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Eating Culture

How What We Eat Informs Who We Are and Who We Want to Be

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Handbook of Theory and Research in Cultural Studies and Education

Part of the book series: Springer International Handbooks of Education ((SIHE))

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Abstract

In first grade, I did not have the words to describe the ethnic Chinese food I ate, so I lied and said I ate cereal all day, every day. Food shame began early. This chapter considers how our food and foodways impact identity. In approaching this, I will unpack two food narratives: the first, causing embarrassment and shame, will be analyzed using psychoanalysis and critical literacy, while the second, sparking creativity, includes a discussion on the role of disgust – the paradox of aversion, aesthetic disgust, the cognition-affect link, and finally disgust in culture. Using interdisciplinary lenses for analyses, I argue that whether good or bad, our food experiences can inform how we understand who we are and more significantly shape who we want to become. Despite its varying effects, this chapter seeks to underscore that as an entry point to interrogate culture, identity, and otherness, food has pedagogical value.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE), Toronto, ON, Canada

    Cammy Lee

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  1. Cammy Lee
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Correspondence to Cammy Lee .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Ontario Inst for Studies in Education, University of Toronto Ontario Inst for Studies in Education, Toronto, ON, Canada

    Peter Pericles Trifonas

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Lee, C. (2019). Eating Culture. In: Trifonas, P. (eds) Handbook of Theory and Research in Cultural Studies and Education. Springer International Handbooks of Education. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-01426-1_24-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-01426-1_24-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-01426-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-01426-1

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference EducationReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Education

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