrry's Pacific Coasr,rhe building projecr for a new trans-Andean oil pipeline, and a mass exodusnow direcred rowards Europe.

My inirial observarions and interviews were conducred rnosrly in Queensat different periods of rime during 2008 and 2009 whereas AL Locro Ladorook place berween January 16rh and 30rh, 2010. The dara collected dealswirh the rnulriple ways by which rhe re-significarion and re-invention of(narional) idenriries rhrough "already-presenr home from horne" feelingsallow new transnacional imaginings and conneccions ro the homeland. Ir alsoillustrates how commodiry chains acc as vehicles rhrough which producersand consumers interact to create new relarionships across econornic, geo-graphic and polirical boundaries (Warson 2005). Having said this, ir is cru-cial rhat we frame rhe social consrrucrion ofbelonging wirh respecc ro Ander-son's concepcualisacion of "cornmuniries", whereby emphasis should not be

, For more informarion on Ecuadorians migrarion [Q Spain, cf Camacho and Hernndez(2008).

Nosralgia, Food and Bdonging: Ecuadorians in New York Ciry 227

upon rheir falsicy/genuineness buc insread, upon how chey are imagined.Wichin chis framework, Sutron (2001, 83) calks about the process of synaes-rhesia defined as food's memory power derived from rhe crossing of experi-ences from differenc sensory regiscers. Synaeschesia, according ro Surron'serhnography wich rhe Kalymnos, could help us underscand the significanceof food as parc of idenriry rnainrenance (and re-significacion) when migrantsleave their homeland.

NOSTALGIA, Fooo ANo IDENTITY(IES)

As Larino imrnigranrs, and immigrants in general, carry a myriad of idenri-ries rhar are nor sraric, rhese idenriries are subjecr ro consranr negoriarionbefore, during and after rhe experience ofborder-crossing in non-linear ways.In addirion ro rhis, rhe "immigrarion problern" is more ofren chan noranalysed wirhin a herero-norrnative framework rhar assumes mosr irnmi-granrs have eirher a nuclear family of rheir own in rheir home counrries orrhar rhey wish to have one in rhe u.s.

Immigrarion restrictions and exclusions are hisrorically rooted in rhe con-cern for maintaining power and shaping policies on citizenship (Cant 2009,42). That is ro say, cultural cirizenship as discussed by Rosaldo (1989) andOng (1999) will go beyond enabling assimilarion to enforcing ir when.everpossible chrough the various mechanisms of power rhat end up as rmrrugra-rion policies in rhe U.S. .

Those same cacegories char rhe government has created to granr nghts towhac they have concepcualised as minoriries, pose a serious limit to full c~ri-zenship in rerms of how we perceive, imagine and act upon sexual, racial,ethn ic, class and gender represencacions char accompany rheir interprera-rion. Modern conceprions of cirizenship, ried up wich various forms ofdernocratic universalism, cend ro demand a homogenous people wich a stan-dardised package of righcs (Appadurai 2003, 339). An immigrant's culcuralpractices, despire persecurion and concradicrory discourse regardi~g rhe~rrights, are key to further underscanding rhe engagemenc of each diasporiccommuniry in whac are usually double tracked polirics: rhose of rheir horne-land and rhose of cheir currenc residence. In rerrns of culrural pracrices,food is scrongly arcached ro che creacion,developmenr and reificatio n ofnacional idenri ries.

226 Maria Arndia Vireri

Ecuador. Parallel ro this campaign, President Correa's current policies favourlocal investrnenr, producrion and consumption by applying elevated taxes onforeign irnports in an attempt [Q creare a sense of pride and "Ecuadorian-ness" for traditionallocal foods. In the words of my coLleague Barbara Gr-nenfelder-Elliker (2001, 13) "rhe massive exodus ofEcuadorians, Azuayos inparticular, ( ... ) obeys rhe forces of a global finance economy as much as irdoes 'choice' at the individual level", The author addresses borh rhe generaland gendered shifr in the geopolirical orientation of Ecuadorian emigrants tothe U.S. and more recendy, to Spain.?

Ir's a challenge ro quantiy me exact number of Ecuadorians living in rheNYC area considering that a large majoriry had ro resort to coming ro rheUnited Stares either withour papers or using false docurnenrarion, - this par-ricularly being rhe case after President Mahuad dollarised rhe currency in1999, a few weeks before he was overrhrown. Furtherrnore, according to theEcuadorian Consulare in New York Ciry, the respective Ecuadorian commu-niry in this locarion is a very mobile popularion changing home at least everyrhree monrhs ro avoid being discovered by the immigrarion authoriries. Fol-lowing Grnenfelder-Elliker's (2001, 9) research work in Azuay, Ecuador'sloss of sovereignry over currency coincides wirh the expansion of "PlanColombia" to include a foreign milirary base on the counrry's Pacific Coasr,rhe building project for a new trans-Andean oil pipeline, and a mass exodusnow directed rowards Europe.

