Cultural presentations and extension of self from the artefacts of tableware

Abstract

The artefacts of tableware have been designed to facilitate the essential and ineluctable daily practice of dining in western and Chinese cultures. Apart from performing their function, the artefacts also reflect the corresponding cultures. This study investigated how the artefacts of fork and knife vs. chopsticks daily embody and present western and Chinese cultures, respectively, as evidenced by literature and everyday life practice. Owing to complementary considerations, this study combined etic and emic approaches by applying individualism and collectivism and Chinese cultural concepts including guanxi, mianzi and yin yang as the theoretical framework. Driven by individualism, fork and knife capture features of specialization, division of labour, equality and expressiveness in western culture. On the contrary, powered by collectivism, chopsticks epitomize attributes of harmony, unity and complementarity in Chinese culture. Moreover, instead of being objectified and passive artefacts, this article argued that fork and knife vs. chopsticks have implicitly and reversely shaped the thoughts and deeds of their users in their respective cultures.