Commensality: From Everyday Food to FeastSusanne Kerner, Cynthia Chou, Morten Warmind Throughout time and in every culture, human beings have eaten together. Commensality - eating and drinking at the same table - is a fundamental social activity, which creates and cements relationships. It also sets boundaries, including or excluding people according to a set of criteria defined by the society. Particular scholarly attention has been paid to banquets and feasts, often hosted for religious, ritualistic or political purposes, but few studies have considered everyday commensality. Commensality: From Everyday Food to Feast offers an insight into this social practice in all its forms, from the most basic and mundane meals to the grandest occasions. Bringing together insights from anthropologists, archaeologists and historians, this volume offers a vast historical scope, ranging from the Late Neolithic period (6th millennium BC), through the Middle Ages, to the present day. The sixteen chapters include case studies from across the world, including the USA, Bolivia, China, Southeast Asia, Iran, Turkey, Portugal, Denmark and the UK. Connecting these diverse analyses is an understanding of commensality's role as a social and political tool, integral to the formation of personal and national identities. From first experiences of commensality in the sharing of food between a mother and child, to the inaugural dinner of the American president, this collection of essays celebrates the variety of human life and society. |
Contents
1 | |
11 | |
13 | |
3 Commensal Circles and the Common Pot Penny Van Esterik | 31 |
4 Commensality between the Young Boris Andersen | 43 |
Food and Politics in a Temporary Vegan Zone Yvonne le Grand | 51 |
Investigating the Social via the Material Maria Bianca DAnna and Carolin Jauss | 65 |
Part II Special Commensality | 87 |
Part III The Social and Political Aspects of Commensality | 137 |
11 How Chicken Rice Informs about Identity Cynthia Chou | 139 |
12 Feasting on Locusts and Truffles in the Second Millennium bce Hanne Nymann | 151 |
13 Commensality and Sharing in an Andean Community in Bolivia Cornelia A Nell | 165 |
Drinkers and Drinking Cultures in Mo Yans Novel Liquorland Astrid MøllerOlsen | 177 |
15 Justifications for Foodways and the Study of Commensality Jordan D Rosenblum | 189 |
16 The Role of Food in the Life of Christians in the Roman Empire Morten Warmind | 195 |
17 Ritual Meals and Polemics in Antiquity Ingvild Sælid Gilhus | 203 |
7 Methodological and Definitional Issues in the Archaeology of Food Katheryn C Twiss | 89 |
Commensality and Social Categorization Paul Freedman | 99 |
9 It is Ritual isnt it? Mortuary and Feasting Practices at Domuztepe Alexandra Fletcher and Stuart Campbell | 109 |
10 Drink and Commensality or How to Hold on to Your Drink in the Chalcolithic Susanne Kerner | 125 |
Notes | 217 |
229 | |
265 | |
Other editions - View all
Commensality: From Everyday Food to Feast Susanne Kerner,Cynthia Chou,Morten Warmind Limited preview - 2015 |
Commensality: From Everyday Food to Feast Susanne Kerner,Cynthia Chou,Morten Warmind No preview available - 2015 |
Commensality: From Everyday Food to Feast Susanne Kerner,Cynthia Chou,Morten Warmind No preview available - 2015 |
Common terms and phrases
activities alcohol Alexandra Fletcher ancient animal Anthropology archaeological Arslantepe aspects banquets breastfeeding Cabreca celebrations ceramics Chalcolithic chapter chicken rice China Chinese Chogha Mish Christian Clemencia commensal circles connected consumed consumption context cooking pots cornets cuisine culinary Death Pit diet Dietler dining dinner discussion dishes domestic commensality Domuztepe drinking culture El Bulli ethnographic Eucharist everyday example excavation feasts feeding Figure food sharing foodways form of commensality GAIA groups guests Hainanese Hainanese chicken rice hierarchy hospitality commensality household human important infants kashrut Liquorland locusts and truffles Malay Malaysia Manicheans Mari material means meat Mesopotamian milk Mithras Mo Yan mundane Neolithic nutritional occasions organized period practices production puhn Red Terrace relationship religion religious restaurant ritual meal role sacrifice sality served Singapore social relations society sooting strap handled jars Stuart Campbell symbolic texts truffles University Uruk Uruk period vegan wine women Zimri-Lim