Culture plays a crucial role in society as it affects all aspects of human life. It shapes how people think and act in different situations, their values, choices, and how they view themselves and others. Culture can also impact a person’s attitudes toward foreign cultures and customs. Thus, certain culinary traditions may be either recognized as acceptable or rejected as intolerable depending on one’s culture and whether one perceives those customs from the point of view of ethnocentrism or cultural relativism.
Ethnocentrism can be defined as the practice of evaluating other cultures through the lens of own culture. According to Yongkun (2018), ethnocentrism is often based on the belief that one’s culture, customs, and traditions are superior to others and should be viewed as a benchmark for evaluating different cultures. Thus, people raised within the framework of one culture and who are rarely exposed to representatives of other nations tend to evaluate customs and traditions unfamiliar to them as inferior. Judgments and false assumptions about cultural norms and differences are routinely made if ethnocentrism is the dominant perspective on world cultures (Yongkun, 2018). This can lead to misunderstandings, bias, discrimination, and the inability to build effective intercultural communication (Yongkun, 2018). Overall, failure to understand other cultures and customs and traditions associated with them can be detrimental to international communication and lead to conflict.
Meanwhile, cultural relativism can be described as the opposite approach to ethnocentrism. According to Yongkun (2018), it is the view that the beliefs and values an individual holds are culturally relative. Cultural relativism argues that each culture is distinctly unique and whole in itself (Nazir, 2018). Therefore, a culture cannot be judged and evaluated by other cultures’ norms, beliefs, and values. Unlike ethnocentrism, cultural relativism promotes a better understanding of others as it claims that each person’s attitudes, beliefs, and values can be explained through their culture. However, no culture should be judged without a deeper understanding of how it developed over centuries and the significance each custom and tradition holds. Thus, cultural relativism encourages intercultural communication and cooperation.
Cuisine is an essential part of the culture of the nation. Kordzińska-Nawrocka (2019) notes that culinary identity, as a combination of cuisine and dietary customs and traditions, plays a crucial role in shaping nationalities and culture as a whole. Therefore, one’s culinary identity and habits can be viewed through ethnocentrism or cultural relativism. Dishes using cat or dog meat, cod sperm, maggot cheese, or monkey brains can be viewed differently if these approaches are applied. Thus, if the concept of ethnocentrism is used, it can be argued that those meals are unacceptable and repugnant as the ingredients used are foreign to American culture. Application of the concept of cultural relativism would yield a different perspective. From this point of view, these foods are unique representations of the nations they belong to. Furthermore, they can be viewed as the reflection of the history and culture of a country. Therefore, their consumption within the framework of their culture is acceptable.
In summary, culture substantially impacts an individual’s values, beliefs, and views, including those of other nationalities and ethnicities. Ethnocentrism promotes evaluations based on one’s own culture, while cultural relativism argues against such judgments and comparisons. Culinary traditions of a nation can be viewed through ethnocentrism or cultural relativism, and one’s perceptions of unusual dishes depend on their approach to the evaluation of other cultures.
References
Kordzińska-Nawrocka, I. (2019). Japanese Culinary Culture and Identity. Journal of Polish Association for Japanese Studies, 9, 61–73.
Nazir, F. (2018). Humanism with a difference: Universality and cultural difference in postcolonial theory. Journal of Contemporary Poetics, 2(1), 1–18.
Yongkun, W. (2018). Ethnocentrism: A common human failing. 3rd International Social Sciences and Education Conference.