Open access
TABLE MANNERS: FEASTING AND LE GRAND BOUFFE AS TWO FORMS OF MODERN CONSUMPTION.
Katarzyna PYSZKOWSKA1
Transformations of Culture
Publication language: Polish
Journal article
Transformations No. 1-2 (80-81) 2014, Publication date: 23 May 2014
Abstract The text describes two opposite forms of table manners in the context of the contemporary culture of consumption. Based on terms such as feast, feasting, etiquette, conversation, hospitality, appetite, or disgust, it is possible to point out not only the differences between feasting and le grand bouffe as forms of particular behaviour, but also human nature during the evolution process and civilization's condition today. Human's approach to food and the use of advantages of modern technology affects the shape of culture in some way. Nowadays, based on food, people's food choices, table manners, and particular behaviours related to food, it it possible to indicate that we live in the times of consumption and we have stopped caring. The whole process of consumption is nothing new in terms of our history, but the most important thing remains to show how people adapt almost everything to make their lives easier, more convenient, funny and sparing in every way. Food and the way we treat it shows what our expectations are and it concerns all of the cultural areas – food can be one of the best examples because it is primary and natural, yet very flexible and adaptable to a variety of historical changes.
Instytutu Nauk o Kulturze i Studiów Interdyscyplinarnych Uniwersytetu Śląskiego w Katowicach
E-mail: dygoty@vp.pl