The Coloniality of Modern Taste: A Critique of Gastronomic Thought

The book analyzes how gastronomy constructed and normalized a colonial concept of taste, leading to the desensualization, bureaucratization, and racialization of its conceptualization. It compares the gastronomic approach to taste to other geographical and philosophical contexts and argues that it lacks affect and encourages patterns of food consumption that rely on an exploitative and unsustainable global food system.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 174 pages
Publication date: 30 December 2022
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd

The Coloniality of Modern Taste delves into the intricate web of influences that shaped the concept of taste in gastronomy, unveiling its profound colonial implications. By examining nineteenth-century gastronomic publications, the book sheds light on how rationalist and aesthetic thought, alongside colonial and capitalist structures, contributed to the desensualization, bureaucratization, and racialization of taste. This thought-provoking exploration challenges the conventional narrative of gastronomy as a celebration of culinary excellence and reveals its role in perpetuating oppressive systems.

The book argues that the understanding of taste constructed by gastronomic texts continues to burden the affective experience of taste, perpetuating patterns of food consumption that rely on an exploitative and unsustainable global food system. It highlights the ways in which gastronomy has been complicit in perpetuating colonial hierarchies, as it has often been used to reinforce notions of superiority and inferiority based on cultural and geographical differences.

Through its analysis, The Coloniality of Modern Taste offers a critical perspective on the contemporary culinary landscape. It encourages readers to reevaluate the ways in which taste is constructed and experienced, challenging the notion that taste is solely a matter of personal preference and urging a more nuanced understanding of the complex social and cultural factors that shape our food choices.

This book is a valuable resource for students and scholars interested in cultural studies, decoloniality, affect theory, sensory studies, gastronomy, and food studies. It provides a comprehensive and interdisciplinary approach to understanding the coloniality of modern taste, offering insights that can inform our understanding of food systems, cultural practices, and the politics of taste.

Weight: 290g
Dimension: 234 x 154 x 12 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781032364179