Food Narratives and Cultural Studies

About

This 30-hour interdisciplinary course, offered over 12 weeks and open to undergraduate, postgraduate, and doctoral students, explores the dynamic relationship between food and culture through the lens of Food Studies. Drawing from literature, cultural theory, and social sciences, it investigates how food functions as a symbol, a site of memory, identity, and power. Students will engage with critical texts by thinkers like Claude Lévi-Strauss, Roland Barthes, Mary Douglas, Arjun Appadurai, Dolly Kikon, Pierre Bourdieu, and David Sutton to understand food as both a system of signs and a social practice. Beginning with the question “What makes food a cultural text?” the course examines sensory memory, social identity, and the gendered and political dynamics of food labor. Topics include the kitchen as a space of care and control, food as a tool for sustaining diasporic identities, and its role in shaping national and cultural imaginaries. We also explore how food can symbolize desire, disgust, and sexuality, and its powerful visual appeal in the era of media and algorithms.

Intended audience: UG PG and PhD Students

Prerequisites: Should be familiar with language and literature