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Food As An Expression Of Culture

Center: 
Barcelona
Program(s): 
Barcelona - Liberal Arts & Business [1]
Discipline(s): 
Cultural Studies
Course code: 
CU 351
Terms offered: 
Fall
Spring
Summer
Credits: 
3
Language of instruction: 
English
Instructor: 
Camila Loew
Description: 

There is a communion of more than our bodies when bread is broken and wine drunk. M.F.K. Fischer, The Gastronomical Me

As culinary historian Massimo Montanari argues, everything that has to do with food – from the choices made by primitive hunters and gatherers to contemporary habits of consumption – represents a cultural act. In this sense, we understand that Spanish cuisine is not just about nutrition, but also about traditions that have developed over a long period of time and span the country’s political, cultural, and social formation. This interdisciplinary course combines the fields of food studies, anthropology, cultural studies, sociology, and contemporary history. We will examine the food traditions that unite Spain, as well as those that are distinctive of regional differences. We will also examine how globalization affects food culture and regional/national food identity, based on the assumption that the concept of (personal, cultural, regional, national) identity is strongly linked to food. We will focus on the evolution of local traditions and the recent boom of Spanish haute cuisine around the world. Current Spanish cuisine (for example, the coronation of chef Ferran Adrià, by the New York Times, Time magazine and Le Monde in 2004) is an excellent vehicle for exploring the complex relations between local and global culture.

Prerequisites: 

None

Attendance policy: 

Attendance is mandatory for all IES classes, including field studies. Any exams, tests, presentations, or other work missed due to student absences can only be rescheduled in cases of documented medical or family emergencies. If a student misses more than three classes in any course half a letter grade will be deducted from the final grade for every additional absence. Seven absences in any course will result in a failing grade.

Learning outcomes: 

By the end of the course, students are able to:
• Explain how food is an important vehicle of cultural manifestations;
• Relate food to identity;
• Analyze how different cultures celebrate food through rituals and traditions;
• Differentiate judgment values and comparison;
• Interpret aspects of local culture that relate to food, from its cultivation to preparation to consumption;
• Analyze and compare recipes, customs, and lifestyles;
• Demonstrate writing skills and critical thinking;
• Appreciate the Mediterranean diet and its diversity.

In addition, this course will help students discover different parts of Barcelona, Spain and the Mediterranean, as the discussions on the subjects of food and food culture will guide them in their travels. As they explore different regions of Spain and Europe with the knowledge gained in the course, they will be able to comprehend these places, and interpret their own abroad experiences, on a deeper level.

Method of presentation: 

Class discussion: The course is largely discussion-based. Students are expected to come to class prepared (i.e. not only having done the readings but also having considered them in depth) and participate actively in the discussions. Many of the readings discuss case studies of other places, which
we will use as models for the Spanish case, as well as for their pertinent theoretical issues.

Field studies: In addition to the lectures and discussions in which we will cover the major academic themes of the course, the course also has fieldwork, with activities such as field studies to local markets, and anthropological exercises based on students’ field observations.

Lectures: The professor will provide the main theoretical background of the course through lectures. Students will also be introduced to the main forms of food writing (cookbooks, foodoirs, restaurant write- ups, person profiles) and we will examine how they are also linked to culture.

Journal: The students will keep a food journal throughout the semester, where they record their reflections on the food and cultural habits they observe and experience. 

 

Required work and form of assessment: 

1.  Written exercises: 30% (15% each)
There are two brief written exercises throughout the course, which function as a vehicle for students to reflect on and express their observations of the (food) culture of destination. The first exercise is an extended reflection on notions of the exotic or Other (or, as they tend to say, “weird”) in their field observations. Students will assess the relation between food and culture, and the relation between self and other. For this exercise, students will be asked to assess notions of “normal” or “typical” in relation to their own eating habits, previous to their journey abroad. They will then link these habits to cultural and ethic identities. Students will then take these reflections to a national scale, and reflect on the notion of national identity in terms of food culture. In the second exercise, students will carry out an ethnographic field study of a food-related event, and draw out their conclusions in a personal essay.

2.  Oral presentation 10%. For the presentation students will be asked to research a brief history of the origins of a chosen local food or dish.

3.  Midterm exam (25%)

4.  Class participation (15%): insights and comments about course readings, responsiveness to classmates’ contributions.

5.  Final written assignment (20%): each student will write a foodoir (or food memoir) OR students can also choose to develop one of their brief assignments. Roughly 10 pages long, to be developed with instructor’s feedback.

content: 

Session 1: Food as a social marker. Course introduction.
Required Reading:
Perec, Georges. “Attempt at an Inventory of the Liquid and Solid Foodstuffs Ingurgitated by Me in the Course of the Year Nineteen Hundred and Seventy-Four.” In Perec, G.
Species and Spaces of Other Pieces. New York, Penguin, 1998, pp. 244-252.