My inicial observations and interviews were conducred mosdy in Queensat differenr periods of time during 2008 and 2009 whereas AL Locro Ladorook place between January 16rh and 30rh, 2010. The data collecred dealswirh the rnultiple ways by which rhe re-significarion and re-invenrion of(narional) idenriries rhrough "already-presenr home from horne" feelingsallow new transnarional imaginings and connections to the homeland. Ir alsoillusrrates how commodiry chains acr as vehicles through which producersand consumers inreract ro create new relarionships across economic, geo-graphic and polirical boundaries (Warson 2005). Having said this, ir is cru-cial rhar we frame rhe social construcrion ofbelonging wirh respect ro Ander-son's conceprualisarion of "cornrnuniries", whereby emphasis should not be

.l.

\ For more informarion on Ecuadorians migrarion ro Spain, cf. Camacho and Hernndez(2008).

Nostalgia, Food and Belonging: Ecuadorians in New York Ciry 227

upon their falsiry/genuineness but insread, upon how rhey are imagined.Wimin rhis framework, Surten (2001, 83) ralks abour the process of synaes-rhesia defined as food's memory power derived from the crossing of experi-ences from differenr sensory regisrers. Synaesrhesia, according ro Surron'serhnography with rhe Kalymnos, could help us undersrand the significanceof food as part of idenriry rnaintenance (and re-significarion) when migranrsleave rheir homeland.

NOSTALGIA, Fooo ANo IOENTITY(IES)

As Latino immigrants, and immigrants in general, carry a myriad of idenri-ries rhar are nor sratic, rhese idenriries are subject ro consranr negoriationbefore, during and afrer rhe experience ofborder-crossing in non-linear ways.In addirion to rhis, rhe "immigration problem" is more ofren rhan noranalysed wirhin a herero-normarive framework rhar assumes most immi-grants have eirher a nuclear family of rheir own in rheir home counrries orrhar rhey wish ro have one in rhe U.S.

Immigrarion resrricrions and exclusions are historically roored in rhe con-cern for maintaining power and shaping policies on cirizenship (Cant 2009,42). That is to say, cultural cirizenship as discussed by Rosaldo (1989) andOng (1999) will go beyond enabling assimilarion ro enforcing ir when.everpossible rhrough rhe various mechanisms of power rhar end up as Immlgra-tion policies in rhe U.S. .

Those same caregories rhat rhe governmenr has creared to granr f1ghrs rowhar rhey have conceptualised as minorities, pose a serious limir to full c~ri-zenship in rerrns of how we perceive, imagine and act upon sexual, racial,erhnic, class and gender represenrarions that accompany rheir interpreta-rio n. Modern conceprions of cicizenship, ried up wirh various forms ofdemocraric universalism, rend to demand a homogenous people wirh a sean-dardised package of righrs (Appadurai 2003, 339). An irnrnigranr's culturalpracrices, despire persecurion and conrradictory discourse regarding rheirrighrs, are key to further undersranding rhe engagemenr of each diasporiccommuniry in whar are usually double rracked polirics: rhose of their home-land and rhose of rhei r currenr residence. In rerms of cultural pracrices,food is srrongly attached ro rhe crearion, 'developmenr and reificario n ofnacional idenci ties.

228 Maria Arnclia Viteri

As my own prior research work illustrates, belonging, as interpreted ar thereceiving land within an immigration framework is usually described as animagined and desired citizenship (cf Viteri 2008a; ibid. 2008b; ibid. 2008c;Viteri and Tobler 2009). Nevertheless, according to Yuval-Davis (2007),belonging is not just about membership, rights and duries, but also about theemotions thar such memberships evoke; nor can belongirig be reduced toidentiries and idenrificarions, which are about individual and collective nar-rarives of self and orhers, presenration and labelling, myths of origin andrnyths of desriny, Thar is to say, belonging is not determined eirher solely bymigrarory status; jusr as "American citizenship" do es not necessarily overridethe hierarchical rendering of peoples within stereorypically racist and ethno-centric categorisarions of peoples (Viteri and Tobler 2009).

