Cultures of the Abdomen: Diet, Digestion, and Fat in the Modern World

by Christopher E. Forth (Editor)

We live in a world obsessed with abdomens. Whether we call it the belly, tummy, or stomach, we take this area of the body for granted as an object of our gaze, the subject of our obsessions, and the location of deeply felt desires. Diet, nutrition, and exercise all play critical roles in the development of our body images and thus our sense of self, not least because how we are made to feel about bodies (both our own and those of others) is often grounded in dietary and lifestyle choices. Cultures of the Abdomen traces the history of social, cultural, and medical ideas about the stomach and related organs since the seventeenth century, and demonstrates that a focused study of the abdomen is necessary for understanding the deep historical meanings that underscore our contemporary obsessions with hunger, diet, fat, indigestion, and excretion. It locates that history from dietary ideals in early modern Europe to the vexing issue of American fat in the twenty-first century, surveying along the way developments in Britain, France, Germany, Italy, and Russia.

273 pages, Hardcover

First published January 15, 2005

Reviews

[Jackie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an academic look at the Western concepts of obesity, dieting, and fat through the centuries. The most interesting reading were on Tolstoy's paradoxical nature with writing and preaching about abstinence and clean eating but not be able to actually live it, and how chocolate and poop became inextricably linked since the 19th century.

[Brad · Rating 2 out of 5]

Promising introduction about abdominal techniques of the self but most of the chapters of this edited volume disappoint.