The flavors of modernity : food and the novel / Gian-Paolo Biasin.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Biasin, Gian-Paolo, author.

Series:

Princeton legacy library.

Princeton Legacy Library

Standardized Title:

Sapori della modernità. English

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Italian fiction--19th century--History and criticism.

Italian fiction.

Italian fiction--20th century--History and criticism.

Gastronomy in literature.

Food in literature.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (182 pages) : illustrations, tables.

Place of Publication:

Princeton, [New Jersey] : Princeton University Press, 2017.

Language Note:

In English.

Summary:

From Rabelais's celebration of wine to Proust's madeleine and Virginia Woolf's boeuf en daube in To the Lighthouse, food has figured prominently in world literature. But perhaps nowhere has it played such a vital role as in the Italian novel. In a book flowing with descriptions of recipes, ingredients, fragrances, country gardens, kitchens, dinner etiquette, and even hunger, Gian-Paolo Biasin examines food images in the modern Italian novel so as to unravel their function and meaning. As a sign for cultural values and social and economic relationships, food becomes a key to appreciating the textual richness of works such as Lampedusa's The Leopard, Manzoni's The Betrothed, Primo Levi's Survival in Auschwitz, and Calvino's Under the Jaguar Sun. The importance of the culinary sign in fiction, argues Biasin, is that it embodies the oral relationship between food and language while creating a sense of materiality. Food contributes powerfully to the reality of a text by making a fictional setting seem credible and coherent: a Lombard peasant eats polenta in The Betrothed, whereas a Sicilian prince offers a monumental macaroni timbale at a dinner in The Leopard. Similarly, Biasin shows how food is used by writers to connote the psychological traits of a character, to construct a story by making the protagonists meet during a meal, and even to call attention to the fictionality of the story with a metanarrative description. Drawing from anthropology, psychoanalysis, sociology, science, and philosophy, the author gives special attention to the metaphoric and symbolic meanings of food. Throughout he blends material culture with observations on thematics and narrativity to enlighten the reader who enjoys the pleasures of the text as much as those of the palate.Originally published in 1993.The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Acknowledgments

INTRODUCTION. The Flavors of Modernity

CHAPTER 1.The Juice of the Story: Alessandro Manzoni, I promessi sposi

CHAPTER 2. How to Make a Stew: Giovanni Verga, I Malavoglia

CHAPTER 3. Tea for Two: Gabriele D'Annunzio, Il piacere

CHAPTER 4. A Wise Gourmet: Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, Il Gattopardo

CHAPTER 5. The Cornucopia of the World: Carlo Emilio Gadda, La cognizione del dolore and Quer pasticciaccio brutto de via Merulana

CHAPTER 6. Under Olivia's Teeth: Italo Calvino, Sotto il sole giaguaro

CHAPTER 7. Our Daily Bread-Pane-Brot-Broid -Chleb-Pain-Lechem -Kenyér: Primo Levi, Se questo è un uomo

NOTES

INDEX

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (p. [143]-165) and index.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 08. Jul 2019)

Description based on print version record.

Includes index.

ISBN:

9780691629827

069162982X

9780691603476

0691603472

OCLC:

1016822695