Different authors such as Stewarr (1988, 227) have conceptualised nos-talgia as a cultural practice that reminds us of the importance of consideringparticular posirionaliries when analysing irs meanings. When critically look-ing ar food and nostalgia in relation to belonging, we go back to the Nine-teenrh Century where the srudy of food and eating in rheanthropologicalfield began as Mintz and Du Bois (2002) furrher illusrrare. What srands outin some of the literarure Mintz and Du Bois discuss, is rhe role of food in thesocial construcrion of memory, rhat is to say, the embodied forms of memo-ry rhar consrirute food as a locus for historically constructed identiry, be theyethnic or narionalisr (Holrzrnan 2006, 364).

This embodiment perrains to specific material aspecrs that need to beconsidered. In rhe particular case of the Ecuadorian diaspora in NYC theability of going back or nor is one aspect thar will trigger different experi-ences and feelings of the homeland. This ability is usually framed mainlythrough the immigration status rather than economic capital.

DESDE QUE LLEGU QUIERO IRME ("SINCE 1AluuVED 1 WANTTo Go BACK")

Roberto is a mestizo sociologist in his early 30s who carne to NYC aroundseven years ago and remained undocumented throughout. Roberro's statusdramatically changed again after his deportation to Quito in November,2010. Roberto has been not only a marvellous source of information bur agreat friend who generously introduced me to rhe world of "Litrle Ecuador':

Nostalgia. Food and Bdonging: Ecuadorians in New York Ci

230 Maria Amelia Vireri

..

extended family), rhe landscape, the "people" and rhe food were recordedalongside many others that included references to either foorball reams orfootball irself. The following texr is illustrative of such references: "Extraolos mores de San Juan, a mis panas de Chimbacalle y el frbol de la Tola." ("Imiss hominy fram San Juan, my buddies ar Chimbacalle and football at laTola").

Delving furrher into rhe topic of food Ricardo rnentioned "guatira" as thedish rhar he misses rhe mosr. Guarita is a tradirional Andean dish of tripestew in a potato and peanut sauce. Similar to rhe Zhumir exarnple, 1 knowthat guarira is readily available ar alrnosr all of rhe many Ecuadorian restau-rants on Roosevelr Avenue, so 1 was surprised ar Ricardo's response. Inrer-preting my surprise Ricardo quickly added, "rhar Guarita is not the same!"He went on to share how his family sends him cheese and guinea pig.6 Thelarter is another Andean traditional dish rhat was repearedly mentioned onrhe pos.r-ir no res, revealing to us rhe majoriry of Andean people who attend-ed r~e ms.tallation. Transnarional idenriries are thus forged thraugh materialand lmagmary exchanges of food, phone calls, lerrers, gifrs, donarions andmoney rransfers. In Ricardo's own words: "These dishes (tradicional farmcheese and guinea pig) help a lot because rhen 1 feel as if 1 am myself again"("se siente como uno mismo").

~imilarly, Franklin, a mestizo man in his 30s working as a technologyengineer ar one of the presrigious universities in NYC, menrioned howbefore rhey starred importing Zhumir he would ask his relatives to sendmoonshi~e (hard liquor). Franklin has been living in NYC for rwelve yearsan~ as Wlt~ Roberto, his emphasis has been upon pursuing a college degreewhile ooking for berrer opportuniries in rhe country. Despire having hisdad's partial suppOrt when he firsr carne to NYC, he had to work in all rnan-~er of differ:nt jobs, fram selling purses to working at a bakery. On reflec-non, he .reahses rhar rhese jobs were transcendenral in helping him speak .the ~nghsh language thar will now be essenrial for his future career in engi-neenng.

B~th Ricardo and Roberto speak about rhe mulriple ways in which rheexper.lence of food evokes recollection, which is not simply cognirive but alsoemocional and physical, paralleling norions such as Bourdieu's (1977) habi-

6 For more on the symbolic meaning of guinea pigs cf. Archerri (I997).

Noscalgia. Food and Belonging: Ecuadorians in New York Ciry 231

rus, Connerro n's (1989) no tio n of bodily memory, and Sro ller's (1995)emphasis on embodied memries (Holrzman 2006, 365).

Franklin talks about a "still picrure" rhar remains in your mind from rherime you leave your coun rry. This "srill picrure" srays close, .irnmovable,and unchangeable unril rhe day you rerurn. The problem according toFranklin is rhar you are never able to match thar "srill picture" wirh rhe realpicture rhar you will see upon your rerur n, whenever rhat may be. Nosral-gia sers in moriona dialecric of closeness and disrancing (Srewart 1988,228) where popular Ecuadorian food brands like La Cholira, Van Campsruna fish, La Universal and Amor, among orhers, trigger a chain of sigui-fiers where food enables - alrhough only momentarily - a "rerurn" to rhelosr homeland.

