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Abstract
This paper deals with a basic question: How central is rice to Philippine culture, as gleaned from its role in Filipino material and cultural life? To answer this question, this paper focuses on the structural position of most Filipinos vis-à-vis rice. Economic changes have rendered most Filipinos, even in rural areas, as consumers rather than as producers of rice. The paper provides a brief social history of rice, from a mainly elite and nonstaple food in precolonial times to a relatively widely available staple food by the end of the nineteenth century. This process was accompanied by two interrelated developments: the diminution of magical elements, and the symbolic displacement of rice. Today, rice reflects the stratification of Philippine society, as supported by the latest quantitative data on rice consumption. The paper concludes with reflections on the significance of rice for commensality at the level of small groups, and on its marginality for the society as a whole, brought about by consumer culture, urbanization, and the Green Revolution.
1 Introduction
Food and culture are intimately related and mutually constitutive. However, their precise relationship is a matter of debate (e.g., Douglas 1966; Harris 1974; Goody 1982; Bourdieu 1984). Moreover, the relationship between food and culture is subject to the specificities of time and place, and must therefore be understood as a historical process.
The celebration of 2004 as the international year of the rice provided the occasion for this paper's analysis. Offhand, it is noteworthy that this celebration did not grab the attention of most Filipinos. The muted celebration is indicative of this paper's main argument. Although some may want to see rice as a glorious manifestation of Philippine culture, I would argue for a view of rice as a register of the complexity of Philippine society, history, and culture. The equation of rice with life, as trumpeted during the 2004 celebration, is a rather simple and even romanticized view that is untenable. In any event, the year of rice offered an opportunity to step back and analyze what we easily take for granted in our collective life.
To answer the basic question about the centrality of rice in Philippine culture, this paper focuses on the structural position of most Filipinos visà-vis rice, which,...