ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book provides a comprehensive view of the long histories and preoccupations of literary food studies with an attentiveness to developments and shifts. It illustrates the aesthetic, cultural, political, and intellectual diversity of the representation of food and eating in literature in all of its richness. The book describes the place occupied by food in literature accessible to an audience of both academic experts and non-experts, which means providing the literary, cultural, and historical context necessary for in-depth understanding of the literary food studies field, as its popularity spreads across demographic groups. It explores the culturally particular ways in which food is presented in literature as a medium for national, racial, class, and familial affiliations. The book addresses precisely literature with preoccupations. It considers matters of literary genre in conjunction with the metaphorical representation of food in a variety of narratives.