Franklin recalls rhose /1rsr feelings of nosralgia when he /1rsr came toNYC. Whar he missed rhe mosr were his girlfriend and his friends and hewould call ar leasr rhree times per week. Evenrually, he decided [Q collecrall of rhe used phone cards ar which he realised rhar he had spent aroundUS$ 2,000 on internarional calls to Ecuador during a -rnon th periodoAfrer a rwo-year period of mainraining a long-disrance relarionship withhis girlfriend, he sensed rhar his returri to Ecuador wo uld be delayed,bringing him ro end the relarionship and, in his own words, "freeing" hisgirlfriend.

Is food a central ground rhrough which Franklin furrher connecrs wirhhis Ecuadorian idenriry in NYC? Franklin believes that rhe places whereEcuadorians play tradirional sports such as volleyball and soccer are rheinsrances where you "forger rhar you are in rhe Unired Srares". TradirionalEcuadorian food and drinks are a vivid part of these evenrs, hence ernbody-ing nostalgia and consrrucring belonging in non-linear, subjecrive ways.Orher irnportant events menrioned both by Roberto as well as by Franldinare rhe Virgin Mary processions rhar closely follow rhe rradirions in Ecuadorbut wirh a New York rwist, however rhese are nor rhe focus of rhis paper.Parks like Flushing Meadows Corona locared in Queens, NYC is, forinstance, a space where mairrly Ecuadorians recrate rhe cultural, social, eco-nomic and polirical pracrices rhar rhey would usually carry out in rheir narivehomerowns: from discussing politics to organising a march, ro playing rheirbeloved narional sport 'foorball', ro couples caressing each orher on rhe grass.AlI this is accompanied by tradicional food and usually special Ecuadoriandances and music organised by the Queens Museum of Arr. Similar scenarios

232 Maria Amela Vireri

have been reponed in Spain as portrayed in Lisandra 1. Rivera and Manolo5armienro's docurnenrary "Problemas Personales" (2002, 72').

Franklin and 1 got into an elaborare discussion abour "what acrualIychanges in your identiryies)" if as an Ecuadorian in NYC, you have accessto traditional food, sports, cultural and religious traditions. As an Ecuadori-an living in D.C. with only one or two Ecuadorian restaurants scatteredbetween DulIes Airport and Baltimore and none of the rich cultural andreligious traditions that are paer of the everyday life of Ecuadorians in NYC,I use NYC as a refuge to calm my nostalgic feelings when the tripback roEcuador seems roo far away on the calendar. What changes according toFranklin is that the access ro familiar food that is readily available alIowshim to rnaintain a strong Ecuadorian identiry, as restaurants are also placeswhere you can meet other Ecuadorians for different types of networking.The fact that 5panish is spoken widely in NYC, paericularly in the enclaveswhere Latinos are established, aids significandy rhe ability to navigate theforeign ciry.

Franklin highlights that some of the tangible changes are how one's "lastname doesn'r count anymore" and how the work one does in the U.5. acts asa sort of equaliser whereby people from different social classes can cometogether. The references to rhe "lasr name" that Franklin mentioned areloaded with Ecuadorian understandings around skin colour in relationshipro social class and "race" categories (cf. Roitman 2008). Broadly speaking,the lighrer your skin is, the better off you are, which is not restricted to eco-nomic capital but also social capital when using Bourdieu's terms. Thesehierarchies and their inrerprerations will in rurn have an impact upon thechoice of food as well as the value and meaning associated to it. In addirion,having a lasr name that comes from indigenous originsis stilI devalued byrhe larger mestizo communiry. A strong sense of regionalism is reified in NYCwhere Ecuadorian restaurants, as welI as festivities, are welI delineatedbetween the Andes and Coasral regions in particular.

As these narratives show, the conflarion of food, memory and nostalgia inrelationship ro idenriryfies) becomes relevant as we move not only betweengeographically delirnited borders, but also berween and within these bordersthat we negotiate daily crafr our mobiliry in some stances as immigrants andin others as cirizens. This mobiliry becomes imperative as such borders arecontinualIy changing and mutating within the fast-forward dynamics ofglobalisation (Giroux 2005,6-7).

