There has been growing academic interest in the study of food, cooking and culinary history since the early 1990s, from the production and exchange of food on a global scale to its preparation and consumption on an individual level. This conference will focus on food within the domestic setting by charting changes in foodspaces over time, examining the politics of foodwork and investigating patterns of food consumption at home. Given the wealth of material available on the themes of food, memory and diaspora, the conference will have a UK-based geographical focus, which may include migrant food journeys centred around UK experiences.
We invite proposals for 25 minute papers on the following themes:
Foodwork
- patterns and negotiation of foodwork at home
- food as a marker of continuity and change within family life
- the changing meanings of objects involved in preparing and serving meals
- gendered division of labour in foodwork
- transmission of culinary skills
Foodspaces
- changes in foodspaces over time and their influence on how and where people cook and eat
Food pathways / food journeys
- including kitchen gardens, box schemes, food parcels and recycling
Cooking and identity
- cooking as expression of self-identity
- food and socio-economic status
Sharing food
- family meals and "proper meals"
- everyday feeding and eating habits
- feasts and celebrations at home
- hospitality and home entertaining
- the role of ritual and religion in food practices
Food idea(l)s
- including household manuals, changing table manners, food norms, healthy diets and eating disorders, the relationship between practice and aspiration, food as moral choice
Representations of food activities at home
- blogging, advertising, film, government propaganda, TV `foodporn`
Building on the tradition of previous SSN events, the Conference programme will include historical and contemporary papers from a wide range of disciplines. We are equally keen to encourage submissions from:
- academics and researchers;
- museum professionals who care for, interpret and use kitchens/culinary collections within historic house museums;
- archivists responsible for cookery book and household manual collections, and
- experimental archaeologists investigating food and cooking
Proposals
Please submit proposals, including title, abstract (of 200-300 words) and a brief biographical statement (c.100 words) by Monday 14 November 2011 to:
Krisztina Lackoi, SSN Co-ordinator, klackoi@geffrye-museum.org.uk
The Geffrye Museum of the Home, Kingsland Road, London, E2 8EA
http://historiesofhomessn.wordpress.com/
Participants will be notified of acceptance by early December 2011.
