Commensality: From Everyday Food to Feast by Susanne Kerner (English) Paperback

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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.

FORMATPaperback LANGUAGEEnglish CONDITIONBrand New Author Biography

Susanne Kerner is Associate Professor of Near Eastern Archaeology at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark.Cynthia Chou is Associate Professor and Head of Southeast Asian Studies at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark.Morten Warmind is Associate Professor and Head of Studies of Sociology of Religion at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark.

Table of Contents

Notes on Contributors1) Introduction, Susanne Kerner (University of Copenhagen, Denmark) and Cynthia Chou (University of Copenhagen, Denmark)Part 1. Everyday Commensality2) Commensality and the Organization of Social Relations, Tan Chee-Beng (The Chinese University of Hong Kong, China)3) Commensal Circles and the Common Pot, Penny van Esterik (York University, Canada)4) Commensality between the Young, Boris Andersen (Aalborg University, Denmark)5) Activism through Commensality: Food and Politics in a Temporary Vegan Zone, Yvonne le Grand (University of Lisbon, Portugal)6) Cooking in the Fourth Millennium BCE: Investigating the Social via the Material, Maria Bianca D'Anna (Eberhard Karls University, Germany) and Carolin Jauss (Free University Berlin, Germany)Part 2. Special Commensality7) Methodological and Definitional Issues in the Archaeology of Food, Katheryn C. Twiss (Stony Brook University, USA)8) Medieval and Modern Banquets: Commensality and Social Categorization, Paul Freedman (Yale University, USA)9) It is Ritual, isn't it? Mortuary and Feasting Practices at Domuztepe, Alexandra Fletcher (British Museum, UK) and Stuart Campbell (University of Manchester, UK)10) Drink and Commensality, or How to Hold onto Your Drink in the Chalcolithic, Susanne Kerner (University of Copenhagen, Denmark)Part 3. The Social and Political Aspects of Commensality11) How Chicken Rice Informs about Identity, Cynthia Chou (University of Copenhagen, Denmark)12) Feasting on Locusts and Truffles in the Second Millenium BCE, Hanne Nyman (University of Copenhagen, Denmark)13) Commensality and Sharing in an Andean Community in Bolivia, Cornelia A. Nell (University of St Andrews, UK)14) Dissolved in Liquor and Life: Drinkers and Drinking Cultures in Mo Yan's Novel, Liquorland, Astrid Møller-Olsen (University of Copenhagen, Denmark)15) Justifications for Foodways and the Study of Commensality, Jordan D. Rosenblum (University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA)16) The Role of Food in the Life of Christians in the Roman Empire, Morten Warmind (University of Copenhagen, Denmark)17) Ritual Meals and Polemics in Antiquity, Ingvild Saelid Gilhus (University of Bergen, Norway)NotesBibliographyIndex

Review

The coherence of these essays ensures that Commensality will be a useful addition to any food studies library. -- Barbara Santich, University of Adelaide * Petits Propos Culinaires *The contents of this fascinating volume range from the neolithic to the present, from the intimacies of breast-feeding to the display of political banquets ... Shows the depth and subtlety of insight into human experience that we gain from taking commensality seriously -- Francesca Bray, University of Edinburgh, UK

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Perspectives from archaeology, history, anthropology and religion are intertwined in this unique collection which surveys communal meals through time and across the globe. 

Review Quote

The contents of this fascinating volume range from the neolithic to the present, from the intimacies of breast-feeding to the display of political banquets. Juxtaposing critical reflections on methods and interpretation by archaeologists, historians and anthropologists, the collection shows the depth and subtlety of insight into human experience that we gain by taking commensality seriously.

Promotional "Headline"

Perspectives from archaeology, history, anthropology and religion are intertwined in this unique collection which surveys communal meals through time and across the globe.

Feature

Features renowned scholars such as Penny van Esterik, Paul Freedman and Kathryn Twiss

Details ISBN0857857363 ISBN-10 0857857363 ISBN-13 9780857857361 Format Paperback Year 2015 Publication Date 2015-02-26 DOI CBID183185 Place of Publication London Country of Publication United Kingdom Edited by Morten Warmind DEWEY 394.12 Illustrations 30 bw illus Media Book Pages 296 Short Title COMMENSALITY FROM EVERYDAY FOO Language English Imprint Bloomsbury Academic UK Release Date 2015-02-26 NZ Release Date 2015-02-26 Author Morten Warmind Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Audience Undergraduate AU Release Date 2014-09-23 We've got this

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