Nostalgia. Food and Belonging: Ecuadorians in Ncw York Ciry 233

CONCLUSIONS

Similar to Holtzman (2006, 364), 1 see food as a particularly rich arena inwhich to explore such complexities of memory, considering at its forefrontrhe norion of experience in reference ro the pase. In this context, 1 believerhat Ecuadorian "nostalgia produces" could be used as a window throughwhich anrhropologists seek a broader understanding of the dynamics of thiscornmuniry as they continue ro re-configure their past and present, re-draw-ing in a number of unpredictable ways the maps of where rhey belong or nor.

The forging of renewed though malleable identities within the diasporaare engrained with bodily memory as illusrrated by Franklin's narrative wherehe goes back to being himseljafter eating traditional Ecuadorian food, andparticularly so if this food is sent from Ecuador. The senses, as a recollectionof rhe past, become another opporruniry for an interpretive anthropology,steering us towards an anthropology of the senses, as originally suggested bySroller (1995) and Howes (1991), among others. Nevertheless, nostalgiashould not only be interpreted as a re-experiencing of emotional pasts butalso in consideration that it may be a longing for times and places that onehas never experienced (Holtzman 2006, 367).

As 1 am interested in looking at food as a site where the re-construction ofidentities takes place, frames ideas and feelings related to citizenship andinfluences various facers of an imrnigrant's life, from everyday practices tomore strategic decisions, some important issues are key to this analysis: 1)legal citizenship versus political participarion even at the risk of deporration,as in the recent case of Latino students fighting for legal status so that rheycan enrol in college; 2) nacional and bi-narional identiries in relationship tobelonging and the role of food within this process; 3) methodology-wise,considering affect in terms of the role of memory in the re-construction ofidentities and citizenship in relation to a nation-state; 4) the juxtapositionand re-signification of a multiplicity of identities and their role in howEcuadorians in NYC identify with one or more spaces at the same time.

The ways in which we remember are contingent ro borh bodily memoryand the multipliciry of non-linear ways in which we apply meaning to cer-tain produces, as well as the particular context where these producrs are avail-able. Nacional symbols ranging from the colours of the flag to traditionaldishes and the availability of their ingredients are magnified by manythrough the lens of nostalgia as illustrared through the successful and massive

."

;.

234 Maria ArrieliaVireri

parricipation (approximately 500 people) ar rhe multimedia installation AlLocro Lado.

Belonging, within the analysis presented, considers idenriry as a plural,c\osely connected with a fluid space where borh imagined and physical bor-ders permeate new imaginings thar go beyond traditional and state defini-tions of cirizenship. The latter doesn'r translate into less surveillance bur irdoes render alrernarive possibiliries for rhe forging of rransnarional Ecuadori-an idenrities in the NYC diaspora where food consritutes a never-linear con-tinuum?

Some final considerarions as we conrinue building a thread rhat furtherc~nnect.s diaspora, ~~migrarion, food, nostalgia and belonging, are rhe waydiasporic comm~n~ttes. cons~~uct stories rhat push rhe boundaries of placeand space. Thar mil plCture brought forward by Franklin which is never-t~eless mobile, as it is filled and re-filled wirh renewed "structures of feeling"t~lggere~ by food in chis discussion, speaks borh to rhe homeland at the sametlm: as ir confronts any linear reading of belonging. All the same, we arerem1l1de? by 8habha (1994, 22) rhar nor all negoriarions are rhe sarne, asthey are inlluenced by particular subjecrive posirions and rhe limirs of choic-es and agency ~hese ~ight eirher enable or disable. Mapping rhe crossroadswhere people inhabit a mulripliciry of transnational borders, idenrities,spaces and strucrure.s ~ighr enable a rheorerical and methodological cririquet~at furthers porenrial inrervenrions relared to citizenship. Doing so throughdifferent means such as rhe use of art and popular culture could furtherengage these communiries in more horizontal dialogues while a1so providinga venue to reflecr upon rhese rnatrers of imporrance.

REFERENCES

ANTHIAS, F1oya. "Inrersectio.naliry, Belonging and Translocarional Posirionaliry:Thinking a?out Transnatlon.al Idenriries." Ethnicity, Belonging and Biography:Etbnographical and Biographical Perspectiues. Ed. Gabriele Rosenrhal and ArrurBogner. Berlin: Lit Verlag 2009. 229-49. Erhnologie 16.

