Race and Repast

Foodscapes in Twentieth-Century Southern Literature

Urszula Niewiadomska-Flis

• Publisher: University of Arkansas Press
• Year: 2022
• Print ISBN: 9781682262191
• eBook ISBN: 9781610757867
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Agricultural Public Policy
• Index: Social Sciences

Race and Repast: Foodscapes in Twentieth-Century Southern Literature examines the literary foodscapes of the American South—from Jim Crow–era kitchens where White and Black Southerners reacted against racial mores, to the public dining spaces where Southerners probed the limits of racial identity, to the lunch counters that became touchstones of the Black Freedom movement. Mining literary texts by iconic authors like Ernest Gaines and Walker Percy to demonstrate that "food reflects and refracts power," Urszula Niewiadomska-Flis wields food studies as a revelatory lens through which to view a radically segregated society that was often on the cusp of violence. Niewiadomska-Flis also provides a rich and succinct introduction to scholarship in Southern studies and food studies, making Race and Repast a compelling read that offers countless insights to experts as well as readers exploring these areas of research for the first time.

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Series Editors’ Preface
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• 1. The Domestic Contact Zones of Racial Encounters in White Households
• 2. Consuming Public Spaces: Performance of the Color Lines in Jim Crow Dining Cars, Stores, and Cafes
• 3. A Sweet Taste of Victory: Food and Social Drama at the Lunch Counter
• Coda: Food for Thought
• Works Cited
• Index