Overview

This book examines the heritagisation of food in France, revealing how these processes reflect broader societal tensions around national identity and social inclusion. Through an interdisciplinary lens combining critical heritage and cultural studies, it highlights the risks of commodifying culinary traditions while proposing sustainable, hybrid approaches to valuing foodways. The book addresses a gap in English-language scholarship on French culinary heritage, exploring both top-down policies and local initiatives that promote ‘authenticity.’ It explores key concepts like terroir and savoir-faire to show how food is used to shape social belonging and identity. Additionally, it scrutinises the international influence of France’s recognition by UNESCO, revealing the unintended consequences of such honours, including cultural essentialisation and exclusion. By analysing practices like terroir-based marketing and the “buy local” movement, the book exposes how these initiatives can reinforce exclusionary narratives and increase social tensions. Ultimately, it calls for more inclusive approaches to culinary heritage that recognise the cross-border influences shaping food traditions and will be of interest to scholars and students in the fields of food studies, heritage and cultural studies, comparative literature, tourism studies, French studies, and interdisciplinary studies encompassing socio-cultural anthropology, environmental humanities, and human geography.

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9783032223555

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Jenny L. Herman is a researcher and writer focusing on connections between food, the arts, and society. She holds a PhD in Cultural Studies, conducted as an FWO fellow in fundamental research at KU Leuven, Belgium. Her research incorporates cultural studies, history, social and literary theory, and policy analysis, with a special focus on culinary heritage, the construction of identity through foodways, and the intersection of cultural and agricultural policies. She is currently researching the impacts of climate change on regionally and culturally anchored foodways, especially wine production, in France and across Europe.

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