7 Man~ Eeuadorians married with Colombian/Mexiean/Salvadoreans have starred (Q selland advertise Eeuadorian/Mexiean food and in many of rhese restaurants (locared in Roo-sevelr Avenue) [he menu includes a11chis culinary fusiono

Nosralgia. Food and Bdonging: Ecuadorians in New York Ciry 235

ApPADURA!, Arjun. "Sovereignity wirhour Terrirorialiry: Notes for a PosmarionalGeography." Tbe Anthropology of Space and Place: Locating Culture. Ed. Serha M.Low and Denise Lawrence-Ziga. New York: Blackwell 2003. 337-50.

ARCHETTI, Eduardo. Guinea Pig): Food, Symbol and Conflict of Knowledg in Ecuador.Oxford: Berg 1997. .

BHABHA, Horni. Tbe Location of Culture. New York: Rourledge 1994.BOURDlEU, Pierre. Ouiline ofa Tbeory ofPractice. Cambridge; New York: Cambridge

Universiry Press 1977.CAMACHO, Gloria, and Karrya HERNNDEZ, eds. Miradas tramnacionales: Visiones de

la migracin ecuafOnana desde Espaa y Ecuador. Quito: CEPLAES 2008.CANT, Lionel. Tbe Sexuality of Migration: Borda Crossings and Mexican Immigrant

Men. New York: New York Universiry Press 2009. Inrersecrions.CONNERTON, Paul. Hou/ Socieiies Remember. Cambridge: Cambridge Universiry

Press 1989.DE GENOVA, Nicholas P. "Migranr 'Illegaliry' and Deporrabilicy in Everyday Life."

Annual Reoieio of Anthropology, 31 (2002): 419-47.FISCHLER, Claude. "Food, Self and Idencicy." Social Science Information, 27 (1988):

275-92.GlROUX, Henry. Border Crossings: Cultural Workers and the Politics of Education. New

York: Rourledge 2005.GRNENFELDER-ELLlKER, Barbara. "Exclusion ro rhe Poinr of Arrririon: Gendered

Emigracion from Ecuador ar a Crossroads." Paper presenred ar [he XXIlI Inrer-nacional Congress of the Lacin American Srudies Associarion. LASA. Washing-

ton, D.C. 6 Sep. 2001.HERRERA, Gioconda, ed. La migracin ecuatoriana: Tranmaciorralismo, redes e identi-

dades. Quito: FLACSO Ecuador 2005. Serie Foro.HOLTZMAN, Jon. "Food and Memory." Annual Reoiew of Anthropology, 35 (2006):

361-78.HOWES, David, eds. Tbe Varieties ofSerrsory Experience: A Sourcebook in tbe Antbro-

p%gy of tbe Senses. Toronto: Universicy ofToronro Press 1991.KVLE, David. Transnational Peasants: Migration, Networks and Ethnicity in Andean

Ecuador. Balcimore: The John Hopkins Universiry Press 2000.MATA CODESAL, Diana. "Earing abroad, Remembering (ar) Home." Anibropoiogy of

Food, 7 (2010). Web. 1 Feb. 2011.

234 Maria ~e1ia Vireri

parriciparion (approximarely 500 people) at the multimedia installariori AlLocro Lado.

Belonging, wirhin the analysis presenred, considers identiry as a plural,closely connecred wirh a fluid space where borh imagined and physical bor-ders permeate new imaginings thar go beyond tradirional and state defini-tions of citizenship. The latrer doesn'r rranslare into less surveillance bur irdoes render alrernarive possibilities for the forging of rransnarional Ecuadori-an identiries in rhe NYe diaspora where food consritures a never-linear con-rinuum,"

Some final considerations as we coririnue building a rhread that furtherc~nnec~s diaspora, ~~migration, food, nostalgia and belonging, are rhe waydiasporic comm ~nlt1es. cons~~uct stories rhar push the boundaries of placeand space. Thar mil picture btought forward by Franklin which is never-theless mobile, as ir is filled and re-filled with renewed "srrucrures of feeli "

. d bv food i . . mgt~lggere. y food m rhis discussion, speaks both ro the homeland at the sametJm~ as rt confronrs any linear reading of belonging. All the same, we areremlflde~ by Bhabha (I994, 22) rhar nor all negotiarions are the same, asrhey are mfluenced by particular subjecrive posirions and the limits of choic-es and agency ~hese ~ight eirher enable or disable. Mapping the crossroadswhere people inhabir a mulripliciry of transnational borders, idenrities,spaces and structure.s n:ight ena~le a rheorerical and methodological critiquet~at furrhers porenrial intervennons relared to citizenship. Doing so throughdifferen t means such as rhe use of arr and popular culrure could furrherengage rhese communities in more horizontal dialogues while also providinga venue to reflecr upon these rnatters of imporrance.

