Anthropologists training to do fieldwork in far-off,
unfamiliar places prepare for significant challenges with regard to
language, customs, and other cultural differences. However, like
other travelers to unknown places, they are often unprepared to
deal with the most basic and necessary requirement: food. Although
there are many books on the anthropology of food, Adventures in
Eating is the first intended to prepare students for the
uncomfortable dining situations they may encounter over the course
of their careers.
Whether sago grubs, jungle rats, termites, or the pungent durian
fruit are on the table, participating in the act of sharing food
can establish relationships vital to
anthropologists' research practices and knowledge
of their host cultures. Using their own experiences with
unfamiliar-and sometimes unappealing-food practices and customs,
the contributors explore such eating moments and how these moments
can produce new understandings of culture and the meaning of food
beyond the immediate experience of eating it. They also address how
personal eating experiences and culinary dilemmas can shape the
data and methodologies of the discipline.
The main readership of Adventures in Eating will be
students in anthropology and other scholars, but the explosion of
food media gives the book additional appeal for fans of No
Reservations and Bizarre Foods on the Travel
Channel.
eISBN: 978-1-60732-015-9
Subjects: Sociology, Anthropology
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