Violent Appetites: Hunger in the Early Northeast

In this book, Carla Cevasco explores how hunger shaped both colonialism and Native resistance in Early America, challenging the myth of colonial America as a land of plenty. She highlights the violent history of hunger, the fear of taboo foods, and the struggle for resources, emphasizing the fragility of the colonial project and the strategies of resilience used by Native peoples.

Format: Hardback
Length: 256 pages
Publication date: 07 June 2022
Publisher: Yale University Press

Carla Cevasco's groundbreaking work challenges the notion of colonial America as a land of abundance, delving into the dark and violent history of hunger during the colonial invasion of early northeastern North America. Spanning the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, Native Americans, English, and French colonists endured a relentless cycle of violence, grappling with the agonizing pain of hunger, the terror of encountering taboo foods, and the fierce competition for scarce resources. Their mealtime encounters, filled with rotten meat, foraged plants, and even the flesh of humans, would reshape the very definition of hunger across cultures. By placing hunger at the forefront of her study, Cevasco underscores the fragility of the colonial project and the remarkable resilience exhibited by Native peoples in the face of scarcity and the colonial invasion. Through an interdisciplinary lens, the book proposes a fresh perspective on scarcity, expanding the boundaries of food studies beyond the realm of abundance.

This bold and original study by Carla Cevasco punctures the myth of colonial America as a land of plenty. Instead, it delves into the gruesome, violent history of hunger that unfolded in the context of the colonial invasion of early northeastern North America. Throughout the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, Native Americans, English, and French colonists were plagued by constant violence, facing the agonizing pain of hunger, the fear of encountering taboo foods, and the fierce struggle for scarce resources. Their mealtime encounters, filled with rotten meat, foraged plants, and even the flesh of humans, would reshape the very definition of hunger across cultures.

By foregrounding hunger and its effects in the early American world, Cevasco emphasizes the fragility of the colonial project and the strategies of resilience that Native peoples used to endure both scarcity and the colonial invasion. The book proposes an interdisciplinary framework for studying scarcity, expanding the field of food studies beyond simply the study of plenty.

In this groundbreaking work, Carla Cevasco challenges the notion of colonial America as a land of abundance, delving into the dark and violent history of hunger during the colonial invasion of early northeastern North America. Spanning the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, Native Americans, English, and French colonists endured a relentless cycle of violence, grappling with the agonizing pain of hunger, the terror of encountering taboo foods, and the fierce competition for scarce resources. Their mealtime encounters, filled with rotten meat, foraged plants, and even the flesh of humans, would reshape the very definition of hunger across cultures.

By placing hunger at the forefront of her study, Cevasco underscores the fragility of the colonial project and the remarkable resilience exhibited by Native peoples in the face of scarcity and the colonial invasion. Through an interdisciplinary lens, the book proposes a fresh perspective on scarcity, expanding the boundaries of food studies beyond the realm of abundance.

This bold and original study by Carla Cevasco punctures the myth of colonial America as a land of plenty. Instead, it delves into the gruesome, violent history of hunger that unfolded in the context of the colonial invasion of early northeastern North America. Throughout the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, Native Americans, English, and French colonists were plagued by constant violence, facing the agonizing pain of hunger, the fear of encountering taboo foods, and the fierce struggle for scarce resources. Their mealtime encounters, filled with rotten meat, foraged plants, and even the flesh of humans, would reshape the very definition of hunger across cultures.

By foregrounding hunger and its effects in the early American world, Cevasco emphasizes the fragility of the colonial project and the strategies of resilience that Native peoples used to endure both scarcity and the colonial invasion. The book proposes an interdisciplinary framework for studying scarcity, expanding the field of food studies beyond simply the study of plenty.

In this groundbreaking work, Carla Cevasco challenges the notion of colonial America as a land of abundance, delving into the dark and violent history of hunger during the colonial invasion of early northeastern North America. Spanning the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, Native Americans, English, and French colonists endured a relentless cycle of violence, grappling with the agonizing pain of hunger, the terror of encountering taboo foods, and the fierce competition for scarce resources. Their mealtime encounters, filled with rotten meat, foraged plants, and even the flesh of humans, would reshape the very definition of hunger across cultures.

By placing hunger at the forefront of her study, Cevasco underscores the fragility of the colonial project and the remarkable resilience exhibited by Native peoples in the face of scarcity and the colonial invasion. Through an interdisciplinary lens, the book proposes a fresh perspective on scarcity, expanding the boundaries of food studies beyond the realm of abundance.

Dimension: 235 x 156 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780300251340