Tell me what you eat, and I will tell who you are: a gastronomical reading of cultural identity in Toni Morrison’s God Help the Child

ABSTRACT

This paper sheds light on the significance of gastronomy as an emblem of cultural identity in Toni Morrison’s God Help the Child. It shows how Morrison imbues the narrative with instances of food and drinks which reflect certain racial stereotypes to which Lula Ann is prone during her struggle to reach self-definition. The colour, taste, diversity, quality and manners of food are all rigorously woven to portray Lula’s Journey. Onomastically, some characters and places are purposefully named after food such as Sweetness, Whisky land, Raisin, and Mrs. Queen Olive; all of them represent an outstanding stage in Lula’s identity development. Finally, food takes a further dimension in the way it reflects the spiritual food that Lula receives throughout her journey.

KEYWORDS:

• God Help the Child
• food
• drinks
• identity
• gastronomy
• stereotypes
• Blacks and Whites

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. The metaphoric use of animal imagery reflects negative aspects of the Other (Baker, 2001, p. 108).