Paper short abstract:

The paper focuses on the role of political and social change in constructing the food knowledge in contemporary Poland. On the basis of in-depth interviews and qualitative content analysis I will attempt to find out, how the macro-discourses are reflected or negated in everyday beliefs on food.

Paper long abstract:

In the paper I would like to concentrate on the relationship between food (eating, cooking, feeding) and the sociopolitical system as well as dominant ideologies. In particular I will consider the role of fundamental political transformations in Poland, resulting in lifestyle changes: the socialist modernization after Word War II and the 1989 transition. I aim at establishing if and how knowledge about good or bad food is connected to the macro level of social life? Do people's beliefs on eating and food preparation reflect macro-discourses or, on the other hand, they try to oppose them? Noteworthy is a paradox: the socialist modernization in Poland can be interpreted as uprooting in relation to everyday practices, also those concerning food. Also, it is often associated with economic shortages in daily life of households. At the same time, nowadays that period is often remembered with nostalgia and the then home made food becomes a symbol of security, naturalness and authenticity. While looking for the answers, I rely on the ethnographic material collected within the research project on the culinary knowledge conducted among people running households. I will take into account various "eating biographies", resulting - among others - from different historical and political contexts. I will focus particularly on the food memories and the comparisons between today's food and the one remembered from the past. In addition, I will use the material from the analysis of historical and contemporary culinary guidance (cookbooks, contemporary food blogs and web forums).