There is already a rich and continually growing body of scholarship on food from a folkloric perspective. Much of this scholarship is focused on a particular cuisine, ingredient, or facet of the production, preparation, or consumption of food. A text that purports to be a general handbook to foodways and folklore is therefore a welcome addition to the mix: a single volume that provides a broader overview to the subject and has equally broad applicability and audience. Unfortunately, Foodways and Folklore: A Handbook, by Jacqueline Thursby, does not live up to its title or those aspirations.
In the preface to this volume, Thursby writes, “At the core of the study of foodways is the specific relationship between people and their food practices” (ix). This statement may be true enough, but the book does little to delve into that specific relationship, either in general terms, or for the United States, the stated focus region of the text. The presentation of the material feels superficial and scattered, with a topic treated very briefly before moving on to the next. Far too often, the next topic does not seem to follow logically from the previous, giving the text a disjointed feel and lack of flow. Phrases such as “Skipping forward” (15) and “Slipping back in time” (160) are symptoms of a disorganized text, as the author switches the focus abruptly from one idea to another. This problem is compounded by the style of the writing. Thursby constantly shifts from a very distant, omniscient presentation of material to first-person anecdotes about food. The same lack of logical flow affects these shifts. Rather than drawing the reader into her presentation by creating a personal touch, the constant swing from distant to close only disorients the reader further.
A certain amount of generality is to be expected from a handbook--some depth is sacrificed for the sake of breadth. However, the sacrifice in this volume has been too great, to the point that the utility of this book is compromised. As I was reading it for review, I found it difficult to imagine the perceived academic audience. To whom is this book pitched? It is far too simplistic in its treatment of the topic for use in graduate courses or upper-level undergraduate courses. Its lack of depth in analysis and organized presentation harms its usefulness to an introductory folklore course. As such, I cannot recommend this work for use in a classroom setting. I hesitate even to recommend it for a general audience, due to possible misunderstandings of the theoretical stances of the discipline of folklore. Thursby’s presentation not only oversimplifies the subject matter, but her writing often hides complexities in the study of culture which ought to be part of any folklore text. The book uses terminology from the discipline in odd ways (my italics added in these examples): “…there have always been many historical (academic) and folk (word-of-mouth) theories about…” (42); “Cultural knowledge, including fine food and dress…” (36); “The knowledge…was passed from generation to generation by way of oral transmission or vernacular folklore” (75). Such usage of terms seems to equate “folk” knowledge with a lower status, and relegate it to an overly simplistic realm of oral transmission. Even more distressing are phrases such as “In the highly civilized ancient cultures of classical Greece and Rome” (10) or “…classic folk figures like Paul Bunyan or Pecos Bill” (2). A lack of discussion of problematic terms like “highly civilized” or "classic folk figure" (especially when that label is applied to Paul Bunyan, a figure whose contested origins have been discussed at length by folklorists) further intensifies the superficial, bordering on un-academic, feel of the book.
The text itself is divided into five chapters. The first serves as an introduction, including a “brief food history,” which attempts to touch on various aspects of food in culture from 9500 BCE through 1870. The fact that this historical span is covered in a mere eighteen pages gives some indication of the brevity of the food history presented. The second chapter is titled “Definitions and Classifications,” although its primary mission seems to be to bring the global scale of the first chapter down to a more localized focus on America. The third chapter is called “Examples and Texts,” and it runs through various subsets of American culture (various ethnicities, as well as competitive eating, fast food, and school lunches), discussing their influences on American cuisine. What should be the meatiest chapter suffers the most from the superficial analysis pervasive in the text. Little real contextualization is given to the material, leaving the reader wanting. The fourth chapter, “Scholarship and Approaches,” is a sort of annotated bibliography of food research, and as such this chapter will be of most use to folklorists. Thursby does provide an overview of the relevant scholarship, albeit a brief one. The last chapter, “Contexts,” provides some interesting discussions about food as a trope in various spheres (literature, art, celebrations), but again the lack of depth and focus diminishes the usefulness of this chapter.
I wanted to be enthusiastic about Foodways and Folklore. A broad-based handbook of food as a window into folk identity would be an exciting and useful text for any folklorist, regardless of their particular interests. A comprehensive book exploring foodways would be a boon to the introductory or advanced classroom. Unfortunately, this book does not fill the bill. Its lack of organization, lack of depth, and lack of evidence of knowledge of the field hamstrings this work to the point that its use for any academic or research work is severely hampered.
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[Review length: 934 words • Review posted on January 26, 2009]