Description
Book SynopsisThis book offers a close analysis of the relationship between diets and identity in modern Western culture through the examination of popular texts including blogs, diet books, and websites.
The relationship between consumerism and identity has been explored by scholars for decades now, but less has been said about how food and eating behaviors have been wrapped up in this relationship. Using Lacanian psychoanalytic theory, chapters investigate how diets and eating are used as a means to navigate individuals' complex, unconscious desires and conflicts, and illustrate how diet and advertising industries use this to capitalize on the anxieties of the modern subject. The text's psychoanalytic approach offers rare insight into the unconscious desires that dictate individuals' choices around diets and lifestyle. By situating anxiety as the tension between jouissance and desire, the book promotes further understanding of individuals' subjective and complex relationships with food.
Trade Review
“What you put in your mouth, how you put it in your mouth, and indeed what you do not put in your mouth, informs us of the individual’s struggle to situate him or herself within a particular social and cultural context. Bethany Morris’ book offers readers a truly unique vantage point into American dieting behaviours from a Lacanian perspective. The Lacanian perspective is absolutely essential for understanding contemporary American diet culture today. This is a valuable resource and will leave all readers with more than enough to chew on.”
Duane Rousselle, Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology, Nipissing University, Canada
Table of ContentsChapter 1 – Eating the Lack Chapter 2 – Family Meals Chapter 3 – Comfort Food Chapter 4 – Diets as a Symptom Chapter 5 – Jouissance Is in The Carbs Chapter 6 – Disordered Eating Chapter 7 – Circumventing the Real: Detoxes And Cleanses Chapter 8 – A Diet of Lack
