essay
Playing with food: the negotiation of identity in the ethnic display event by Italian Americans in Clinton, Indiana
Studies in Italian American folklore • Logan, Utah • Published In 1993 • Pages: 107-126
By: Magliocco, Sabina, Del Guidice, Lusia.
AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
Foodways are "…one of the most important symbols through which ethnic groups in America have maintained their individual identities and communicated them to the world around them"…(pp. 107-108). In this paper Magliocco examines food symbolically especially in regard to its significance in the Little Italy Festival carried out in a multiethnic community in which the various foods are chosen by the Italian American community as representative of their ethnic identity.. Magliocco examines four different categories of food present at the festival: "… esoteric foods, present at the private level in each Italian American home; display foods, typically associated with Italians and presented for public sale and consumption; rechristened foods, basically American items, such as soda pop and ham sandwiches, which are given Italian designations for this occasion; and pseudo-foods, such as large wooden 'cheeses,' used mostly in games and contests associated with the festival. Each category of food plays a different role in the display of symbolic ethnicity and the maintenance of ethnic identity " (p. 108).
- SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
- Cultural identity and pride
- Gratification and control of hunger
- Diet
- Food service industries
- Rest days and holidays
- Spectacles
- cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
- Italian Americans
- HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
- 2000
- RegionThe area the document pertains to
- North America
- Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
- Regional, Ethnic and Diaspora Cultures
- Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
- essay
- Evaluation
- Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
- Unknown
- Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
- 5: Excellent Primary Data
- AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
- John Beierle ; 1999
- Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
- fall 1983
- Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
- 1895-1983
- Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
- Clinton, Indiana, United States
- NotesAdditional notes
- Sabina Magliocco
- Includes bibliographical references (p. 124-126)
- LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
- 93021459
- LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
- Italian Americans