In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

Reviewed by:
  • Savoring Power, Consuming the Times: The Metaphors of Food in Medieval and Renaissance Italian Literature by Pina Palma
  • Lisa Boutin Vitela
Pina Palma, Savoring Power, Consuming the Times: The Metaphors of Food in Medieval and Renaissance Italian Literature (Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press 2013) 448 pp.

Pina Palma’s book about the significance of food and its related language in medieval and Renaissance Italian literature is an important contribution to the understanding of eating, banqueting, and food within broader Italian culture. Palma reminds from the beginning of the book until its conclusion through the use of a quotation from Francesco Guiardini’s Ricordi that tastes, particularly in food, change over time. The author effectively illustrates this point throughout the book by analyzing example texts that reveal shifting priorities in the manner in which food and appetites are discussed. In her five chapters, Palma considers Boccaccio’s Decameron, Pulci’s Morgante, Boiardo’s Orlando Innamorato, Ariosto’s Orlando Furioso, and Aretino’s Ragionamento, and reinforces her central argument about the importance of food through detailed analysis of certain passages and characters.

The introduction provides an effective overview of these five chapters (18–26), as well as orienting the reader to consider food in literature within the context of the classical heritage and Christian culture of the Italian peninsula. Palma explains the tradition of the banquet in literature by referring to Homer and then considering Petronious’s Trimalchio as an example of a meal that is place of social exchange, where status is asserted and food symbolizes cultural messages. Indeed, Palma repeatedly reminds the reader through her semiotic readings that food functions as more than earthly nourishment, but develops symbolic meanings and spiritual significance. Palma’s argument is convincing based on the textual examples and historical background she provides in the introduction and in the later chapters. For those familiar with the complexities of late medieval and Renaissance Italian dining vocabulary, banqueting practices, and dishware, Palma’s argument will require little explanation. Interest in cooking, recipes, and food presentation was consistently of concern in those periods to those who could afford it.

Palma’s analysis of the Decameron in chapter 1 explores the use of food to test limits. Exploring the layered interpretations of language related to appetite, the author demonstrates connections to sensual desires. In one example, Palma demonstrates how food was used to reject carnal advances in the story of the [End Page 304] banquet that the marchioness of Montferrato provided for the king of France. Despite occupying a lower status in both social and gender hierarchy, the marchioness conveys her rejection of the king’s affections through the serving of food. In this case, food provided a means to communicate her message within the social structure. Palma also provides an extended analysis carnal desires, appetite, and food in Dioneo’s story of Alibech.

Chapters 2 and 3 explore literature as commentary on the Renaissance courts. Luigi Pulci’s Morgante is considered in light of the author’s complex relationship with Lorenzo de’Medici of Florence and in terms of its lessons in excess and corruption. Palma situates Pulci within this humanist court where all are attempting to gain Medici favor through schemes and intrigue and examines the imagery of captured frogs as within this context. Imprisoned frogs, according to Palma’s reading, function as examples of powerless prey captured within a system. Palma also draws out possible connections between Pulci’s underlying messages and those in Platina’s On Right Pleasure and Good Health, a well-known treatise of medical advice and recipes. Boirdo’s Innamorato is considered within the more direct power relations of the aristocratic northern Italian courts in chapter 3. In Boiardo’s court of Ferrara, banquets and food presentation served an important role for the ruling Este family for the purposes of self-fashioning and for displays of magnanimity. Palma identifies passages of the epic poem that display “the politics of gastronomy”, as it is through meals that political strategies are enacted and art of subtle persuasion is developed. Such careful political maneuvering would have been familiar to those in the Este court.

Palma’s analysis of Ludovico Ariosto’s Orlando...

pdf

Share