Commensality : from everyday food to feast / edited by Susanne Kerner, Cynthia Chou, and Morten Warmind.

"Throughout time and in all parts of the world, humans have eaten together socially. Commensality, eating and drinking together, is fundamentally a social activity which creates and cements bonds which define our place in society. Covering prehistoric archaeology, to medieval banquets, to the inaugural dinner of the American President to everyday commensality as we eat in our homes, with friends, in religious ceremonies and as a form of political activism, this rich collection provides a unique exploration of commensality. Scholars from history, archaeology and anthropology have long studied the human practices and material culture and artefacts associated with communal eating and feasting, but until now these critical insights have not been presented in dialogue with one another. Uniquely, this book fuses insights from anthropologists, archaeologists, historians, religious studies and literary scholars to introduce a truly multidisciplinary and inclusive survey of commensality to the present day. From the role of drinking in China to religious taboos to ancient cooking practices, this fascinating volume is indispensable reading for students and scholars of the anthropology, history and archaeology of food"-- Provided by publisher

Includes bibliographical references (pages 229-263) and index.

1. Introduction / Susanne Kerner and Cynthia Chou -- Part I. Everyday Commensality: 2. Commensality and the Organization of Social Relations / Tan Chee-Benb; 3. Commensal Circles and the Common Pot / Penny van Esterik; 4. Commensality between the Young / Boris Andersen; 5. Activism through Commensality: Food and Politics in a Temporary Vegan Zone / Yvonne le Grand; 6. Cooking in the Fourth Millennium BCE: Investigating the Social via the Material / Maria Bianca D'Anna and Carolin Jauss -- Part II. Special Commensality: 7. Methodological and Definitional Issues in the Archaeology of Food / Katheryn C. Twiss; 8. Medieval and Modern Banquets: Commensality and Social Categorization / Paul Freedman; 9. It is Ritual, isn't it? Mortuary and Feasting Practices at Domuztepe / Alexandra Fletcher and Stuart Campbell; 10 .Drink and Commensality, or How to Hold onto Your Drink in the Chalcolithic / Susanne Kerner -- Part III. The Social and Political Aspects of Commensality: 11. How Chicken Rice Informs about Identity / Cynthia Chou; 12. Feasting on Locusts and Truffles in the Second Millenium BCE / Hanne Nyman; 13. Commensality and Sharing in an Andean Community in Bolivia / Cornelia A. Nell; 14. Dissolved in Liquor and Life: Drinkers and Drinking Cultures in Mo Yan's Novel, Liquorland / Astrid Møller-Olsen; 15. Justifications for Foodways and the Study of Commensality / Jordan D. Rosenblum; 16. The Role of Food in the Life of Christians in the Roman Empire / Morten Warmind; 17. Ritual Meals and Polemics in Antiquity / Ingvild Sœlid Gilhus.

Print version record.

eBooks on EBSCOhost EBSCO eBook Subscription Academic Collection - Worldwide