Page 21 - Introducing Cultural Studies
P. 21
More generally, balti hides a subtle transformation that the
restaurants from the Subcontinent have experienced and are
experiencing. The selling of balti, as a renovated traditional and
authentic "Indian", is a way for the Subcontinental restaurants
both to reposition themselves in relation to British society and
to reclaim their history.
By attaching different labels to basically the same food, the
Indian restaurant broke out of its working-class image and
acquired a fashionable label. The great leap of the balti is not
unlike Marcel Duchamp's (1887-1968) helping leap for the
humble urinal.
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