Dwyer, Kevin Anthony (1996) On a celluloid platter : an analysis of the representations and functions of food and eating in the cinema. PhD thesis, University of Warwick.

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Abstract

This dissertation examines the representations and metaphoric
functions of food and eating in a wide range of European and
American films. It purports to present an original approach to
film historiography and to the study of film aesthetics.
The first chapter, "Food and National Identity in the Cinema,"
addresses the specific case of food as a conveyor of national
identity in French film. Analysis in this chapter is founded on
recent critical debates on nationhood and national cinemas. The
first part of the chapter examines French films of the pre-war
period, whenu food and eating were especially used to convey
consensus and harmony. The second part deals with the post-war
period, when food started to clearly signify the deterioration of
communal, familial and national structures and traditions.
The second chapter, "Film, Food and the Feminine," traces
mainstream and avant-garde representations of women as both cooks
and eaters from the pre-feminist (i.e. up to about 1969-1970) to
the post-feminist periods. Analysis is based on feminist cultural
criticism of the contradictory messages sent to women about food
and eating. Depictions in the pre-feminist period contained eating
and cooking women within very limited and stereotypical cinematic
spaces. The post-feminist period has seen a diversification of the
possible ways of presenting women together with food, especially in
films made by female directors.
Chapter Three, "Alimentary Delinquency in the Cinema," deals
with the distinctly post-classical phenomenon of films that feature
acts of cannibalism, coprophagy and other aberrant eating
practices. Eased on theories of the "carnivalesque" in film, the
first part of the chapter offers an analysis of the specific areas
of film production in which alimentary delinquency is prominent:
the low forms of the horror film, counter cinema, and contemporary
art films. The final section examines alimentary delinquency as a
form of corporal spectacle which has the capacity to provoke
physical reactions in the spectator's own body.
The Conclusion considers recent international "food films" to
see how they crystallise and amplify many of the issues raised in
this study.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Subjects:	P Language and Literature > PN Literature (General) > PN1993 Motion Pictures
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Food in motion pictures
Official Date:	April 1996
Dates:	Date Event April 1996 Submitted
Institution:	University of Warwick
Theses Department:	Department of Film and Television Studies
Thesis Type:	PhD
Publication Status:	Unpublished
Supervisor(s)/Advisor:	Vincendeau, Ginette, 1948-
Extent:	iv, 295 leaves
Language:	eng

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