Familiar Flavors : Sensorial Experiences of Familiarity and Transnational Food Practices Amongst International Students

Abstract: The thesis takes a reflexive feminist and sensory approach in examining the transnational practices and feelings of cultural familiarity that embody international student migrants, as well as the spatial and social implications of shared kitchen environments. Empirically, the research is based in participatory cook- and eat-along interviews, and a focus group dinner session with six student participants, situating both the researcher and the participants within the sensorial realm of food practices during the fieldwork. The thesis discusses the compromises and negotiations that food practices undergo through material accessibility, geographical knowledges and expectations in crosscultural interactions, causing reconstructions and reinterpretations of daily routines and transnational feelings. Further, the thesis engages reflexively with the embodied situatedness of the researcher and its influence on the results produced throughout the research process. The research highlight the importance of a reflexive approach in sensorial research and emphasize how the sensorial perspective on mundane everyday practices contribute to an in-depth understanding of the lived experiences of migrants. The research findings in relation to the methodological approach, suggest benefits in further fieldwork with an interactive approach of cooking and eating simultaneously to the reflexive interview interaction.