Savoring Power, Consuming the Times , livre ebook

442

pages

English

Ebooks

2013

Écrit par
Pina Palma

Publié par
University of Notre Dame Press

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442

pages

English

Ebooks

2013

Lire un extrait

Obtenez un accès à la bibliothèque pour le consulter en ligne En savoir plus

Publié par

University of Notre Dame Press

Date de parution

15 avril 2013

EAN13

9780268089726

Langue

English

Poids de l'ouvrage

2 Mo

Pina Palma’s Savoring Power, Consuming the Times: The Metaphors of Food in Medieval and Renaissance Italian Literature is an innovative look 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, Palma 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.

Palma 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, Palma 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, Palma’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.

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Publié par

University of Notre Dame Press

Date de parution

15 avril 2013

EAN13

9780268089726

Langue

English

Poids de l'ouvrage

2 Mo

Savoring Power, Consuming the Times

PINAPALM A

Savoring Power, Consuming the Times

t h e m e ta p h o r s o f f o o d i n m e d i e va l a n d r e na i s s a n c e i ta l i a n l i t e r at u r e

University of Notre Dame Press Notre Dame, Indiana

Manufactured in the United States of America

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Palma, Pina. Savoring power, consuming the times : the metaphors of food in medieval and Renaissance Italian literature / Pina Palma. pages cm Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-268-03839-7 (pbk. : alk. paper) — ISBN 0-268-03839-2 (pbk. : alk. paper)97N฀0-8-฀E฀—SB-I97088-2662-1. Italian literature — To 1400 — History and criticism 2. Italian literature — 16th century — History and criticism. 3. Food in literature. 4. Gastrono my in literature. I. Title. PQ4053.F58P36 2013 850.9'3564 — dc23 2012048959

∞The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and durability of the Committee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity of the Council on Library Resources.

For Enzo, In memoriam

contents

o n e

t wo

Acknowledgments

Introduction: Taste and See the Power of Food

The Language of Food in Boccaccio’sDecameron

Of Frogs, Giants, and the Court: Pulci’sMorgante

t h r e eBanquets of Power: Boiardo’sInnamorato and the Politics of Gastronomy

f o u r

f i v e

Meals, Transformations, and the Belly of History: Ariosto’sFurioso

Courtesans and Figs, Art and Nature in Aretino’sRagionamento

Conclusion

Notes Bibliography Index

153

215

265

317

321 383 411

ackno wledgments

M any people have helped me during the years of work on this book. To them, I will always be indebted. I am especially grateful to my friend and colleague Jim Rhodes. With patience, wit, and wisdom he posed tough questions, pored through several drafts of the chapters, and commented on them. His criticism and suggestions improved the manuscript in more ways than I can say. Unﬂinching in his encourage-ment and unwavering in his conﬁdence in the outcome, Jim provided generous and perceptive guidance, making me a sharper reader and writer. The privilege of teaching with him in the Honors College at Southern Connecticut State University led to lively discussions that drew me deeply into medieval texts and contexts. And when the complexi-ties of the project became overwhelming, Jim remained a beacon of intellectual rigor, encouraging me to stay the course and to believe in myself. It is with pleasure that I acknowledge my debt to him. Juliana D’Amato, OP, Dominican Sisters of Peace, read through the manuscript at various stages and oﬀered advice and support de-spite the distance separating us. In many ways the seeds for this work were planted during the course of a conversation with her on the beach of Oyster Bay, Long Island. That conversation continued, perhaps un-beknown to her, throughout the years and from both sides of the At-lantic. With acute comments, piercing questions, and forbearance she guided me through discussions on Mary, the Gospels, Saint Dominic, Saint Thomas Aquinas, and everything else in between much as she did when I was her student at Albertus Magnus College. As my study on food took the medieval and Renaissance path, her suggestions were cru-cial at every stage. Above all, with humor and humility she helped me keep my feet on the ground.

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