Gongfu Tea Culture in North America: an ethnographic study of enculturation
- Neldon Hamblin
- Oct 1
- 1 min read
Hey, Friends!
I was at the Northwest Tea Festival recently and it was a SMASHING success! I'm still working on editing the photos and my writeup, but at my presentation, I was approached by several of you wanting to read my senior capstone thesis for my anthropology degree. As such, while I'm editing everything, I wanted to upload my thesis here for you all to read and enjoy at your leisure. So, I have uploaded my thesis as a word file and a PDF for your pleasure. I also have the link, which takes you to Google Docs, here, if you'd prefer that.
Essentially, I looked at what the tea community looks like in No
rth America, analyzing demographics. My main research question involved looking at what motivates North Americans to get involved in gongfu brewing, specifically with these four questions being the main focuses:
1.) Why do North Americans get involved in traditional Chinese gongfu brewing and share the practice with others?
2.) How do North Americans insert themselves into gongfu culture (identity, health, community, aesthetics)?
3.) How does this insertion affect perceptions of traditional tea culture?
4.) What beliefs about gongfu tea culture motivate North Americans to get involved?
As a quick note, this research was conducted 2023 so it is slightly dated, but I am actually working on updating it and modernizing it with the more recent data. The tea community has grown significantly during the past 2 years and I wanted to make a quick note of this. Enjoy, friends!
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