“How authentic is your curry”? performing curry and diasporic identity in Naben Ruthnum’s Curry: Eating, Reading, and Race

Abstract

ABSTRACT In this article, I examine Indo-Mauritian-Canadian author Naben Ruthnum’s memoir-essay Curry: Eating, Reading, Race (2017) in order to examine the veracity of the dominant perception of South Asian diasporic identity as a collective designation through its association with the ubiquitous dish of curry which embodies a predominant cultural signifier of an extensively diverse population. Ruthnum’s significant aim is to challenge the existence of a supposedly authentic Indian curry and also to question the risk-averse publishing industry which solicits stories steeped in stereotypically authentic and nostalgic experiences from the second or third generation South Asian diasporic authors. Through an exploration of many ideas of authenticity and multiple ways of cooking the diverse dish of curry, I argue that diasporic authenticity is more appropriately performed not through replication and preservation of the past, but through constant recreation and reinvention of an individual’s present predicaments. Authenticity in diaspora is, therefore, unique and individual, and an embodiment of personal history. As there are many truths to the same story, and many versions of the same story, there are multiple ways of cooking authentic curries and diverse modes of confronting one’s own self as a South Asian diasporic in the world.