REFERENCES

..

ANTHIAS, Floya. "Inrersecrionaliry, Belonging and Translocarional Posirionaliry:Thinking abour Transnarion.al Idenriries." Ethnicity, Belonging and Biography:Erhnographlcal and Biographicat Perspectiues. Ed. Gabriele Rosenrhal and ArrurBogner. Berlin: Lir Verlag 2009.229-49. Erhnologie 16.

7 Man~ Ecuadorians married wirh Colombian/Mexican/Salvadoreans have srarted ro selland advertise Ecuadorian/Mexican food and in many of rhese resrauranrs (locared in Roo-sevelr Avenue) rhe menu includes all chis culinary fusiono

Nostalgia.Foodand Belonging:Ecuadorians in New YorkCiry 235

ApPADURA!, Arjun. "Sovereigniry wirhour Terrirorialiry: Notes for a PosmarionalGeography." Tbe Antbropology of Spac and Place: Locating Culture. Ed. Serha M.Low and Denise Lawrence-Ziga. New York: Blackwell 2003. 337-50.

ARCHETTI, Eduardo. Guinea Pigs: Food, Symbol and Conflict o/ 'Knoioledg in Ecuador.Oxford: Berg 1997. .

BHABHA, Homi. Tbe Location of Culrure. New York: Rourledge 1994.BOURDIEU, Pierre. Outline of a Tbeory ofPractice. Cambridge; New York: Cambridge

Universiry Press 1977.CAMACHO, Gloria, and Karrya HERNNDEZ, eds. Miradas transnacionales: Visiones de

la migracin ecuatoriana desde Espaa y Ecuador. Quiro: CEPLAES 2008.CANT, Lionel. The Sexuality o/ Migration: Border Crossings and Mexican Immigrant

Men. New York: New York Universiry Press 2009. Inrersecrions.CONNERTON, Paul. How Societies Rernember. Cambridge: Cambridge Universiry

Press 1989.DE GENOVA, Nicholas P. "Migranr 'Illegaliry' and Deporrabiliry in Everyday Life."Annual Review ofAnihropotogy. 31 (2002): 419-47.

FISCHLER, Claude. "Food, Sdf and Idenriry." Social Science Informaron, 27 (I98S):275-92.

GIROUX, Henry. Border Crossings: Cultural Workers ana the Politics of Education. NewYork: Rourledge 2005.

GRNENFELDER-ELLIKER, Barbara. "Exclusin ro rhe Poinr of Atrririon: GenderedEmigrarion from Ecuador ar a Crossroads." Paper prescnred ar rhe XXIIl Inrer-national Congress of rhe Larin American Studies Associarion. LASA. Washing-ron, D.C. 6 Sep. 2001.

HERRERA, Gioconda, ed. La migracin ecuatoriana: '[ransnacionalismo, redes e identi-dades. Quiro: FLACSO Ecuador 2005. Serie Foro.

HOLTZMAN, Jon. "Food and Memory." Annual Reoieu/ o/ 'Antbropology. 35 (2006):361-78.

HOWES, David, eds. Tbe Varieties o/Sensory Experience: A Sourcebook in the Antbro-pology o/ tbe Senses. Toronto: Universiry ofToronro Press 1991.

KYLE, David. Transnational Peasants: Migration, Netu/orks and Etbnicity in AndeanEcuador. Balrirnore: The John Hopkins Universiry Press 2000.

MATA CODESAL, Diana. "Earing abroad, Remembering (ar) Horne." Antbropology o/Food, 7 (2010). Web. 1 Feb. 2011. .

MINTZ, Sidney, and Chrisrine Du Bois, "The Anrhropology of Food and Earing."Annual Reuieu: 01'Amhropology: 31 (2002): 99-119.

Moscoso. Mara Fernanda. "Biografa para uso de los pjaros, memoria, infancia ymigracin." PhD Dissertarion. Berlin 2010.

ONG, Aihwa. Flexible Citizensbip: The Cultural Logics olTranmatonality. Durham:Duke Universiry Press 1999.

236 Maria AmeliaVireri

PRIBllSKY, jason. La cbulla vida: Gender, Migration, and th Family in AndeanEcuador and New York City. Syracuse: Syracuse University Press 2007. Genderand globaJizarion.

RIVERA,Lisandra L, and Manolo SARMIENTO(Regie): Problemas Personales.Ecuador:Pequea Nube Producciones 2002.

