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First published in 1999. This book examines process of change in African, South African and European countries by analysing the ways in which food is an integral part of ongoing ecological, economic, political and social transformations. It also provides research on dietary changes from direct intervention by people and agencies. The majority of these fascinating case studies are based on original fieldwork, they are quite diverse, as are the nature and scope of changes considered. The authors discuss rural as well as urban modes of food consumption, dietary changes in different societal contexts, and food-based rituals. The cases presented suggest alterative readings of some established models of changing food habits, and contribute to a more comprehensive history of dietary transformations.
Communicating Cultures explores contemporary and historical issues. The title may be read in various ways, including cultures as communicative systems; cultures communicating with one another; or, communication about cultures. The contributors to this volume represent different fields within or related to European ethnology, such as anthropology, geography, folklore, linguistics, or area studies. ** "The editors have assembled a rich collection of papers. The questions that they address - migration and diasporas; the invention of traditions; education and language; media and representation - are at the very heart of today's agenda in cultural analysis." - from the Foreword
Research into material culture has become one of the most important fields in medieval and early modern studies. While past research focused primarily on the objects as such, present interests have moved to humans and their ties to things. This volume concentrates on the perception of medieval and early modern material culture, in particular exceptional objects that can be seen as "favourite things". Contributions lead from theoretical issues to specific groups of objects, their exclusivity and function as social markers. The analyses address both religious and secular space.
These essays show that industrialisation and fast economic growth have changed not only the broad material environment, but have also had a very important impact on basic food consumption. The introductory chapter takes a theoretical view and tries to establish the interrelationship between economic forces and social habits. The other contributors analyse how the experience of Europe, Japan and North America fit this general explanation and they demonstrate how cultural and regional differences have shaped the development of consumer behaviour and patterns of consumption over the last two centuries.
This illuminating guide to the night opens up an entirely new vista on early modern Europe. Using diaries, letters, legal records and representations of the night in early modern religion, literature and art, Craig Koslofsky explores the myriad ways in which early modern people understood, experienced and transformed the night.
This book offers an overview of bourgeois culture and aspects of everyday life in the German cultural area from the Renaissance to the end of the 18th century. At the same time the reader is introduced to fundamental research problems. The spectrum of topics ranges from life styles to clothing and eating habits, from consciousness of time to rites de passage, birth, marriage and death. Special attention is paid to the role of female and male citizens in music, literature and fine arts. This is a concise introduction for history and art history students, scholars and everyone interested in the pre-history of the modern world. References from important sources define the text; together they are useful resources for teaching.
One of the finest sources for studying authentic American fold diet, the 1853 facsimile edition presented here contains a wealth of recipes and folk wisdom from the Quakers, Tidewater South, and Pennsylvania Germans. This volume, with an extensive introduction and glossary, is the first attempt by an American food historian to analyze the cookery of the Quakers.
Jewish Cattle Traders in the German Countryside, 1919–1939, explores the social and economic networks in which this group operated and the informal but durable bonds between Jewish cattle traders and farmers that not even incessant Nazi attacks could break. Stefanie Fischer combines approaches from social history, economic history, and sociology to challenge the longstanding cliché of the shady Jewish cattle dealer. By focusing on trust and social connections rather than analyzing economic trends, Fischer exposes the myriad inconsistencies that riddled the process of expelling the Jews from Germany. Jewish Cattle Traders in the German Countryside, 1919–1939, examines the complexities of relations between Jews and non-Jews who were engaged in economic and social exchange. In the process, Fischer challenges previous understandings of everyday life under Nazi rule and discovers new ways in which Jewish agency acted as a critical force throughout the exclusionary processes that took place in Hitler's Germany.
"This is the book on porcelain we have been waiting for. . . . A remarkable achievement."—Edmund de Waal, author of The Hare with Amber Eyes A sweeping cultural and economic history of porcelain, from the eighteenth century to the present Porcelain was invented in medieval China—but its secret recipe was first reproduced in Europe by an alchemist in the employ of the Saxon king Augustus the Strong. Saxony’s revered Meissen factory could not keep porcelain’s ingredients secret for long, however, and scores of Holy Roman princes quickly founded their own mercantile manufactories, soon to be rivaled by private entrepreneurs, eager to make not art but profits. As porcelain’s uses multi...