Three Meals: Eating Culture in Toni Morrison's Tar Baby

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

3-1-2012

Department

English

School

Humanities

Abstract

To study a single meal in a work of literature for broader meaning is a difficult task food and events could be termed incidental to the larger interactions of the novel. Moreover, given the multiple means of interpreting even one food product, applying the significance of food in a novel to a larger understanding of its producing culture may seem both a herculean and pointless endeavor. I would like to suggest, however, that because novels are to a degree a reflection of the author's society, studying the patterns of literary meals can provide insights into character portrayal and the broader cleaning of the work. At the same time, these literary meals can help scholars understand the uses of food in the their own cultures. For these reasons such studies can be immensely profitable.

Publication Title

Midwest Quarterly-A Journal of Contemporary Thought

Volume

53

Issue

3

First Page

283

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