Feasts and parties are means to celebrate any purpose that comprises of communal elaborate eating. Similarly, we see the early Mughal rulers celebrating their special occasions – victory after war, in honour of somebody, festivals, birth of a child or nuptials, or etc. by hosting a feast or a banquet. This explains the purpose of a feast simply but the question is: that is just it or could it hold a larger motive? Well, Brian Hayden, Dietler and Susan Pollock argues that feasts were an important event where commensality was not just limited to eating and drinking together but far more than just a physical act, it entails myriad social and political ties and a competition in order to display one's own wealth and well being. Definitely, a feast …show more content…
Feasts can lead to social hierarchy and creation of political power through asymmetrical reciprocity. The giving of a gift is more than a simple act of generosity. First and foremost, gifts are about relationships between the gift-giver and the gift-receiver. The foundation of gift giving is reciprocity, more like an obligation. The essence of the custom is that the receiver has to give a gift of commensal value, representing same level of friendship with which the gift was given to him/her at the first place. The gift-giving creates a relationship of superiority over the gift-receiver until such a time when the gift can be reciprocated. So we could say that another reason for Humayun to give a feast back to Shah Tahmasp was to create a symmetrical relationship. In feasts, the gift of food is taken into the body through consumption and therefore the hospitality cannot be immediately returned, creating a delay between acts of reciprocity if it can be reciprocated at all. Also unlike durable valuables, the food consumed cannot be re-circulated (or reinvested) in other gift exchange relationships.The host of the feast receives social recognition by creating this relationship and also important to understand is that this cordiality concentrated on distribution and consumption of food and drinks, is a practise which like the gift-exchanges assisted in creating and reproducing social relations. This is why feasts are often viewed as mechanisms of social solidarity that serve to establish a sense of
The Party is Over by Mike Lofgren goes undercover to reveal what politics is like behind the screen. I believe this book was more for criticizing the GOP and Republicans that the Democrats. The GOP and Republicans are a lot different in politics now than they were decades ago. The book talks about how the Republicans are against the government, how Republicans are anti-science and anti-intellectual, and also how they view religious rights. All of these lead to problems with politics. The Democrats were brought up than the Republicans, but were still mentioned. They too did some damage in today’s politics. This book informs us on how the Republicans went crazy and Democrats became useless, and how it’s become a problem.
The story reflects a rich spectrum of historical and ideological contexts. Cereals were the staple foods in Greco-Roman antiquity;3 still, food shortages were endemic. Prejudice against profiteering merchants dates back to Homer’s Odyssey (Bk 8.163-4). Generous giving by the affluent elite, on the other hand, was both expected and celebrated. For instance, in the anonymous Latin romance Story of Apollonius King of Tyre4
In those days the average village in Western Europe celebrated at least 17 festivals annually, not counting family occasions and saints' days. Some festivals, such as Carnival, lasted several days or sometimes even several weeks. In the Netherlands Carnival started every year at the 11th of November (St. Martin) and culminated in a big festival of 'Dranck, pleijsier ende vrouwen' (Drink, fun and women) at the end of the Carnival period, preceding the period of Lent.
In our society we have many traditions. These traditions all have certain meanings behind them; however, many of those meanings tend to be lost or forgotten. The holiday of Thanksgiving was originally a celebration to commemorate the arrival of the pilgrims in the new world and their first interactions with the Native Americans. So then why is it still celebrated today? There is no actual purpose in today’s society to observe this custom. It has just continued to be observed because of past traditions. There is no logical reason to continue this fête, as it holds little or no value. With the passage of time the actual reasons have been lost or distorted, such as in the case of Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery.”
... I had never even seen most of the food displayed, I eagerly and respectfully tried each dish. After everyone in the room sat down at the massive table, the Rabbi picked up a glass of wine and made a prayer over it. Then, Rabbi Kanelsky passed around pieces of Challah bread to the entire table. This lunch festival was yet another ceremony dedicated to one of the member’s deceased relative. At the conclusion, the Rabbi said another prayer out loud for the deceased and the relative expressed his gratitude to everyone.
Babette’s Feast Like probably most of the people in our class, I grew up watching and enjoying Hollywood movies and have never really tried to appreciate European cinema. I initially thought of it as something boring or something that required too much analysis and interpretation. took the “fun” part out of watching a movie. However, watching the film, Babette’s Feast, certainly changed my viewpoint. Though it didn’t fully transform my view into instant admiration and outright appreciation, my viewpoint on European cinema definitely changed.
