The Anthropology of Food and Meaning in Slav Cultures - Research Paper Example

? In charge] The anthropology of food and meaning in Slav cultures Introduction Across the globe food hasbeen one of the core elements which represent any culture; lifestyle, values, tradition and religion of a certain group, community or area. Any culture is said to be incomplete without having its own ‘food-culture’. From the turkey of thanksgiving in USA to the Sushi in Japan, each of them is a symbol of their own food culture. Undoubtedly, food can be termed as a defining character of any culture. As a matter of fact, anthropologists have made food a separate variable while doing research on cultures, in order to assess the way of living of the different societies in the past and at present. Slavic Culture: As there are a huge number of countries in this world, so is the vast number of cultures they share. Considering different regions of the world, the Slavic culture is a prominent one and indeed the largest in Europe. The ‘Great Migration’ is what tells us about the evolution of the Slavs first in the first millennium. Before the mid-fifth century, there was not any kind of data (literary or archaeological) available on the Slav culture. By the sixth century, the archaeological verifications tell us that the Slav moved in the Central Europe. All the Slavs share parallel cultures and languages. The Slav are majorly divided into three main groups, geographically; East, West and South Slavs. The Slavs have some historical association with the Turks, and that can be witnessed in the geographic and tribal names, and noticeably the cuisines. Usually the Slavs used to live aside the woods and jungles which can get them food and obviously a place for a shelter (Randall Mack and Surina). The Slavs majorly relied on food item gathered from hunting, fishing, collecting berries, different nuts, mushrooms and other available food item in the forest to complement their diet. After the World War II, the many of the Russian territories were becoming home for the salavic expatriates and the nomads. This drastic increase in the population greatly affected their cuisine across Russia. However, the Slav identity has been affected at present due to migration, and population disruption. A great part of the Slavic culture is affected by the European cultural influence, specifically, the Scandinavia, Germany and some part of East Europe. There are other abundant significant cultures that particularly affected the food culture of Russia. Famous for its intake of food and their perspective on how they see food as an essential element of their life, there are certain issues which underlie from the evolution of this culture and are still present (Randall Mack and Surina). Thesis Statement: For a very long period, Russia was locked from top to bottom, it had no influence of the outside world and Russia had a Slavic food culture, but with globalization and modernization it has lost that food culture and traditions of eating, transforming the entire food culture of Russia or the Slavic culture. Discussion: The study of human and human culture across the space is termed as ‘anthropology’. It is the study of human and their cultures from the past to present (American Anthropological Association). The anthropology of food is the study of human culture focusing specifically on its food and society, the relationship between the food and society with its cultural context and sometimes within a cross-cultural context (Wilk) It is basically the analysis of food in a culture, why people in different cultures are only confined to a limited variety of food and have certain restrictions which are not only because of the nutritional point of view that they avoid certain things but because of their culture, religion, historical background, economical or geographical factors and their financial capability (Wilk). In this paper, we will only focus on the food culture of Russia. Its evolution, what it used to be and what it is at the present. It is witnessed that the Russian food culture is changing day by day and is altering its certain values. For example ‘Kharcho’ is a non-Russian dish which is basically a Georgian Lamb/beef Soup, but with the passage of time that dish has switched from non-Russian to traditional Russian dish. Similarly there are many food transitions to name (Glants and Toomre). We are all familiar with the fact that Russia for a very long time Russia did not have any influence of outside world. They did not have any restaurants in Russia; their cultural and traditional food was far different from what it is today. They had their own standards and food culture. But eventually with the penetration of globalization inside Russia the meanings entirely changed, changing the overall food culture and system of Russia (Schultze). The Beginning of the Cultural (Food) Influences on Russia: To name there are a number of cultures that affected the food culture of Russia. In Europe, the Baltic District and Ukraine were the major forces to affect and bring a shift through their ideas and cultural drift from Europe. While Eastern Europe and Germany were the key players from the Scandinavia (Gilbert). Let’s discuss each of the influencing factor/country which contributed in spoiling the food culture of Russia in a brief manner: Ukraine: There are a great number