The night regime of the gastronomic imaginary in literature or about the unusual character of the food

Abstract

In this article we aim to address the subject of food in literature as an emi- nently negative factor. Viewed through the prism of the “nocturnal regime of the imaginary” (G. Durand) food can be represented by the mystery of darkness, so that a clear aspect of the “kitchen motif that doubles as an anti-kitchen” (Claude Lévi-Stauss) is fully outlined. We will bring as examples fragments and analyzes of texts from curses, fairy tales, stories, literary texts that contain allusions to the gastronomy of negative menus/predispositions that influence personal human behavior and the negative propensity on others fragments of myths that contain clues about gastronomy and the origin of food in a negative context. We will refer to the indirect description of the character starting from the consumption of food as displeasu- re, need or habit. We will reflect on the consumption of strange/shocking food who turn the characters into superheroes (they have unsuspected powers, they can do what they previously couldn’t), or it put them under the sign of disgrace and repulsion.  

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