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Eating Culture
Eating has never been simple, and contemporary eating practices seem more complicated than ever, demanding a multidimensional analysis that strives not for a reductive overview but for a complex understanding. Eating Culture offers a number of diverse outlooks on some of the prominent practices and issues associated with the domain of eating in contemporary culture. Lavishly illustrated with nineteen photographs and eleven historical postcards, the book brings to bear contemporary, interdisciplinary thinking on a topic that has been widely but not critically discussed in the media. Contributors include Carol Adams, Marianna Beck, Susan Bordo, Priscilla Ferguson, Joanne Finkelstein, Dianna Fuss, Deborah R. Geis, bell hooks, David F. Krell, Steven F. Kruger, Alfonso Lingis, Mary Lukanuski, Gary Paul Nabhan, Ed Schiffer, Stephen Steinberg, Jeff Weinstein, Allen S. Weiss, Doris S. Witt, and Sharon Zukin.
312 pages, Paperback
First published August 1, 1998
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
May 23, 2018
Spectacular read, though a tad dense at times, filled with insights and observations and "ways of seeing" that are certain to be new to most people. Some of the most interesting pieces--
1. Eating and hunger as an "ideology"-- how it has associated gender roles, that get reinforced and permeated through a positive feedback loop between society and popular culture, specifically through the medium of advertising.
2. The most lingering image of AIDS is that of an afflicted gay man wasting way into nothing. Turns out this created a sub-culture within the HIV+ community that used zines, pamphlets and periodicals with content aimed at helping AIDS patients avoid weight loss and emaciation (with tons of dark humour, "eat all that butter don't worry about the calories, you probably won't live long enough to contract heart disease anyway").
3. An entire chapter on the stigma of eating alone, and solitary-ness
4. Food erotica ("she licked the sauce voluptuously off his..." you get the idea)
5. A chapter describing the typical career trajectories for a chef in France, as opposed to one in the US
6. A chapter on experiencing different cultures via food and travel
7. A chapter on different art pieces that involved food or eating (one artist explored intimacy going into strangers' houses and cleaning their dishes (and examining, for example, how much about their life they were willing to share with a stranger, by not hiding what they ate, or how much, and how), and another artist creating a metaphor for bulimia and body image by biting into a large block of lard and spitting it out (~throwing up) and making the chewed out pieces into lipstick (cosmetics and body image))
8. A chapter analysing picture postcards that different restaurants used to send out in the early 1900s as a means of advertisement-- what is depicted on the postcard? what is written on it? what does it say about the restaurant? what does it say about the clientele? what does it say about society in general?
9. An article on traditional Native American farming and gathering techniques, and how their loss affected the health within the newer generations of the Native American community (this piece makes a wider statement on "industrialised" agriculture in general, and how it leads to the loss of a vast number of traditional crops and foodstuffs, not to mention traditions themselves, simply because they are not profitable)
10. An incredible piece on the act of "dining out", and how it is ultimately a performance by both the restaurant as well as the customer.
11. A compilation of feminist performance art pieces related to eating-- and how eating and feminism interact with each other
12. A piece by bell hook (bell hook!)
I only list 12 of the 19 total pieces but each and every one was a very rewarding read. This book can sometimes be dense, but don't let that deter you-- keep it on your shelf and read it slowly, one piece at a time, taking long breaks in between if needed-- that is what anthologies are great at!
It was by a lucky accident that this title caught my eye at a second hand bookstore-- this isn't the kind of book that I usually seek out, in no small part because I don't know enough about the fields (critical theory, etc.) that such books cover. This one, however, treads the fine line of being deep and insightful enough to fascinate, yet not so technical that average readers would be put off. Very highly recommended.
1. Eating and hunger as an "ideology"-- how it has associated gender roles, that get reinforced and permeated through a positive feedback loop between society and popular culture, specifically through the medium of advertising.
2. The most lingering image of AIDS is that of an afflicted gay man wasting way into nothing. Turns out this created a sub-culture within the HIV+ community that used zines, pamphlets and periodicals with content aimed at helping AIDS patients avoid weight loss and emaciation (with tons of dark humour, "eat all that butter don't worry about the calories, you probably won't live long enough to contract heart disease anyway").
