Maten som klassmarkör i arbetarlitteraturen - Skildringar av mat i svensk arbetarlitteratur och dess värdebegreppsliga utveckling under två epoker av 1900-talet

Författare

Anton Borgström

Summary, in Swedish

This essay in literature science focuses on the representation and meaning of food in Swedish working class literature during two different eras in the 20th century. On the one hand the literature consists of five different authorships from 1925–1945 and on the other hand five authorships from 1985–2005. On the basis of culture materialist theory, the aim of the study is to investigate how and why the symbols and values around food in the novels presented have changed over time during the two periods and in what way they signify cultural capital and social class. Moreover, the essay examines the relationship between working class literature and the notion of ”Fine Taste” and how the connection between aesthetical and economical value is influenced by different structures of power.

The study finds that representation of food works as an effective marker of social class in both groups of literature. In addition, I show that the values appreciated in respect to ”Fine Taste” evolves along the lines of what Barbara Herrnstein Smith define as ”the double discourse of value”. While in previous times being linked with working class tradition and culture representing aesthetical value, the notion of eating well becomes intertwined with the modernist movement in the late 1900’s, towards a functionalist and consumerist ideal promoting economical values. In correlation to the work of Bourdieu, I therefore suggest that the change in discourse of value also work along lines of social stratification and class belonging.

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