Poetry and Food, by Dustin Pickering

Book Reviews Dustin Pickering The introductory notes to Quesadilla and Other Adventures (Hawakal Publishers, 2019), edited by Somrita Urni Ganguly, lay the ground plan for the anthology. “Food is history,” writes Ganguly. “Food is memory. Food is economics. Food is science. Food is sociology, anthropology, drama, poetry, and art. Food, indeed, is a universe in itself.” The ways literature is an interdisciplinary affair are also delightfully implied in the nature of this collection. “Food has been at the center of our literature since the time we began recording our thoughts,” the editor opens. All across the world, food has evoked odd and mysterious symbolism while teaching the art of gratitude. Ganguly further notes how much strife is waged over food in today’s world. This is the important context of the collection, she tells the reader. It is true that food can be politically persuasive. For instance, the jazz number “Strange Fruit” sung by Billie Holiday contains a disturbing metaphor. The opening lines follow: Southern trees bear a strange fruit Blood on the leaves and blood at the root Black bodies swinging in the southern breeze Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees These lines incidentally echo the Christina Rossetti poem cited as an epigraph. “Goblin Market” strives as allegory to instruct the reader, but what is being said ultimately? Elizabeth K. Helsinger writes, “When Lizzie and Laura step from home into the... Continue reading at 'World Literature Today'

[ World Literature Today | 2020-02-11 13:46:44 UTC ]
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