Book | Writing Food History

Mavi Boncuk |

Writing Food History
A Global Perspective
Editor(s): Kyri W. Claflin[1], Peter Scholliers[2]

Published: 10-01-2012
Format: Paperback
Edition: 1st
Extent: 304
ISBN: 9781847888082
Imprint: Berg Publishers
Dimensions: 6 1/8" x 9 1/4"

See also: A Cultural History of Food  presents a comprehensive, authoritative overview of food from ancient times to the present. Together, the six volumes cover almost 3,000 years of food and its physical, spiritual, social and cultural dimensions. 

 About Writing Food History 

The vibrant interest in food studies among both academics and amateurs has made food history an exciting field of investigation. Taking stock of three decades of groundbreaking multidisciplinary research, the book examines two broad questions: What has history contributed to the development of food studies? How have other disciplines - sociology, anthropology, literary criticism, science, art history - influenced writing on food history in terms of approach, methodology, controversies, and knowledge of past foodways?

Essays by twelve prominent scholars provide a compendium of global and multicultural answers to these questions. The contributors critically assess food history writing in the United States, Africa, Mexico and the Spanish Diaspora, India, the Ottoman Empire, the Far East - China, Japan and Korea - Europe, Jewish communities and the Middle East. Several historical eras are covered: the Ancient World, the Middle Ages, Early Modern Europe and the Modern day.

The book is a unique addition to the growing literature on food history. It is required reading for anyone seeking a detailed discussion of food history research in diverse times and places.

[1] Kyri W. Claflin teaches at Boston University and is the author of numerous articles including 'Les Halles and the Moral Market: Frigophobia Strikes in the Belly of Paris,' in the Oxford Symposium volume Food & Morality Writes: Food History, Anthropology of Food 

[2] Peter Scholliers is Professor of Contemporary History at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel. He edited Food, Drink and Identity: Cooking, Eating and Drinking in Europe since the Middle Ages (2001), and published Food Culture in Belgium. Writes: Food History, Culture and Society, Cultural History, Anthropology of Food, Drink, Economic History, Social History, European History Author of : Wages, Manufacturers and Workers in the Nineteenth-Century Factory Editor(s) of: A Cultural History of Food, Writing Food History, Eating Out in Europe, Food, Drink and Identity, Real Wages in 19th and 20th Century Europe 

Table of contents

Introduction: Surveying World Food Historiography. Kyri W. Claflin & Peter Scholliers 

Part One: The West
Food and Drink In The Ancient World. John Wilkins, University of Exeter (UK) 
Food Histories Of The Middle Ages. Paul Freedman, Yale University (USA)
Food Among The Historians: Early Modern Europe . Kyri W. Claflin, Boston University (USA)
The Many Rooms In The House: Research On Past Foodways In Modern Europe. Peter Scholliers, Vrije Universiteit Brussel (Belgium)
Sustenance, Abundance, and The Place of Food In United States History. Amy Bentley, New York University (USA)
Five Hundred Years Of Fusion: A Historiography Of Food In The Iberian World. Jeffrey Pilcher, University of Minnesota (USA

Part Two: The Middle East
Food Studies In Ottoman-Turkish Historiography. Özge Samanci, Yeditepe University (Turkey)
"Bread From Heaven, Bread From The Earth": Recent Trends In Jewish Food History. Jonathan Brumberg-Kraus, Wheaton College (USA)
Food Culture In The Arab World: Long On History, Short On Historiography. Nawal Nasrallah, Independent scholar

Part Three: South & East Asia
New Directions Of Scholarship On Indian Food. Krishnendu Ray, New York University (USA)
The Shadow Of Shinoda Osamu: Food Research In East Asia. Katarzyna Cwiertka, Leiden University (Netherlands) and Yujen Chen, National Kaohsiung University of Hospitality and Tourism (Taiwan)

Part Four: Africa
Writing On The African Pot: Recipes and Cooking As Historical Knowledge. James McCann, Boston University (USA)

Conclusion: Contours Of Global Food Historiography. Peter Scholliers and Kyri W. Claflin 

Bibliography
Index

Reviews
“This book is an academic collection of essays penned by twelve noted scholars, looking at food history writings from around the world and considering pressing matters such as globalisation, inter-disciplinary cooperation, historical development of food history writing and possible future developments and research directions.” –  Yum.fi