GASTRONOMY AND OTHERNESS IN ALPHONSO X’S WORKS: FOOD IDENTITIES IN CARTOGRAPHY

• Main Author: Moneypenny, Dianne Burke
• Format: Others
• Published: UKnowledge 2011
• Subjects: Food; Cartography; Alphonso X; Medieval Spain; Anthropology; Cultural History; Medieval History; Spanish and Portuguese Language and Literature
• Online Access: http://uknowledge.uky.edu/gradschool_diss/807; http://uknowledge.uky.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1810&context=gradschool_diss

This thesis investigates Alphonso X's General Estoria, Estoria de Espanna, Cantigas de Santa María, Siete Partidas, and other writings in the alphonsine corpus to illustrate the concept of classification through diet. The work of this thesis is to reveal the gastronomic connections between central and peripheral relations in cartography. Through food symbolism and dietary behaviors, cuisine functions as the purveyor of an unrivalled sketch of a text’s characters and the social conditions of the text’s production. Once unraveled, these highly socialized norms of consumption confirm that diet and identity are inextricably linked and lead to a greater understanding of medieval Iberian cultural relations and attitudes revolving around food and the perception of the civility of the world.