Political Gastronomy

Food and Authority in the English Atlantic World

Nonfiction, History, Renaissance, Americas, United States, Colonial Period (1600-1775)
Cover of the book Political Gastronomy by Michael A. LaCombe, University of Pennsylvania Press, Inc.
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Michael A. LaCombe ISBN: 9780812207156
Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press, Inc. Publication: July 24, 2012
Imprint: University of Pennsylvania Press Language: English
Author: Michael A. LaCombe
ISBN: 9780812207156
Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press, Inc.
Publication: July 24, 2012
Imprint: University of Pennsylvania Press
Language: English

"The table constitutes a kind of tie between the bargainer and the bargained-with, and makes the diners more willing to receive certain impressions, to submit to certain influences: from this is born political gastronomy. Meals have become a means of governing, and the fate of whole peoples is decided at a banquet."—Jean Anthèlme Brillat-Savarin, The Physiology of Taste, or, Meditations on Transcendental Gastronomy

The first Thanksgiving at Plymouth in 1621 was a powerfully symbolic event and not merely the pageant of abundance that we still reenact today. In these early encounters between Indians and English in North America, food was also symbolic of power: the venison brought to Plymouth by the Indians, for example, was resonant of both masculine skill with weapons and the status of the men who offered it. These meanings were clearly understood by Plymouth's leaders, however weak they appeared in comparison.

Political Gastronomy examines the meaning of food in its many facets: planting, gathering, hunting, cooking, shared meals, and the daily labor that sustained ordinary households. Public occasions such as the first Thanksgiving could be used to reinforce claims to status and precedence, but even seemingly trivial gestures could dramatize the tense negotiations of status and authority: an offer of roast squirrel or a spoonful of beer, a guest's refusal to accept his place at the table, the presence and type of utensils, whether hands should be washed or napkins used. Historian Michael A. LaCombe places Anglo-Indian encounters at the center of his study, and his wide-ranging research shows that despite their many differences in language, culture, and beliefs, English settlers and American Indians were able to communicate reciprocally in the symbolic language of food.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

"The table constitutes a kind of tie between the bargainer and the bargained-with, and makes the diners more willing to receive certain impressions, to submit to certain influences: from this is born political gastronomy. Meals have become a means of governing, and the fate of whole peoples is decided at a banquet."—Jean Anthèlme Brillat-Savarin, The Physiology of Taste, or, Meditations on Transcendental Gastronomy

The first Thanksgiving at Plymouth in 1621 was a powerfully symbolic event and not merely the pageant of abundance that we still reenact today. In these early encounters between Indians and English in North America, food was also symbolic of power: the venison brought to Plymouth by the Indians, for example, was resonant of both masculine skill with weapons and the status of the men who offered it. These meanings were clearly understood by Plymouth's leaders, however weak they appeared in comparison.

Political Gastronomy examines the meaning of food in its many facets: planting, gathering, hunting, cooking, shared meals, and the daily labor that sustained ordinary households. Public occasions such as the first Thanksgiving could be used to reinforce claims to status and precedence, but even seemingly trivial gestures could dramatize the tense negotiations of status and authority: an offer of roast squirrel or a spoonful of beer, a guest's refusal to accept his place at the table, the presence and type of utensils, whether hands should be washed or napkins used. Historian Michael A. LaCombe places Anglo-Indian encounters at the center of his study, and his wide-ranging research shows that despite their many differences in language, culture, and beliefs, English settlers and American Indians were able to communicate reciprocally in the symbolic language of food.

More books from University of Pennsylvania Press, Inc.

Cover of the book The Life of Benjamin Franklin, Volume 2 by Michael A. LaCombe
Cover of the book Principles of Housing Finance Reform by Michael A. LaCombe
Cover of the book To March for Others by Michael A. LaCombe
Cover of the book The Capture of Constantinople by Michael A. LaCombe
Cover of the book Shades of Difference by Michael A. LaCombe
Cover of the book The Pleasure Garden, from Vauxhall to Coney Island by Michael A. LaCombe
Cover of the book Capitalism by Gaslight by Michael A. LaCombe
Cover of the book Strange Bedfellows by Michael A. LaCombe
Cover of the book Imperial Entanglements by Michael A. LaCombe
Cover of the book American Childhoods by Michael A. LaCombe
Cover of the book Before Harlem by Michael A. LaCombe
Cover of the book Religion and Profit by Michael A. LaCombe
Cover of the book The People's Network by Michael A. LaCombe
Cover of the book The Shame and the Sorrow by Michael A. LaCombe
Cover of the book Before the Normans by Michael A. LaCombe
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy