Rice Talks explores the importance of cooking and eating in the everyday social life of Hoi An, a properous market town in central Vietnam known for its exceptionally elaborate and sophisticated local cuisine. In a vivid and highly personal account, Nir Avieli takes the reader from the private setting of the extended family meal into the public realm of the festive, extraordinary, and unique. He shows how foodways relate to class relations, gender roles, religious practices, cosmology, ethnicity, and even local and national politics. This evocative study departs from conventional anthropological research on food by stressing the rich meanings, generative capacities, and potential subversion embedded in foodways and eating.

The culinary life of a Vietnamese town

About the Author

Nir Avieli is Lecturer in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Ben Gurion University in Israel.

Reviews

For students, researchers, or everyday readers looking to explore the area of nutritional anthropology, Avieli provides a wonderfully written ethnographic narrative that is as engaging as it is appetizing.

* Allegra *

Rice Talks brings a unique perspective to the study of foodways. The rich ethnography of the culinary sphere of Hoi An fills an important gap in the study of Vietnamese culture, and the theoretical framework adds a new dimension to the study of foodways. . . . For anyone interested in doing a comparative study of the culinary sphere, Rice Talks is a highly valuable addition to anthropological studies on food.

* Sojourn *

Rice Talks deserves a readership beyond its obvious geographical constituency. This book makes a thought-provoking intervention in anthropology's long-running engagement with the culinary sphere, and anyone interested in identity, community, and contemporary foodways will find stimulating arguments to debate here.

* Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute *

[T]his is a carefully detailed study, which is easily accessible because it is largely jargon free. For those teaching a course on foodways, it would be highly suitable because it illustrates a particular approach well and offers a view on a cuisine that has not been extensively explored in the existing literature.

* Social and Cultural Geography *

Written in a clearly accessible style, this book will be greatly welcomed by food researchers, teachers of undergraduate anthropology classes, and general readers, who will then understandably want to search out a good Vietnamese restaurant in their neighborhood. . . . Highly recommended.

* Choice *



Book Information
ISBN 9780253223708
Author Nir Avieli
Format Paperback
Page Count 344
Imprint Indiana University Press
Publisher Indiana University Press
Weight(grams) 544g