What an immense task it is to choose a specific topic out of a region spanning three continents and over 2000 years. The Silk Road is full of interesting history, cultural diffusion, empires, nomads, languages and more.
\nAs part of the Tongue Team, I can attest that we were initially overwhelmed. Our focus drifted from examining empires and social structures, to looking at translators and the maritime trade route. Our interests were then piqued by the nomadic Xiongnu peoples of the steppe in central Asia, who\u2019s milk wine and pastoral lifestyle grabbed our attention. However, upon realizing this group of people left no traces of a written language, we shifted our scope yet again to concentrate on the city of Kashgar, the Uyghur people, and the Xinjiang region of Western China.
\nDespite figuring out a location, we were left to pinpoint our interests to form a coherent and feasible project. Our interests in the history of the region coupled with Kashgar being a landmark city throughout the history of the Silk Road, made choosing a time period especially challenging. Several members of our group\u2014myself included\u2014had expressed particular interest in Chinese cuisine. In a moment of brilliance, the thought of using a contemporary meal as a vehicle for examining the customs, history and society of Kashgar, was put on the table (pun intended).
\nWhile we have yet to decide the components of the contemporary meal of choice, many options are available to choose from. The importance of breads such as nan, spices like cumin, tea and other beverages as well as livestock, provide a variety of choices regarding traditional meals. Similarly, the traditions behind preparation, storage and eating habits will certainly play a role in our research in the weeks to come. As the tongue group, we had ironically shifted our stance from the tongue being a symbol of language to a symbol of food.
\nHaving chosen food as our focus, roles for our group simply grew out of food itself. My interest in cuisine stems from eating food in China. The unique dishes, cultural values and symbols food has in certain areas are fascinating, not to mention how incredible the food itself tastes. As a fan of spices, noodles and street food, I\u2019ll be examining the diffusion of peppers, the significance of grains and also the importance of livestock to the Xinjiang people throughout history. My research will likely take me from the Mediterranean to the Ming dynasty in search of why people eat what they eat in Kashgar.
\nUnfortunately, in my research so far, food has not been commonly documented. Following spices from place to place will require considerable browsing through first-person accounts as well as merchant records if available. I\u2019m predicting that this is the main area where our group will need technical assistance. How to effectively find articles that will prove useful to our project may require some outside help. Though this could be a deterrent, our focus on contemporary food will give us a good starting point for our research, as we won\u2019t be blindly searching for the traditional meals of 12th century Xinjiang residents. It so happens that a previous teacher of mine identifies as Uyghur and lived in Xinjiang much of her life. I am looking forward to speaking with her about this project and the valuable insight she may provide through personal experience.
\nAs far as our group\u2019s experience on this topic goes, we have very little background. However, I have no doubt in the creativity of this team\u2014definitely a strong suite\u2014which was realized during the brainstorming process. The connections and ideas that were discussed for our proposals were often ambitious but exciting. Personally, I want our final project to be a creative product that really draws in the viewer. Not only are these much more interesting to our audience, they\u2019re more fun to create. If there is some way to share a meal through a narrative with characters, almost in the form of a story, I think we\u2019d enjoy the creativity it would bring. Another option could be sharing in the style of a first-person account of their experience with food customs in the Xinjiang region.
\nNo matter what way we decide to present our project, I still feel quite out of my league regarding my knowledge base in this area. While our subject of study is slowly taking shape, I\u2019m worried that we may constantly be discovering new avenues of research that despite being interesting, pull us away from our core element of the meal itself. Following the strands of evidence through the history of the Silk Road is much like following the Silk Road itself: exhausting. I hope we don\u2019t lose our passion for our theme midway through the project, or somehow find all available resources exhausted. Despite these concerns, I know that working as a group will be a motivational factor behind staying interested and responsible for progress.
\nProgress that I hope to make surrounding the digital aspects of our project include learning more about web design and the graphics involved in creating a visually appealing website. It is easy to tell when browsing through webpages today, which websites were created by professionals and which were thrown together haphazardly. Unfortunately, the ones that are haphazard are often a gold mine of information that gets ignored. I hope we are able to display our research with style and flair. Following the design aspects, I\u2019m unsure about how programming and writing code will contribute to the creation of pages, I\u2019d be interested in dabbling in the programming behind the website itself if it seems applicable.
\nBesides these technological interests, I am particularly excited to research food itself. It is an inescapable, essential part of culture, and in my humble opinion one of the greatest parts. At the completion of this course, our January Term journey will take us through the same regions we are studying. Having an appreciation for the history and cultural values around the food will surely enhance the enjoyment of eating the meals themselves.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
What an immense task it is to choose a specific topic out of a region spanning three continents and over 2000 years. The Silk Road is full of interesting history, cultural diffusion, empires, nomads, languages and more. As part of the Tongue Team, I can attest that we were initially overwhelmed. Our focus drifted from … Continue reading Silk Road Adventure: 1<\/span>