Module Overview

Writing about food has proliferated particularly in the 20^th and 21^st centuries, building on intellectual trends such as humanism, food anthropology, historical events such as the Enlightenment, Industrialisation, and Colonialism as well as changing societal and gender roles. Food writing ranges from objective, pragmatic, and information-focused to highly literary texts dealing with identity, culture, politics and morality. Common formats include journalism, memoirs, essays, travelogues, academic texts, and reference books as well as traditional literary formats such as poetry and fiction.

The module approaches the primary readings from a gastrocritical perspective. Gastrocriticism is a form of literary criticism focused on human relationships to each other and to the natural world through food. It is informed by the concepts and insights of gastronomical scholarship and food studies, pays particular attention to the role gastronomy plays in literary writing, and is based on the understanding that literature/writing and human behaviour around food and eating reflect and shape each other.

The module explores literary food writing and other popular modes by which the language of food is transmitted, namely film, social media and blogging, and is aimed at postgraduate students who wish to explore the techniques and aesthetic aspects of food writing and media as well as the intellectual and cultural contexts on both theoretical and practical levels. Active engagement with online scholarly debate and publishing hones the students’ digital and academic literacy.