The changing tradition of Chinese confinement in Singapore : food, folklore and the family.

• Main Author: Chen, Quin Hui.
• Other Authors: Geoffrey Benjamin
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2010
• Subjects: DRNTU::Social sciences
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/34200
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

The existing literature on the confinement tradition focuses on anthropological documentation of postpartum practices, the nutritional and psychological aspects of these practices and its effects on mothers. This research, however, provides an overview of Chinese confinement with a focus on dietary practices in contemporary Singapore and takes into account the family dynamics and changes across two generations of mothers who engage in the confinement ritual. The Chinese confinement tradition and practices, structures the mothers’ postpartum experiences, yet rationalization allows for a certain degree of agency to be exercised in relation to the practices. This brings about changes to the way confinement is carried out in contemporary Singapore. My findings shed light on the evolving aspect of the confinement ritual, the importance of the family in the confinement tradition and the macro and micro interactions that affect the way confinement is carried out in the present-day context.