Session 2: Food as culture. How we eat.
Required Reading:
Barthes, Roland. “Towards a Psychosociology of Contemporary Food Consumption” in Counihan, Carole (Ed), Food and Culture. A Reader, Routledge, 2007, pp. 20-27.
Montanari, Massimo. “Taste is a Cultural Product” in Food is Culture. New York: Columbia University Press, 2006, pp. 61-66;

Session 3: Food as culture cont. normal or typical vs. weird, exotic. What is a food tradition? What is a
national food tradition?
Required Reading:
Kittler, P. Goyan and Kathryn P. Sucher. Food and Culture. Wadsworth Publishing, 2007,pp. 1-18.

Session 4: What is a food tradition? What is a national food tradition? Food and national identity.
Required Reading:
Ashley, B. Food and Cultural Studies, 2004, chapter 5.

Session 5: Introduction to Spanish food.
Required Reading: Medina, F. Xavier. Food Culture in Spain. Greenwood Press, 2005. Introduction.

Session 6: Student presentations.

Session 7: Cookbooks and the construction of identity.
Required Reading:
Appadurai, Arjun. “How to Make a National Cuisine” in Counihan, Carole (Ed), Food and Culture. A Reader, Routledge, 2007, pp. 290-306.
Heldke, Lisa. “Let’s Cook Thai: Recipes for Colonialism” in Counihan, Carole (Ed), Food and Culture. A Reader, Routledge, 2007, pp. pp. 327-341.

Session 8: Field study: workshop at Boqueria market.

Session 9: Food, memory, history.
First assignment due.
Required Reading:
Proust, Marcel. “The Madeleine”. In Korsmeyer, Carolyn (ed.), The Taste Culture Reader. Oxford: Berg, 2005, pp. 293-296.
 

Session 10: Spanish food by region I: the Mediterranean. What is the Mediterranean diet?
Required Reading:
Montanari, Massimo. “Identity, Exchange, Traditions, and ‘Origins’” in Food is Culture. New York: Columbia University Press, 2006, pp. 133-137.

Session 11: Field study: food culture in Barcelona. Mescladís.

Session 12: The Mediterranean cont. Catalunya.
Required Reading:
Andrews, Colman. Catalan Cuisine, Harvard Common Press, 2005. Chapter 1.

Session 13: Student presentations.

Session 14: Spanish food by region II: Andalucía: tapas.

Session 15 : Spanish food by region III: the north. The Basque Country
Required Reading:
Bourdain, Anthony. “Where the Boys Are/Where the Girls Are” in A Cook’s Tour. London: Bloomsbury, 2001, pp. 65-78.

Session 16: Midterm exam.

Session 17: Spanish cuisine at the forefront of world gastronomy. The coronation of the great present- day chefs (Arzak, Adrià, etc.) and their revolution. How Spain became the new France.
Required reading:
Lubow, Arthur. “A Laboratory of Taste”. New York Times, August 10, 2003.

Session 18: field study to Santa Caterina market.

Session 19: The North, cont. Galicia.
Required Reading:
Trillin, Calvin. “Pepper Chase” in Feeding a Yen. New York: Random House, 2003, pp. 17-30.

Session 20: Links between local and global cuisine. Eating local in a globalized culture.
Second assignment due.
Required Reading:
Ashley, B. Food and Cultural Studies, 2004, chapter 6. Yan, Y. “Of Hamburger and Social Space: McDonald’s in Beijing”. In Counihan (ed.) Food and Culture: A Reader, pp. 500-522.

Session 21: Student presentations.

Session 22: guest speaker: Slow Food Barcelona.

Session 23: Foodoirs.
Required Reading:
Van den Brink, H.M. Spain Body and Soul. London, Armchair Traveller, 2006, pp. 1-75.

Session 24: Workshop. Rough drafts of final assignment.
Course conclusions.

Final assignment due.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Required readings: 

Appadurai, Arjun. “How to Make a National Cuisine” in Counihan, Carole (Ed), Food and Culture. A Reader, Routledge, 2007, pp. 290-306.

Andrews, Colman. Catalan Cuisine, Harvard Common Press, 2005. Chapter 1.

Ashley, B. Food and Cultural Studies, 2004, chapters 5-6.

