At the beginnings of the Gothic, in the eighteenth century, there was an anxiety or taboo surrounding consumption and appetite for the Gothic text itself and for the excessive and sensational themes that the Gothic discussed. The female body, becoming a commodity in society, was objectified within the texts and consumed by the villain (both metaphorically and literally) who represented the perils of gluttony and indulgence and the horrors of cannibalistic desire. The female was the object of consumption and thus was denied appetite and was depicted as starved and starving. This also communicated the taboo of female appetite, a taboo that persists and changes within the Gothic as the female assumes the status of subject and the power to devour; she moves from being ethereal to bestial in the nineteenth century. With her renewed hunger, she becomes the consumer, devouring the villain who would eat her alive. The two sections of this study discuss the extremes of appetite and the extremes of bodily representations: starvation and cannibalism.

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This dissertation investigates the symbolic uses of food in twentieth-century America using, as case studies, major works by Edith Wharton, Toni Morrison, W.H. Auden, and Wallace Stevens. By incorporating different literary genres - poetry, the novel, and expository prose - by authors from distinct geographic locations, classes, genders, sexual orientations, races, ethnic backgrounds, and eras, my principles of selection offer a broad and significant representation for analysis that serves two related ends: to understand the different ways food functions in literature and thereby to establish the importance of food to literary study. After-Taste argues that food and eating in the novel, in canonical twentieth-century American literature, have been used predominantly for social critique rather than made an integral part of individual psychopathological investigation. In poetry, however, the reverse holds true: Auden and Stevens, two very different poets, shared a common goal - reconciliation of the self with world, rather than social critique, imagined through food and eating. While literary critics have made significant contributions to the discourse surrounding food as a field of study, their works are primarily historical, political, anthropological, and cultural in scope, rather than literary. After-Taste revises Brillat Savarin's fourth aphorism, "Tell me what you eat, and I shall tell you what you are[,]" into an injunction to the literary critic: 'Tell us what, how, when, where, and why the author deploys food in her literature, and we shall learn new meanings that have been obscure to us.' This study asks, and seeks to answer, the following questions: What narrative possibilities does food enable in the novel and in poetry? Is the usage of food symbolic only, or is it in some cases part of a deeper narrative logic? What social and individual meanings can food carry that other material objects cannot? Not all authors utilize food in their writing, but those who do have made a decision with narrative, theoretical, literary, and ontological consequences. My pages attempt to explain why food has such a powerful appeal for specific writers, those whose works would be aesthetically and rhetorically incomplete had they not employed a logic of food in their writing.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--UCLA, 2009. / Vita. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 280-307).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, Berkeley, 2000. / Includes abstract. Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 341-362).

Thesis (M.A.)--University of North Carolina Wilmington, 2009. / Title from PDF title page (January 12, 2010) Includes bibliographical references (p. 63-65)

Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2013. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Traditionally the body has been neglected within Western philosophical thought. In this tradition man is seen as a dualist organism whose mind is more highly valued than his or her body. Since the start of the twentieth century, especially, there has also been Western thinkers who deconstruct the traditional, opposisional view of the mind and body. Most of these thinkers are men, and they argue from a male perspective. The deconstruction of the opposition between mind and body is, however, also useful for feminism, as the woman was traditionally seen as more bodily, and less rational, than the man. This view of woman can be used to support arguments that her place is within the home, where she should look after the bodily and emotional needs of her husband and children. First and second wave feminists criticised above-mentioned traditional view of women by arguing that the woman is just as rational as the man. Other feminists make use of the 'male' criticism of the body-mind opposition by arguing that traditionally female attributes and activities are not less valuable than male ones. In this thesis it is argued that the novellas Klaaglied vir Koos, Erf and Louoond should be read against this background as feminist texts in which the traditionally female space of the kitchen is celebrated as a space in which the female subject can create art and develop a perspective on the outside world. Focusing on the body and on traditionally female values (such as the domestic space) have implications for, amongst others, epistemology, ethical thought and literary theory. The way these implications are developed in the three novellas are explored in this thesis. Domestic spaces are not only celebrated in these texts, they are also represented as problematical, limited spaces which isolate the protagonists of the novellas and withhold them from the potential of political solidarity. The novellas are therefore treated in this thesis as complex texts in which the literary focus on domestic space, female embodiment and man‘s relationship with food is both celebrated and problematised. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Tradisioneel is die liggaam afgeskeep in die Westerse filosofie. Binne hierdie tradisie is die mens beskou as ‘n dualistiese organisme wie se verstand meer waardevol is as sy of haar liggaam. Veral sedert die begin van die twintigste eeu is daar ook Westerse denkers wat die tradisionele, opposisionele siening van die liggaam en die verstand dekonstrueer. Die meeste van hierdie denkers is mans en neem slegs die manlike perspektief in ag. Die dekonstruksie van die opposisie tussen liggaam en verstand is egter ook nuttig vir die feminisme, omdat die vrou tradisioneel gesien is as meer liggaamlik en minder rasioneel as die man. Hierdie tradisionele siening van die vrou kan gebruik word om te argumenteer dat haar plek in die huishoudelike ruimte is, waar sy kan omsien na die liggaamlike en emosionele behoeftes van haar man en kinders. Eerste- en tweedegolf-feministe het bogenoemde tradisionele opvattings veral gekritiseer deur te argumenteer dat die vrou net so rasioneel soos die man is. Latere feministe bou egter voort op 'manlike‘ kritiek teen die opposisie tussen liggaam en verstand deur te argumenteer dat tradisioneel vroulike eienskappe en aktiwiteite nie minder waardevol is as sogenaamde manlike eienskappe nie. In hierdie tesis word geargumenteer dat die novelles Klaaglied vir Koos en Erf deur Lettie Viljoen en Louoond deur Jeanne Goosen teen hierdie agtergrond gelees kan word as feministiese tekste waarin die tradisioneel vroulike ruimte van die kombuis gevier word as ‘n ruimte waarin die vroulike subjek ‘n perspektief op die buitewêreld kan ontwikkel en kuns kan skep. ʼn Fokus op die liggaam en op tradisioneel vroulike elemente (soos die huishoudelike ruimte) behels implikasies vir onder andere die epistemologie, etiese denke en literêre teorie. Hierdie implikasies word verken soos wat hulle na vore kom in die drie novelles. In die novelles word die huishoudelike ruimte egter ook uitgebeeld as ʼn problematiese, beperkende ruimte wat die hoofkarakters van die novelles afsny van die buitewêreld en van die moontlikheid van politieke solidariteit. Daar word geargumenteer dat die novelles dus komplekse tekste is waarin literatuur wat fokus op die huishoudelike ruimte, vroulike liggaamlikheid en die mens se verhouding met kos sowel gevier en geproblematiseer kan word.

The character of the Fool in William Shakespeare's King Lear uses hitherto unexamined gustatory imagery as a linguistic device to achieve the literary fool's function of imparting wisdom that masquerades as nonsense. While previous critics have analyzed the linguistic devices of puns, riddles, and rhymes used by medieval and Renaissance literary fools, this thesis argues not only that the Fool's gustatory imagery constitutes the dominant motif in the play, but also employs food theory to demonstrate how these image patterns provide political commentary on the dramatic action. The Fool's pattern of gustatory imagery is employed as well by characters who can be seen as variations on the wise fool. Through these characters, Shakespeare establishes a food chain motif that classifies some characters as all-consumptive, even cannibalistic, and others as their starving prey. The pattern of food imagery offers a range of perspectives, from highly critical to idealistic, on the play's meaning and political relationships. / by Sara Rafferty Sparer. / Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2009. / Includes bibliography. / Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, Fla., 2009. Mode of access: World Wide Web.

Thesis (M.A.)--Missouri State University, 2008. / "May 2008." Includes bibliographical references (leaves 67-68). Also available online.

Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2012. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Francoise Vergés comments in her essay Let’s Cook! that “one could write the history of a people, of a country, of a continent by writing the history of its culinary habits” (250 ). Vergés here refers to the extent to which food can be seen to document and record certain events or subjectivities. Exploring a wide range of texts spanning the late 1800s up to the post-apartheid present, this thesis focuses in particular on the ways in which “spice” as commodity, ingredient or symbol is employed to articulate and/or embed creole and diasporic identities within the South African national context. The first chapter maps the depiction of the “Malay” figure within cookery books, focussing on the extent to which it is caught up in the trappings of the picturesque. This visibility is often mediated by the figure’s proximity to food. These depictions are then placed in conversation with the conceptual artist Berni Searle’s photographic and video installations. Searle visually interrogates the stagnant modes of representation that accrue around the figure of the “Malay” and moves toward understandings of how food and food narratives structure cultural identity as complex and mutable. Chapter two shifts focus from the Cape to the ways in which “Indian Cuisine” became significant within the South African context. Here the Indian housewife plays a role in perpetuating a distinctive cultural identity. The three primary texts discussed in this chapter are the popular Indian Delights cookery book authored by the Women’s Cultural Group, Shamim Sarif’s The World Unseen and Imraan Coovadia’s The Wedding. Indian Delights. All illustrate the extent to which the realm of the kitchen, traditionally a female domain, becomes a space from which alternative subjectivities can be made. The kitchen as a place for cultural retention is explored further and to differing degrees in both The Wedding and The World Unseen. Ultimately, indentifying cultural heritage through food enables tracing alternative and intersecting cultural identities that elsewhere, are often left out for neat and new ethnic, cultural or national identities. The thesis will in particular explore the extent to which spices used within creole and/or diasporic culinary practices encode complex affiliations and connections. Tracing the intimacies and the disjunctures becomes productive within the postapartheid present where the vestiges of apartheid’s taxonomical impetus alongside a new multicultural model threaten to erase further the complexities and nuances of everyday life. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: In haar artikel Let’s Cook! wys Francoise Vergés daarop dat die geskiedenis van ‘n mens, ‘n land of selfs ‘n kontinent saamgestel sou kon word deur te skryf oor die geskiedenis van hulle kos en eetgewoontes (250).Vergés skep hier ‘n besef van individuele en sosiale identiteit wat deur kos geleenthede vasgevang kan word. Deur bronne vanaf die laat 1800’s tot die postapartheid periode te bestudeer, fokus hierdie navorsing spesifiek op die wyse waarop speserye as kommoditeit, inhoud of simbool gebruik word om die kreoolse en diasporiese identiteite in Suid Afrika te bevestig of te bevraagteken. Die eerste hoofstuk lewer ‘n uiteensetting en beskrywing, soos verkry uit kookboeke, van die stereotypes wat vorm om die Maleise figuur. Daar word konsekwent gefokus op die mate waarin die sigbaarheid van die Maleise identiteit verstrengel word in ‘n bestaande raamwerk van diskoerse. Die Maleise figure word dikwels meer sigbaar in die konteks van kos en eetgewoontes. Berni Searl se fotografiese en video installasies word gebruik om hierdie stereotiepiese visuele kodes te bevraagteken. Searle ontgin die passiewe wyse waarop die Maleise persoon visueel verbeeld word en beklemtoon dan hoe kos en gesprekke oor kos die kulturele identiteit kompleks en dinamies maak. Hoofstuk twee verskuif die klem vanaf die Kaap na die wyse waarop die Indiese kookkuns identiteit kry in die Suid Afrikaanse konteks. Die fokus val hier op die rol van die Indiese huisvrou en haar kombuis in die bevestiging en uitbou van ‘n onderskeibare kulturele identiteit. Die drie kern tekste wat in hierdie hoofstuk bespreek word is die wel bekende en populere Indian Delights kookboek wat saamgestel is deur die Women’s Cultural Group, Shamim Sarif se The World Unseen en Imraan Coovadia se The Wedding. Indian Delights toon verder die mate waarin die kombuis as primere domein van die vrou, ‘n ruimte bied vir die formulering van alternatiewe subjek posisies. Die kombuis bied ook geleentheid vir inherente subversie wat verder en op alternatiewe wyse ontgin word in die bronne The Wedding en The World Unseen. Deur kos te gebruik om kulturele identiteit te verstaan bied ook die geleentheid om kulturele oorvleueling te verstaan al mag sommige groepe beskou word as onafhanklik in hul oorsprong en identiteit. Hierdie navorsing gee spesifiek aandag aan die mate waarin speserye en die gebruik daarvan in kreoolse en diasporiese kookkuns die kompleksiteite, soortgelykhede, verskille en misverstande reflekteer. Dit is veral waardevol om te let op soortgelykhede en verskille gegee dat die apartheidstaksonomie van die verlede en die huidige multikulturele model die rykheid en subtiele nuanseerings van die daaglikse bestaan verder kan erodeer.