of so called Russian dishes which are originally Ukrainian by their evolution. The Ukrainian cuisine has always led the Russian cuisine. Many of the dishes are co-opted by Russia for example ‘holubtsy’ (cabbage rolls) is a Ukrainian dish which is famous in Russia. There are almost 11 million Ukrainian living in Russia, therefore it is quite difficult to ignore their huge cultural and culinary influence over Russia (Albala and Heldke, Food, Culture and Society). Koreans: If you have ever got a chance to visit Russia, the experience of the Korean food there will undoubtedly surprise you. One does not at all think about Korean food while travelling in the streets of Moscow, moreover the spices used and their proportion is greatly different from that of the Russian food. However, if you are walking in the super markets of Moscow you will get to see many Korean salad kiosks. The famous of all Korean dishes in Russia is the ‘Peppered Julienned Carrot’ which is available in almost every central Asian restaurant and in some Russian restaurants as well. Just like Ukrainian and Georgians the Russians have also accepted the Korean food as a part of their food culture and are consuming it on a daily basis (Albala and Heldke, Food, Culture and Society). The Era of the Imported Food in Russia: With globalization, the outside food also made its way inside Russia. Different imported food products were available throughout Russia. Russians, who had never seen those products, were more interested and excited about them, the trend of utilizing those products increased gradually, and eventually those imported products made their way inside the Russian food culture. The majority of these imported food products are American and European, followed by the rest of the world (Randall Mack and Surina). The Era of Restaurants in Russia: From the very beginning, Russians have always preferred cooking and eating at home, since there was nothing such as restaurants in Russia. But with globalization and other cultures penetrating into Russian food culture, the trend of restaurants and hotels increased enormously in Russia. Not only were this, majority of these restaurants international and non-Russian. People gradually started liking it and were seen familiar to this trend with time. This has brought a significant and prominent disturbance to the Old Russian trend of cooking and eating at home (Schultze). Western Food: By Western food we majorly mean the junk food. Western food is another influence of the West inside the Russian food culture. The people of Russia usually had have healthy food from the very beginning as it is a cold country and the food consumed there were high in carbohydrates and protein but with the penetration of western food inside Russia this is also transforming and the present generation of Russia is likely to have great influence of the Western food (Gilbert). The Danger to the Food Culture: It should be noted that not the entire Russian society has accepted these shifts in the food cultures of Russia. There are many thinkers, extremists and other Russians who are not in favor of such influences of the outside world in the Russian food culture. Many of the Russians still believe that these drifts are merely techniques to demolish the Old Russian food trends and patterns and to put the Russian food culture in danger. ‘Buy-Russian’ (anti-import) is a strong slogan among the Urban Russians and is also promoted through government paid advertising. They believe that imported food (American) is poison and that they are trying to kill them through preservatives and their unhealthy food (Fast Food) (Schultze). Conclusion: Just like any other country or nation, Russia has its own culture which it had been following from decades. It has a rich Slavic food cultural history, which dates back from a very old time. However, at present the Russian food culture is merely not that of the old Slavic food culture followed in it, it has changed through every means. A country having such a rich cultural background and beautiful food history when experiences such influence than it is the people and its tradition which are in jeopardy. There is no one to blame for such a transition of food culture in Russia, but still the influence of the international world that is obviously modernization and globalization, which is the reason why the food culture of Russia only have a few elements of the traditional Russian food culture. The influence of the west and the evolution of international restaurants in Russia are other noticeable factors for this transition. Moreover, the aristocrats of Russia who hired international chefs replacing their Russian Cooks, and who started importing items from outside Russia to fulfill their desires, opened way for Russia to follow the same. Those chefs completely changed the outlook of the traditional Russian cuisine by their national dishes and people liked it. The penetration of the imported items in the Russian market was also another phase for the cultural drift of food in Russia. Moreover, such a drift in the food culture of Russia is also affecting the economy of the country in an indirect way. Utilizing and importing food items from different countries does not allow the individuals to use the local product, thus they are paying extra money to people who are not Russian and for a product which is