Abstract
This chapter explores the ways that nostalgia emerged as a theme in the interviews, including the ways in which food represents a preservation of family members and a real and imagined history. We discuss the psychological and historical function of nostalgia, especially informed by Stephanie Coontz’s book, The Way We Never Were: American families and the nostalgia trap (1992). Participants discuss their childhood, family relationships and traditions, and their delight at being asked to talk about these topics, especially since “no one ever asks.” This is contrasted with their dismay at contemporary work/family relations and the loss of a cultural tradition.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Apfelbaum, E. (2010). Halbwachs and the social properties of memory. In S. Radstone & B. Schwarz (Eds.), Memory: Histories, theories, debates (pp. 77–92). Bronx, NY: Fordham University Press.
Avakian, A. V. (Ed.). (1997). Through the kitchen window: Women explore the intimate meanings of food and cooking. Boston: Beacon Press.
Bourdieu, P. (1984). Distinction: A social critique of the judgement of taste. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Brown, B. (2015). Rising strong. New York: Spiegel & Grau.
Bryant, D. (1998). Confessions of Madame Psyche. New York: The Feminist Press at CUNY.
Capone, G. (1998). Last night I was visited by the ancestors. In N. A. Ciatu, D. Dileo, & G. Micallef (Eds.), Curaggia: Writing by women of Italian descent (pp. 135–136). Toronto, ON: Women’s Press.
Chernin, K. (1994). The hungry self: Women, eating, and identity. New York: HarperCollins.
Civitello, L. (2008). Cuisine and culture: A history of food and people (2nd ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
Coontz, S. (1992). The way we never were: American families and the nostalgia trap. New York: Basic Books.
DeSalvo, L., & Giunta, E. (Eds.). (2002). The milk of almonds: Italian American women writers on food an culture. New York: The Feminist Press.
DeVault, M. (1991). Feeding the family: The social organization of caring as gendered work. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
Diner, H. R. (2001). Hungering for America: Italian, Irish, and Jewish foodways in the age of migration. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Dottolo, A. L., & Dottolo, C. (2015). Legacies of migration: Italian American women, food and identity. In O. M. Espin & A. L. Dottolo (Eds.), Gendered journeys: Women, migration, and feminist psychology (pp. 281–301). New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Espin, O. M. (2015). A geography of memory: A psychology of place. In O. M. Espin & A. L. Dottolo (Eds.), Gendered journeys: Women, migration and feminist psychology (pp. 29–53). New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Fivush, R., & Haden, C. A. (2008). Introduction: Autbiographical memory, narrative and self. In R. Fivush & C. A. Haden (Eds.), Autobiographical memory and the construction of a narrative self: Developmental and cultural perspective (pp. vii–xiv). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Gilbert, S. (1991). On being an Italian-American. In A. J. Tamburri, P. A. Giordano, & F. L. Gardaphé (Eds.), From the margin: Writings in Italian Americana (pp. 116–120). West Lafayette, IN: Purdue University Press.
Giunta, E. (2002). Writing with an accent: Contemporary Italian American women authors. New York: Palgrave.
Giunta, E., & Patti, S. J. (Eds.). (1998). A tavola: Food, tradition, and community among Italian Americans. In Selected Essays from the 29th Annual Conference of the American Italian Historical Association Conference. Staten Island, NY: American Italian Historical Association.
Halbwachs, M. (1980). The collective memory. New York: Harper & Row Colophon Books [(1950). La mémoire collective. Paris: PUF].
Halbwachs, M. (1992). On collective memory (L. A. Coser, Trans. & Ed.). Chicago: University of Chicago Press [From: (1953). Les cadres sociaux de la mémoire. Paris: PUF; and (1941). La topographie légendaire des évangiles en Terre Sainte: Etude de mémoire collective. Paris: PUF].
Hartley, L. P. (1953). The go-between. London: Penguin Books.
Lamb, W. (2002). Food and fatalism. In R. Barreca (Ed.), Don’t tell mama: The Penguin Book of Italian American writing (pp. 315–333). New York: Penguin Books.
Leto, D. N. (1998). As if from a great distance. In N. A. Ciatu, D. Dileo, & G. Micallef (Eds.), Curaggia: Writing by women of Italian descent (pp. 43–45). Toronto, ON: Women’s Press.
Linde, C. (1993). Life stories: The creation of coherence. New York: Oxford University Press.
Mintz, S. W. (1996). Tasting food, tasting freedom: Excursions into eating, culture, and the past. Boston: Beacon Press.
Montanari, M. (2013). Italian identity in the kitchen, or food and the nation. New York: Columbia University Press.
Olver, L. M. (2009). The truth about Clams Casino. Gastronomica, 9(1), 88–90.
Pillemer, D. B. (2009). Momentous events, vivid memories. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Slater, N. (2004). Toast: The story of a boy’s hunger. New York: Gotham Books.
Sutton, D. (2008). A tale of Easter ovens: Food and collective memory. Social Research: An International Quarterly, 75(1), 157–180.
Van der Veen, M. (2003). When is food a luxury? Archaeology, 34(3), 405–427.
Wright-St Clair, V., Hocking, C., Bunrayong, W., Vittayakorn, S., & Rattakorn, P. (2005). Older New Zealand women doing the work of Christmas: A recipe for identity formation. The Sociological Review, 53(2), 332–350.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Dottolo, A.L., Dottolo, C. (2018). “I Remember You Most in the Kitchen”: Nostalgia—Love, Loss, and Longing. In: Italian American Women, Food, and Identity. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-74757-6_5
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-74757-6_5
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-74756-9
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-74757-6
eBook Packages: Behavioral Science and PsychologyBehavioral Science and Psychology (R0)