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Hospitality and Food

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Synonyms

Generosity; Entertainment; Liberality; Welcome

Introduction: The Archetypes

Humans need food and shelter. Humans also often find themselves in situations when they must depend on others for that shelter and food. They may be traveling or displaced by emergency, war, and natural disaster. As a result, hospitality, the provision of food and shelter to strangers, is a universal human theme. In the Western tradition, it features as central in two foundational narratives: the Bible and Homer’s Odyssey.Practices and mores from Africa, Asia, pre-Columbian America, and Arab cultures all make of hospitality an honored and prescribed activity. When present, it signals a well-ordered, civilized, properly upright community. When absent, it signals offensive, vulgar behavior. As a focus of attention and prioritization, it tended to be more central in the pre-Modern world. Cultural and intellectual changes altered its meaning and role during the Modern era (1500–1900). Still, it remained...

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Further Reading

  • “Idjara” (1971) In The encyclopedia of islam (Vol. III). London: Luzac & Co.

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  • Benveniste, É. (1969, 1973). “Hospitality,” chapter 7. In Indo-European language and society. Miami linguistics series (Vol. 12) (trans: Palmaer, E.). Miami: University of Miami Press.

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  • Derrida, J. (1999). Adieu to Emmanuel Levinas (trans: Brault, P. A. & Naas, M.). Stanford: Stanford University Press.

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  • Derrida, J. (2001). On cosmopolitanism and forgiveness (trans: Dooley, M. & Hughes, M.). London: Routledge.

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  • Derrida, J. & Dufourmantelle, A. (2000). Of hospitality: Anne Dufourmantelle invites Jacques Derrida to respond (trans: Bowlby, R.). Stanford: Stanford University Press.

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  • Diderot, D. (1796, 1964). Supplement to Bougainville’s Voyage. In Rameau’s Nephew and other works (trans: Barzun, J. & Bowen, R. H.). Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill.

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  • Heal, F. (1990). Hospitality in early modern England. Oxford: Clarendon.

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  • Immanuel, K. (1795, 1983). Perpetual peace and other essays on politics, history, and morals (trans: Humphrey, T.). Indianapolis: Hackett.

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  • Kristeva, J. (1991). Strangers to ourselves (trans: Roudiez, L. S.). New York: Columbia University Press.

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  • McNulty, T. (1999). Israel as Host(ess): Hospitality in the bible and beyond. Jouvert: A Journal of Postcolonial Studies, 3(1–2). Retrieved April 26, 2012 from http://english.chass.ncsu.edu/jouvert/v3i12/mcnult.htm

  • Montandon, A. (Ed.). (2004). Le livre de l’hospitalité. Paris: Bayard.

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  • Plutarch (1949). On exile. In Moralia (Vol. VII) (trans: De Lacy, P. H. & Einarson, B.). Loeb Classical Library. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

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  • Reece, S. (1993). The stranger’s welcome: Oral theory and the aesthetics of the homeric hospitality scene. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.

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  • Simmel, G. (1908, 1950). The stranger. In The sociology of Georg Simmel (trans: Wolff, K.). New York: Free Press.

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  • Telfer, E. (1996). Food for thought: Philosophy and food. London: Routledge.

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Correspondence to Raymond Boisvert .

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© 2014 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

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Boisvert, R. (2014). Hospitality and Food. In: Thompson, P., Kaplan, D. (eds) Encyclopedia of Food and Agricultural Ethics. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6167-4_13-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6167-4_13-2

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-007-6167-4

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Religion and PhilosophyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Humanities

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