3. An entire chapter on the stigma of eating alone, and solitary-ness
4. Food erotica ("she licked the sauce voluptuously off his..." you get the idea)
5. A chapter describing the typical career trajectories for a chef in France, as opposed to one in the US
6. A chapter on experiencing different cultures via food and travel
7. A chapter on different art pieces that involved food or eating (one artist explored intimacy going into strangers' houses and cleaning their dishes (and examining, for example, how much about their life they were willing to share with a stranger, by not hiding what they ate, or how much, and how), and another artist creating a metaphor for bulimia and body image by biting into a large block of lard and spitting it out (~throwing up) and making the chewed out pieces into lipstick (cosmetics and body image))
8. A chapter analysing picture postcards that different restaurants used to send out in the early 1900s as a means of advertisement-- what is depicted on the postcard? what is written on it? what does it say about the restaurant? what does it say about the clientele? what does it say about society in general?
9. An article on traditional Native American farming and gathering techniques, and how their loss affected the health within the newer generations of the Native American community (this piece makes a wider statement on "industrialised" agriculture in general, and how it leads to the loss of a vast number of traditional crops and foodstuffs, not to mention traditions themselves, simply because they are not profitable)
10. An incredible piece on the act of "dining out", and how it is ultimately a performance by both the restaurant as well as the customer.
11. A compilation of feminist performance art pieces related to eating-- and how eating and feminism interact with each other
12. A piece by bell hook (bell hook!)
I only list 12 of the 19 total pieces but each and every one was a very rewarding read. This book can sometimes be dense, but don't let that deter you-- keep it on your shelf and read it slowly, one piece at a time, taking long breaks in between if needed-- that is what anthologies are great at!
It was by a lucky accident that this title caught my eye at a second hand bookstore-- this isn't the kind of book that I usually seek out, in no small part because I don't know enough about the fields (critical theory, etc.) that such books cover. This one, however, treads the fine line of being deep and insightful enough to fascinate, yet not so technical that average readers would be put off. Very highly recommended.
January 24, 2011
"Eating Culture" by editors Ron Scapp and Brian Seitz is a collection of essays that examine the more abstract nature of food and culture. Featuring 19 articles (at 303 pages) from a variety of well-known authors from a number of disciplines, "Eating Culture" provides a sociological glance at food and its implications in ethnicity, culture, sexuality, and gender (to name a few of the concepts addressed). Scapp and Seitz provide an interesting cross-section of food as a cultural elements with truly thought provoking articles.
I enjoyed "Eating Culture" and have referred back to the articles a number of times in writing assignments on food issues and in exploring larger issues of identity. I would add a caution that the articles require a certain amount of background knowledge in modern sociological arguments and theories. I felt that the book was written for intermediate coursework on the topic and that it is perhaps overwhelming as an introductory text. The issues discussed are controversial and provide an ample starting platform for further discussion of the subject matter.
I would recommend this book as a text for a class addressing food culture issues. It's not as fun as some of the other books out there, but it creates a dialog at an academic level. The articles take some time to work through and the material is sufficiently varied to remain fresh over the course of a semester (if the book is paired along with other books in the class). The articles will require time for discussion in order for students to be able to flesh out the ideas discussed. Whether in an academic setting or not, "Eating Culture" is a useful exploration of food and culture that can satiate almost any reader's interest in the subject.
I enjoyed "Eating Culture" and have referred back to the articles a number of times in writing assignments on food issues and in exploring larger issues of identity. I would add a caution that the articles require a certain amount of background knowledge in modern sociological arguments and theories. I felt that the book was written for intermediate coursework on the topic and that it is perhaps overwhelming as an introductory text. The issues discussed are controversial and provide an ample starting platform for further discussion of the subject matter.
I would recommend this book as a text for a class addressing food culture issues. It's not as fun as some of the other books out there, but it creates a dialog at an academic level. The articles take some time to work through and the material is sufficiently varied to remain fresh over the course of a semester (if the book is paired along with other books in the class). The articles will require time for discussion in order for students to be able to flesh out the ideas discussed. Whether in an academic setting or not, "Eating Culture" is a useful exploration of food and culture that can satiate almost any reader's interest in the subject.
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March 5, 2009References the AIDS zine Diseased Pariah News in the chapter "Get Fat, Don't Die!": Eating and AIDS in Gay Men's Culture by Steven F. Kruger.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews