The Cambridge Companion to Literature and Food

This Companion provides an engaging and expansive overview of gustation, gastronomy, agriculture and alimentary activism in literature from the medieval period to the present day, as well as an illuminating introduction to cookbooks as literature. Bringing together sixteen original essays by leading scholars, the collection rethinks literary food from a variety of critical angles, including gender and sexuality, critical race studies, postcolonial studies, eco-criticism and children's literature. Topics covered include mealtime decorum in Chaucer, Milton's culinary metaphors, early American taste, Romantic gastronomy, Victorian eating, African-American women's culinary writing, modernist food experiments, Julia Child and cold war cooking, industrialized food in children's literature, agricultural horror and farmworker activism, queer cookbooks, hunger as protest and postcolonial legacy, and 'dude food' in contemporary food blogs. Featuring a chronology of key publication and historical dates and a comprehensive bibliography of further reading, this Companion is an indispensible guide to an exciting field for students and instructors.

• Examines food in English, American, and postcolonial literature across a wide variety of historical periods, literary genres, and fields
• Provides a comprehensive, up-to-date guide to suggested further reading in literary food studies as well as a chronology of key publication and historical dates
• Tells the story of cookbooks from medieval shorthand to runaway Victorian bestsellers, avant-garde culinary experiments, Soul Food activism and contemporary food blogs