Programme

This course first settles the framework of the theoretical and methodological aspects of the history of food cultures. In particular, the class will focus on the economic, cultural, and social features that have marked the imaginary and the use of food in the contemporary age.
The first part of the course (6 hours) is devoted to the introduction of the theoretical and methodological aspects of cultural history and the history of material cultures. The second part of the course (6 hours) addresses the long-term historical changes of agriculture in the contemporary age. The third part of the course (18 hours) is concerned with the history of Italian food culture with particular attention to Mediterranean food cultures. The fourth part of the course (18 hours) is focused on four aspects on the cultural relations between food and society: food and the environment, food and inequalities, food and wright, food and religions.

Core Documentation

Main reference text:

Alberto Capatti e Massimo Montanari, La cucina italiana. Storia di una cultura, Roma-Bari, Laterza 2017, 424 p., € 14,00.

A book to be chosen from:


Piero Bevilacqua, Il cibo e la terra. Agricoltura, ambiente e salute negli scenari del nuovo millennio, Roma, Donzelli, 2018, 215 pp., € 11,00.

Alberto De Bernardi, Il paese dei maccheroni. Storia sociale della pasta, Roma, Donzelli, 2019, 262 pp., € 30,00.

Massimo Montanari (a cura di), Cucina politica. Il linguaggio del cibo fra pratiche sociali e rappresentazioni ideologiche, Bari-Roma, Laterza, 2021, 328 pp., € 19,00

Type of delivery of the course

The course will be held in the traditional way or modality of frontal lessons. During the lessons the students are asked to compare the treated topic with their own personal experience.

Type of evaluation

The oral exam focuses on the main topics treated in the textbooks. For attending students, particular attention is devoted to the contents of the lessons.