This is held to honor the head of a family, who have supplied the king. They believe through this ceremony, this will lead to wealth and prosperity of the country. “You have reason for to commend that excellent institution of the Feast of the Family. And indeed we have experience, that those families that are partakers of the blessing of that feast do flourish and prosper ever after in an extraordinary manner” (Bacon, Page 93). The Europeans have readily accepted to be citizens of Bensalem before this feast, which cause them to move onto learning about their customs and practices. As I mentioned before, this is where they meet Joabin. The European narrator asks him if polygamy is practiced in Bensalem, which is found on page 92, since they believe in large families. “I desired to know of him what laws and customs they had concerning marriage; and whether they kept marriage well; and whether they were tied to one wife? For that where population is so much affected, and such as with them it seemed to be, there is commonly permission of plurality of wives” (Bacon, Page 93). Joabin speech is important because he is the only character described as wise. According to Bacon, Joabin is “a wise man and learned, and of great policy, and excellently seen in the laws and customs of that nation” (Bacon, Page 147). This is proved in the Feast of the Family when Joabin answers his questions. He responds to
Social class has always been a controversial issue in America. This idea, that individuals are defined by their wealth, is explored by Jeannette Walls in her memoir, The Glass Castle. Walls shows, through a manifold of personal anecdotes, how growing up in a dysfunctional household with financially inept parents affected her and her siblings. Growing up in this environment, Jeannette was exposed to a very different perception of the world around her than those of higher social status. However, despite the constant hardships she faced, Walls makes it clear that a lower social status does not define an individual as inferior to those in a higher class.
The History of ThanksgivingTopic: The History of ThanksgivingQuestion: What is the origin of Thanksgiving?Thesis: The History of Thanksgiving goes far back to 1621 when the Plymouth colonists and Wampanoag Indians shared a harvest feast, which was the first Thanksgiving meal.September of 1620, a ship known as the Mayflower left Plymouth, England transporting over 100 passengers. These passengers were religious separatists and were seeking refuge in a new territory. Originally, they were headed to the Hudson River in New York, but due to erratic weather such as severe thunderstorms, they ended up in Plymouth Harbor, Massachusetts.1 They were greeted by the local Wampanoag Indian tribe, who befriended the pilgrims at Plymouth Rock and brought them corn and turkey for the first Thanksgiving.2 They also offered them a bountiful harvest of Indian breads, seeds, etc. Throughout the course of time, the Pilgrims had their first successful harvest which then led to a three day
It may seem virtually impossible to find any similarities with the way Thanksgiving was celebrated by early Americans, but undoubtedly there are quite a few. Communion and unity are some of the characteristics that compromise this holiday which date back to when the Pilgrims held the first unofficial Thanksgiving feast with the Wampanoag Indians. This is still manifested today in families coming together to gorge on multiple delightful dishes and be merry. In addition, many foreigners like exchange students for example, are invited to Thanksgiving dinners and this symbolizes what the holiday truly represents; harmony across different races and nationalities.
There was a feast that was called Bladder festival and it was mainly to honor the soul of the seals. The Messenger festival, there was a festival for it because everything was so scarce a long time ago. There was also a feast called Feast of the dead but it rarely occurred, and it was a feast for the reborn.
Because the whole town comes out for the parade, I have chatted and laughed with the people next to me who I don’t even know. The people in the parade are usually local families, members of the community, students from my school, and local businesses who work together to entertain the town and show us unity. When the American flag passes by, we all stand up respectfully and there is a very strong sense of patriotism. Even if we personally don’t have family members in the armed forces, we realize that the person next to us does and for that we are thankful and realize how bitter sweet this holiday can be for them. The BBQ at the end gives us all the chance to sit and eat together. It brings families from different backgrounds together. People from different cultures who don’t know each other and probably would never sit and jokes together under different circumstance
The staff of the royal kitchens had been in a quandary. How to prepare the traditional wedding feast while keeping away from seafood? Instead of succulent roast dolphin, they had to serve beef. The few cattlemen of the realm were quite pleased, but their herds and farms would not sustain the masses forever. All in all, it was understandable that the liquor flowed freely.
In “Eating Christmas in the Kalahari” we are given an inside view of what a social anthropologist experienced while celebrating a tradition in another culture. In American culture Christmas is celebration of God, spending time with family members, and giving gifts to one another. On the other hand, in the Bushmen’s tradition they gather the biggest ox to offer to their people, and have a celebration. As a man from a different culture, Lee wanted to give the Bushmen’s one of the largest ox he could find in order to show his appreciation, and thank everyone for welcoming him into their land. After he gives the people a big ox he is taunted, and put down for not having a larger ox. He was told he was being inconsiderate to the people for not getting a large one that could feed everyone in the land.
The chef in the Indian family, Hassan Kadam, has certain ways to handle the food and present it. The Indian culture uses many herbs and spices which is how he finds the perfect taste in every dish. He strives to make every dish a warm and delightful feeling which is very important to Hassan’s culture. Most of the food he served had bread with it, mostly a certain type called naan. The families who were eating, use the bread as utensils because that is proper etiquette within their beliefs. They would also eat in certain orders in the ranking of the family No matter what food was made in the Indian kitchen, there was also something unique about the dish.