| Title | : | Food and Identity in the Caribbean |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 0857853589 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9780857853585 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 192 |
| Publication | : | First published January 1, 2012 |
Based on rich contemporary ethnographies, the volume reveals the ways in which food carries symbolic meanings which are incorporated into the many different facets of identity experienced by people in the Caribbean. Many of the chapters focus on the ways in which consumers align themselves with particular foods as a way of making claims about their identities. Development and political and economic changes in the Caribbean bring new foods to the contemporary dinner table, a phenomenon that may subsequently destabilize the foundations of culinary identities. Food and Identity in the Caribbean reveals the ways in which some of the connections between food and identity persist against the odds whilst in other contexts new relationships between food and identity are forged.
Food and Identity in the Caribbean Reviews
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It is a clear truism that our cultural identity is built up from many constituent parts, food inclusive, and that many gradual changes shift or amend our identity over time.
So it is pleasing to find a collection of essays that look at the role of food in shaping the cultural identity of the Caribbean. Of course, our cultural identity never stays still, borrowing from new influences, a changing society and an ever-smaller world. What would have been "typically Caribbean" 50 or 100 years ago is going to be subtly different to that of today or a decade ago.
What is, in any case, a typical Caribbean identity is a different matter and that can depend on one's knowledge, expectation, prejudices and awareness. This book cannot give an answer to that, more it delivers a series of opinions and thoughts. After all, Ask a foreigner what is a typical English food and Fish & Chips might be the answer, yet survey upon survey of Britons shows that a curry or a Chinese stir fry are their favourites.
This book is sadly not going to be something for the average reader, even if they have a special interest in matters Caribbean. It is a tightly-written, academically-focussed book that is fairly heavy going even for a professional reader. This reviewer needs to brush up his geography knowledge as discovering an essay about a rural Mexican region in a book about the Caribbean was a surprise. Sure, one can argue about when is Latin America the Caribbean and vice versa, say "it is near enough" or point out that there will be a pattern of migratory cultural exchanges but nonetheless it just felt a bit of a fish out of water without any clearer signposting and contextual awareness.
Yet this book IS an interesting collection of curiosities and should you be a bit of a bookworm with a thirst for knowledge of all sorts this could be a great little thing. Where else, in a discussion about Guyanese food, might you start to read about "black pudding" and "souse" - more commonly thought of as being stranger British regional "delicacies".
As befits an academic book, there is an abundance of further reading suggestions in the shape of a bibliography and a massive, detailed index. Reviewing a book of this kind is a difficult task. For the generalist it might be a little too obscure and focussed; for the academic whose path of study is covered by this book it could be a very reasonably-priced source of inspiration and edification, yet for those who fall in-between…? It could be a case of look and see, or try and borrow it from the library if you are in any doubt unsure. It is a good book (in the right hands) but don't be under any misapprehension that this is a touristy-type guide to the Caribbean and the typical foods eaten there. It is just different, and positively so.
Food and Identity in the Caribbean, written by Hanna Garth (editor) and published by Bloomsbury/Berg. ISBN 9780857853585, 178 pages. Typical price: GBP17.99. YYYY.
// This review appeared in YUM.fi and is reproduced here in full with permission of YUM.fi. YUM.fi celebrates the worldwide diversity of food and drink, as presented through the humble book. Whether you call it a cookery book, cook book, recipe book or something else (in the language of your choice) YUM will provide you with news and reviews of the latest books on the marketplace. //
