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Tasting ‘kienyeji’: gustatory explorations of city futures in Nakuru, Kenya

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 March 2023

Nick Rahier
Nick Rahier*
Affiliation:
University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
*
Email: nick.rahier@kuleuven.be
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Abstract

In Nakuru, a secondary city in Kenya, the city’s future is explored multi-sensorially. In this article, I argue that Nakuru residents explore urban futures through the taste of different kinds of foods. I examine how the relational power of taste not only triggers visceral imaginaries of greener and ‘cooler’ futures in which bodies and landscapes grow more ample, lush and healthy but also invokes memories of, and nostalgia for, pasts in which the entanglements of foods were configured differently, often explained as more ‘authentic’ and ‘clean’ (safi). I argue against vision as the most important sense-making tool to look back at lost pasts and to ‘imagine’ healthier urban futures. Instead, I demonstrate how futures in Nakuru are experienced and given shape by engaging in critical gustatory explorations of the real, tangible materialities of different kinds of food that flow through the city.

Résumé

Résumé

À Nakuru, ville secondaire du Kenya, l’avenir de la ville est exploré de manière multisensorielle. Dans cet article, l’auteur soutient que les résidents de Nakuru explorent les futurs urbains à travers le goût de types d’aliments divers. Il examine comment le pouvoir relationnel du goût non seulement déclenche des imaginaires viscéraux de futurs plus verts et plus « cools » dans lesquels les corps et les paysages deviennent plus corpulents, plus luxuriants et plus sains, mais également invoque des souvenirs et une nostalgie de passés dans lesquels les imbrications d’aliments étaient configurées différemment, souvent décrites comme étant plus « authentiques » et plus « nettes » (safi). L’auteur conteste que la vision soit l’outil de création de sens le plus important pour repenser à des passés perdus et « imaginer » des futurs urbains plus sains. Au lieu de cela, il démontre comment les futurs à Nakuru se vivent et prennent forme en se livrant à des explorations gustatives critiques des matérialités tangibles réelles de différents types de nourriture rencontrés dans la ville.

Resumo

Resumo

Em Nakuru, uma cidade secundária do Quénia, o futuro da cidade é explorado de forma multi-sensorial. Neste artigo, argumento que os residentes de Nakuru exploram futuros urbanos através do sabor de diferentes tipos de alimentos. Analiso como o poder relacional do gosto não só desencadeia imaginários viscerais de futuros mais verdes e “frescos”, nos quais corpos e paisagens crescem mais amplos, exuberantes e saudáveis, mas também invoca memórias e nostalgia de, passados em que os enredos dos alimentos foram configurados de forma diferente, muitas vezes explicados como mais “autênticos” e “limpos” (safi). Eu contesto a ideia da visão como o instrumento de fazer-sentido mais importante para olhar para passados perdidos e para 'imaginar' futuros urbanos mais saudáveis. Em vez disso, demonstro como os futuros em Nakuru são vivenciados e moldados através de explorações gustativas críticas das materialidades reais e tangíveis dos diferentes tipos de alimentos que fluem através da cidade.

Type
Senses, animals and corporealities
Information
Africa , Volume 93 , Issue 1 , February 2023 , pp. 80 - 99
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Copyright
© The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the International African Institute

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