Barthes, Roland. “Towards a Psychosociology of Contemporary Food Consumption” in Counihan, Carole (Ed), Food and Culture. A Reader, Routledge, 2007, pp. 20-27.

Bourdain, Anthony. “Where the Boys Are/Where the Girls Are” in A Cook’s Tour. London: Bloomsbury, 2001, pp. 65-78.

Heldke, Lisa. “Let’s Cook Thai: Recipes for Colonialism” in Counihan, Carole (Ed), Food and Culture. A Reader, Routledge, 2007, pp. pp. 327-341.

Kittler, P. Goyan and Kathryn P. Sucher. Food and Culture. Wadsworth Publishing, 2007,pp. 1-18.

Lubow, Arthur. “A Laboratory of Taste”. New York Times, August 10, 2003.

Medina, F. Xavier. Food Culture in Spain. Greenwood Press, 2005. Introduction.

Montanari, Massimo. “Taste is a Cultural Product”; “Identity, Exchange, Traditions, and ‘Origins’” in Food is Culture. New York: Columbia University Press, 2006, pp. 61- 66; 133-137.

Perec, Georges. “Attempt at an Inventory of the Liquid and Solid Foodstuffs Ingurgitated by Me in the Course of the Year Nineteen Hundred and Seventy-Four.” In Perec, G. Species and Spaces of Other Pieces. New York, Penguin, 1998, pp. 244-252.

Proust, Marcel. “The Madeleine”. In Korsmeyer, Carolyn (ed.), The Taste Culture Reader. Oxford: Berg, 2005, pp. 293-296.

Trillin, Calvin. “Pepper Chase” in Feeding a Yen. New York: Random House, 2003, pp. 17-30. Van den Brink, H.M. Spain Body and Soul. London, Armchair Traveller, 2006, pp. 1-75.

Yan, Y. “Of Hamburger and Social Space: McDonald’s in Beijing”. In Counihan (ed.) Food and Culture: A Reader, pp. 500-522.

Recommended readings: 

Barrenechea, Teresa. The Cuisines of Spain, Ten Speed Press, 2005.

Brillat-Savarin, Jean Anthelme. The Physiology of Taste.

Civitello, Linda, Cuisine and Culture, A History of Food and People, Wiley, 2007.

Counihan, Carole (Ed), Food and Culture. A Reader, Routledge, 2007

Fischer, M.F.K. The Art of Eating. Wiley, 2004.

Gray, Patience. Honey from a Weed: Feasting and Fasting in Tuscany, Catalonia, the Cyclades, and Apulia. Prospect Books, 2004. “The Workplace” and “La Merenda”. Leibowitz, David. The Sweet Life in Paris. Delicious Adventures in the World’s Most Glorious – and Perplexing – City. Broadway, 2009.

Montanari, Massimo. “The Paradox of Globalization” in Food is Culture. New York: Columbia University Press, 2006, pp. 83-89.

McWilliams, M. Food Around the World: A Cultural Perspective, 2006

Sevilla, María. Life and Food in the Basque Country. New Amsterdam Books, 1998, pp. xi-xv and 121-139.

Shulman. Spain and the World Table. DK Publishing, 2008.

Sutton, David. Remembrance of Repasts. Oxford, Berg Publishers, 2001.

Todoli, Vincent and Richard Hamilton (eds). Food for Thought: Thought for Food. Actar, 2009

Vázquez Montalban, La cocina del mestizaje,
---. La cocina de los finisterres.
----. Saber o no saber. Manual imprescindible de la cultura gastronómica.

Watson, James (ed). The Cultural Politics of Food and Eating . Wiley-Blackwell, 2001.

Wizenberg, Molly. A Homemade Life. Storiesand Recipes from My Kitchen Table. New York, Simon and Schuster, 2009.

Other Resources: 

Some films on Food: there are two types: denunciation films, and films on the pleasure of food:

Food, Inc (on the American food industry)
End of the Line (on fish)
Black Gold (on the coffee industry)
Eat Drink Man Woman
Babette’s Feast Hamburger America Our Daily Bread
The Real Dirt on Farmer John
Ratatouille (cf scene in which a critic eats the ratatouille and goes back to youth)
Spain On the Road Again (PBSTV)

Notes: 

This course is offered during the regular semester and in the summer. For summer sections, the course schedule is condensed, but the content, learning outcomes, and contact hours are the same.


Source URL: http://www.iesabroad.org/study-abroad/courses/barcelona/fall-2012/cu-351

Links:
[1] http://www.iesabroad.org/study-abroad/programs/barcelona-liberal-arts-business