| Description |
1 online resource (xi, 428 pages) |
|
text file |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references and index. |
| Contents |
Introduction : taste and see the power of food -- The language of food in Boccaccio's Decameron -- Of frogs, giants, and the court : Pulci's Morgante -- Banquets of power : Boiardo's Innamorato and the politics of gastronomy -- Meals, transformations, and the belly of history : Ariosto's Furioso -- Courtesans and figs, art and nature in Aretino's Ragionamento -- Conclusion. |
| Summary |
This book looks at the writings of five important Italian authors - Boccaccio's Decameron, Pulci's Morgante, Boiardo's Innamorato, Ariosto's Furioso, and Aretino's Ragionamento. Through the prism of gastronomy, the author examines these key works in the Western literary canon, bringing into focus how their authors use food and gastronomy as a means to critique the social, political, theological, philosophical, and cultural beliefs that constitute the fabric of the society in which they live. The author begins with the anthropological principle that food represents the universal transformation of nature into culture and that it functions as a language that distinguishes every society and its culture from others. This suggests that food - its preparation, presentation, and consumption - is more than merely a source of nourishment. Rather, the author argues, foodstuffs function as ethical and aesthetic instruments through which the literary hero's virtues and flaws, achievements and failures, can be gauged. Food also serves as a means to maintain, as well as to negotiate, power, social hierarchy, and relationships between the powerful and the powerless. Touching on three centuries that were pivotal for Italian culture, literature, and history, as well as three literary genres, the author's analysis connects the descriptions and references to food found in these works with the wider culture of Italy in the late medieval and early modern period. |
| Local Note |
eBooks on EBSCOhost EBSCO eBook Subscription Academic Collection - North America |
| Subject |
Italian literature -- To 1400 -- History and criticism.
|
|
Italian literature. |
| Chronological Term |
To 1400 |
| Subject |
Italian literature -- 16th century -- History and criticism.
|
| Chronological Term |
16th century |
| Subject |
Food in literature.
|
|
Food in literature. |
|
Gastronomy in literature.
|
|
Gastronomy in literature. |
| Chronological Term |
To 1599 |
| Genre/Form |
Electronic books.
|
|
Criticism, interpretation, etc.
|
| Other Form: |
Print version: Palma, Pina. Savoring power, consuming the times. Notre Dame, Ind. : University of Notre Dame Press, 2013 9780268038397 (DLC) 2012048959 (OCoLC)826859580 |
| ISBN |
0268089728 (electronic book) |
|
9780268089726 (electronic book) |
|
9780268038397 (paperback ; alkaline paper) |
|
0268038392 (paperback ; alkaline paper) |
| Standard No. |
ebc3441128 |
|
