族群传统与社会适应——尼泊尔海外藏人饮食文化的人类学研究

Ethnic Tradition and Social Adaptation:An Anthropological Study of the Food Cultural Changes of Overseas Tibetan in Nepal

海外藏人作为特殊移民群体的一个重要特征就是远离故土而迁徙并生存于异地,但是在文化上又与故土保持文化亲密与联结。在南亚国家尼泊尔这样一个异域空间里生活,藏人们试图在维持族群传统与社会适应之间取得平衡,既要利用文化传统延续他们的族群身份与认同,又要尽可能融入当地社会并获取足够的生存资源。这种状态深刻反映在他们的饮食文化中。作为民族文化的一个重要组成部分,看似凡俗的日常饮食背后实则有丰富的社会意义。立足于饮食人类学的研究视野,通过考察在尼泊尔生活已经超过半个世纪的海外藏人饮食习俗的传承与再造,可以窥探出这个族群及其文化体系在离散的异域时空中所面对的坚守与变革。一方面,定居在尼泊尔的海外藏人通过恪守饮食传统来区分“自我”与“他者”,这种与尼泊尔国内其他族群的区隔彰显了他们积极构建和强化族群边界的主动姿态,有利于捍卫他们的族群身份进而实现长期维持高度族群认同的基本目标。另一方面,他们也通过饮食适应着当地的社会与生态环境,并利用各种方式积极融入尼泊尔社会,当然这种适应也引发了藏人群体内部不同代际之间的分化与区隔,并集中反映在依旧生活在尼泊尔的第三代藏人身上,体现出他们主动融入当地多元社会并追求被当地人支持和接纳的友善姿态。整体来看,恪守传统和社会适应将成为尼泊尔海外藏人一种生活状态,并在一段时间内持续维持。

One important characteristic of overseas Tibetans as a special immigrant group is that they have migrated far from their homeland and now live in foreign lands,but they still maintain a close cultural connection with their place of origin.Living in an exotic space in the South Asian country Nepal,they are trying to balance maintaining their ethnic traditions with social adaptation.They should not only use cultural traditions to continue their ethnic identity and identity,but also integrate into the local society as much as possible and obtain enough survival resources.This state of affairs is deeply reflected in their food culture.As an integral part of ethnic culture,seemingly ordinary daily food carries rich social significance behind it.Based on the perspective of food anthropology,by examining the inheritance and transformation of the dietary customs of overseas Tibetans who have lived in Nepal for over half a century,we can gain insight into the resilience and adaptation faced by this group and its cultural system in the dispersed and foreign temporal and spatial context. On the one hand, the overseas Tibetans residing in Nepal distinguish ‘self’ from ‘others’ by adhering to dietary traditions. This differentiation from other ethnic groups within Nepal highlights their proactive stance in constructing and reinforcing ethnic boundaries, which is conducive to defending their ethnic identity and, in turn, achieving the fundamental goal of long-term maintenance of a strong ethnic identity. On the other hand, they also adapt to the local society and ecological environment through their dietary choices and actively integrate into Nepali society through various means. However, this adaptation also leads to differentiation and distinctions within the Tibetan community, particularly among the third generation of Tibetans who still live in Nepal. This reflects their proactive efforts to assimilate into the diverse local society and seek a friendly attitude of support and acceptance from local people. Overall, adhering to tradition and social adaptation will become a way of life for overseas Tibetans in Nepal and will be sustained for a period of time.