costly then the local one. The local manufacturers are at risk keeping this in mind and the foreign companies are enjoying full benefit. Secondly, importing chefs from other countries and paying them wages also stops the flow of money in its own land, as they send money to their homeland and causing problems for the local chefs and cooks. Thirdly, these international restaurants are another factor; they are doing business inside Russia and earning huge profits and again sending them to their homeland, this does not help the economy of Russia in any way, instead it is creating barriers for the local entrepreneurs to enter the market and stand against them. The need is to understand what exactly should be done in order to restore the Old Russian food culture which was Slavic and was different. Measures such as opening Russian food chains and restaurants, revising their Old Russian traditional dishes, manufacturing products of the same level as of those which are being imported and training of the Russian cooks on international level so that there would not be any need of calling international cooks to their homeland. Growing crops and vegetables inside Russia and utilizing them in a productive manner. May be then Russia will be able to bring back its own food culture. However there are still some segments left of its old culture but in order to fully restore it Russia needs to focus. Works Cited 1. Albala, Ken and Lisa Heldke. "Food, Culture and Society." An International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research (2012). 'Ken Albala is the professor of History at the University of Pacific and has her copyrights. Lisa Heldke is the Proffessor of Philosophy at the 'Gustavus Adolphus College', which is the reason for selecting the journal as it has credibility. Food, Culture and Society: An International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research is a Bloomsbury published journal with the frequency of 4 issues published annually. The part from journal which is used in the paper was helpful and relevant with the discussion of food culture.' 2. Albala, Ken. "Study of Food and Society." 2013. food-culture.org. Monday May 2013 . 'It is again a work of Ken Albala who is the Professor of History at the University of Pacific and has her own copyrights this is the main reason for the credibility of citing this journal in this paper. Study of Food and Society is another journal from the "Association of the Food and Society". It is a Bloomsbury publishing. About ASFS, it was founded in 1985 which the primary goals to promote the food and its studies. Bloomsbury Publishing is world known publishing organization with its networks New York, New Delhi, Sydney and London.' 3. American Anthropological Association. "What is Anthropology?" May 2013. aaanet.org. Monday May 2013 . 'American Anthropological Association is a society for the anthropologists in the United States. It was established in 1902 and is a credible source. The work which is referenced is their own article; the topic of the definition of Anthropology has been utilized from there.' 4. Gilbert, Kate. In Search of Russian Culture. Wolverhampton: University of Wolverhampton, 2001. 'Gilbert is an English writer. The book 'In Search of Russian Culture' is his piece of work in which he has adopted the RM for the Russian culture in a quantitative manner. The book is published by University of Wolverhampton itself which ensures the credibility of the book. The parts used in the paper from this book are regarding the food culture part from this book which was in relevance with the paper.' 5. Glants, Musya and Joyce Toomre. Food in Russian History and Culture. Indiana: Indiana University Press, 1997. Joyce Toomre who was himself a Slavicist is among the authors of this book, the authors have targeted the audience; general and practitioners both. The book was proudly published by Indiana University Press in 1997. The part of the book which is consumed in the writing of this paper is regarding the Slavic Culture which is written by a Slavicist author, so that was in relevance with the paper. 6. Randall Mack, Glenn and Asele Surina. Food Culture in Russia and Central Asia. Connecticut: Greenwood, 2005. The book is about the influence of other countries on Russia, and is published by "GreenWood Publishers' who have a worldwide network. The authors are Glenn Randall Mack and Asele Surina they have used a very easy tone for their findings. Since the paper also discussed the influence of other countries on Russian culture therefore it is in relevance with the paper. 7. Schultze, Sydney. Culture and Customs of Russia. Connecticut: Greenwood, 2000. This book is written by Sydney Shultze and is published by Greenwood Publishing which has its branches throughout the world. This book talks about the entire Russian culture and has adopted the RM of qualitative approach for writing the book, while the food culture is only discussed in this paper. 8. Wilk, Prof. Rick. "Anthropology of food." 2013. indiana.edu. Monday May 2013 . This source has been used in the paper to understand the anthropology of food which is a part of this paper. This is an article from the official website of University of Indiana and its writer is Professor Rick Wilk who also has his own copyrights and is the reason of its credibility and citing it in this paper. Read More