As a specialized field of study, children’s literature has its own set of works and texts that address food (although these works often build upon theorists like Barthes). One of the first articles to specifically discuss food in children’s literature is Wendy R. Katz’s aptly titled “Some Uses of Food in Children’s Literature.” The article, though humble in its claim, argues that “children’s literature is filled with food-related images, notions, and values” because if one “understand[s] the relations between the child and food…[one] understand[s] the workings of the world of the young” (192). More importantly, Katz discusses the place of food in the child’s “adjustment to the social order”––their acclimation to society–– or perhaps even the adult world (193). […] As an integral part of reality, food fits seamlessly into fictional narratives, providing a multifaceted and symbolic vehicle for authors to communicate social change or lessons, whichever the case may be.
Stephens, Mary A., «Nothing More Delicious: Food as Temptation in Children’s Literature» (2013). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 50. https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/etd/50
The amount of stuff that can be ritualized, imbued of meaning and worshiped. Human beings are never contented with reading things as they are. Oh, no. They need to complicate everything by creating symbols. Witty ideas about the meaning of images.
Oh, yes I do too. I write. If it is a conscious process or not it is irrelevant. I take the images I can recall from stories or design tools I learnt at school, in order to lie better.
That is the way writing stops being just the literal meaning to become THAT PERFECT MOMENT. The perfect instant in which the image summons the feelings needed. The cliché image as a vehicle of standard communication we need to connect.
Do you ever think what food means in your writing? Have a good time using its image. Pasto kalo.