ROITMAN,Karem. 'Longos' and 'cholos': Ethnid'Racial'Discrimination among Mestizosin Ecuador. Mansfield: University of Oxford Press 2008. CRISE (Cenrer forResearch on Inequaliry, Human Securiry and Ethniciry), Working Paper 58.

ROSAlDO, Renato. Culture &Truth: The Remaking of Social Analysis. Boston: BeaconPress 1989.

STEWART,Karhleen. "Nosralgia - a Polernic." Cultural Antbropology. 3.3 (1988):227-4l.

STOllER, Paul. Embodying Colonial Memories: Spirit Possession, Pou/er and tbe Haukain WestAfrica. New York: Routledge 1995.

SlJITON, David. Remembrance o/ Repasts: An Antbropology o/ Food and Memory. NewYork: Berg 200 l.

The Varieties o/ Sensory Experience: A Sourcebook in the Anthropology o/ tbe Senses.Toronto: Universiry ofToronto Press 1991. Amhropological horizons.

VALENTINE,Gill, "Eating in: Horne, Consumption and Identiry," The SociologicalReview, 47 (1999): 491-524.

VITERl, Mara Amelia. "Out of place: Translarions of 'Race', Ethniciry, Sexuality andCirizenship in Washington, D.C. and San Salvador, El Salvador." Out of Place:Interrogating Silences in Queernmraciality. Ed. Adi Kuntsman and EsperanzaMiyake. York: Raw Nerve Books Lrd 2008a. 241-64.

- "'Queer no me da': Traduciendo fronteras sexuales y raciales en San Salvador yWashington D.C." Estudios sobre Sexualidades en Amrica Latina. Ed. KathyaAraujo and Mercedes Prieto. Quito: FLACSO 2008b. 91-108.

- "Seeking a Rdevant 'Queerness': Sexual, Racial and Nationalist Negoriarions ofIdentity amongst the 'Latino/a' Immigrant Community in Washington, D.C."PhD disserrarion. Washington 2008c.

VITERI, Mara Amelia, and Aaron TOBlER. Shifting Positionalities: The Local andlnternational Geo-politics of Surueillance and Policing. Newcastle upon Tyne:Cambridge Scholars Publishing 2009.

WATSON, James L. The Cultural Politics o/ Food and Eating: A Reader. Oxford;Malden: BlackweJl 2005. BlackweJl readers in anrhropology 8.

YUVAl-DAVIS,Nira. Human Security and the Gendered Politics o/ Belonging 2007.Web. 15 Feb, 2011. .

CONTESTED PRACTICES OF BELONGING:

SOCIAL MOBILITY, SPATIAL IDENTITY

AND THE DA DE LOS MUERTOS IN MEXICO

Eueline Drr

.,.

ABSTRACTTbis article explores contested practices o/ belonging in tbe context o/ the touristifica-tion o/ the Day o/ the Dead in Mida, Oaxaca, Mexico. 1 conceiue o/ befonging notonly as a sentiment and emotional attacbment but rather inuestigate the social prac-tices that create belonging; represent difference and [oster cultural identification. 1place emphasis on the spatial and representational dimensions o/ what belonging con-stitutes and explore tbe ways they are modified by local actors. 1 also stresstbe politicaldimension belonging entails by revealing tbe range o/ interests that become apparentwhen practices o/ belonging are contested. 1 argue that this approach is particularlyreleuant in the context o/ 'globalisation and social fragmentation, u/hen belonging irexperienced, negotiated and articulated in neu/ contexts.

INTRODUCTION

The Roman Catholic holiday All Souls Day/All Saints Day (first of Novern-ber) is one of Mexico's mosr renowned fiestas and promoted widely. Thepolitically motivated representarions of dearh and the deceased of nineteenthcentury cartoonist Jos Guadalupe Posada became idiosyncraric for Mexicoand find roday expression in the calaveras, skulls and skelerons, ofrenadorned wirh sugar, sold in myriad variarions on me Day of the Dead (Bran-des 1998). This celebrarion shows Mexicans' relarionships to dearh tharbecame intertwined wirh norions of national identity (Lornnitz-Adler 2005).In 2008, rhis fiesta was inscribed on UNESCO's Representative List of theIntangible Cultural Herirage ofHumanity (cf Unesco 2008). In the contextof Mexican migrarion, the da de los muertos, also called todos santos, has beenrranslocalised and rurned inro a rransnarional social field, linking togethercommuniries of migrarion and origin (Burrell 2005). In rhis vein, ir is con-sidered a field where belonging is enacred and reinforced across inrernationalborders, While rhis is also rhe case in Mida, a tourist rown locared in the