The harlequin eaters : from food scraps to modernism in nineteenth-century France / Janet Beizer.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Beizer, Janet, 1952- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Food supply--France--Paris--History.

Food supply.

Food security--France--Paris--History.

Food security.

Food habits--France--Paris--History.

Food habits.

Food in mass media.

Genre:

Electronic books.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (0 pages)

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Minneapolis : University of Minnesota Press, [2024]

Summary:

"How representations of the preparation, sale, and consumption of leftovers in nineteenth-century urban France link socioeconomic and aesthetic history The concept of the "harlequin" refers to the practice of reassembling dinner scraps cleared from the plates of the wealthy to sell, replated, to the poor in nineteenth-century Paris. In The Harlequin Eaters, Janet Beizer investigates how the alimentary harlequin evolved in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries from the earlier, similarly patchworked Commedia dell'arte Harlequin character and can be used to rethink the entangled place of class, race, and food in the longer history of modernism. By superimposing figurations of the edible harlequin taken from a broad array of popular and canonical novels, newspaper articles, postcard photographs, and lithographs, Beizer shows that what is at stake in nineteenth-century discourses surrounding this mixed meal are representations not only of food but also of the marginalized people-the "harlequin eaters"-who consume it at this time when a global society is emerging. She reveals the imbrication of kitchen narratives and intellectual-aesthetic practices of thought and art, presenting a way to integrate socioeconomic history with the history of literature and the visual arts. The Harlequin Eaters also offers fascinating background to today's problems of food inequity as it unpacks stories of the for-profit recycling of excess food across class and race divisions. "-- Provided by publisher.

"Investigating how the alimentary harlequin evolved in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, The Harlequin Eaters offers fascinating background to today's problems of food inequity as it unpacks stories of the for-profit recycling of excess food across class and race divisions. Superimposing figurations of the edible harlequin taken from a broad array of popular media, Janet Beizer examines representations not only of food but also of the marginalized people-the "harlequin eaters"-who consume it"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

The emperor's plate : the business of leftovers in nineteenth-century Paris

Urban cannibals : navigating the streets with Eugene Sue

Postcards from the edge : recirculating the people's food

From street food to street art : taking in Les Halles with Zola.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9781452970455

1452970459

OCLC:

1420354404