The Bloomsbury Handbook of Religion and Food
Yudit Kornberg Greenberg editor Assistant Professor Benjamin E Zeller editor
Format:Hardback
Publisher:Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Publishing:5th Feb '26
£140.00
This title is due to be published on 5th February, and will be despatched as soon as possible.
This is the first book to provide a comprehensive overview of the relationship between religion and food, drawing on varied traditions, places, case-studies and approaches.
This handbook is the first comprehensive volume to feature multi-religious, cross-cultural and multidisciplinary perspectives on the intersections of religion and food. It highlights recent trends and methodologies in religious studies and food studies from the humanities and the social sciences. A team of international scholars provide theoretical frameworks presenting food as integral to the materiality of religions and religions’ functions in daily life, with studies drawing upon teachings from the Abrahamic religions, Asian religions, and indigenous religions as represented in a diverse body of sacred literature, historical sources, and personal narratives.
The volume features debates on moral questions and ethical principles related to food sources and food consumption, the nexus of ritual and theology, violence against and treatment of animals and the environment, animal rights, industrialization, racialization, gender, hunger, poverty, hospitality, and contemporary movements working towards social justice, eco-spirituality, and sustainability. Topics include the rhythms of feasting and fasting; notions of purity; forbidden foods;
and rituals such as sacrifices. Authors in this volume contribute to the psychology and sociology of food as an essential factor in the construction of individual and group identity, new religions, and to the growing practice of food as a tool in interreligious dialogue.
From its comprehensive Introduction, through the twenty-eight wide-ranging chapters that follow, this timely Handbook more than delivers on the editors’ goal of providing “a model for interdisciplinary and multi-methodological analysis of religion and food”. The volume’s appealing format invites readers to explore individual case studies while also engaging with grand theory and thereby encourages a comparative perspective on how religion and food regularly intersect and interact in everyday lives, as well as in the arcane worlds of sacred institutions and academia. A major accomplishment! * Fran Markowitz, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel *
Finally, a fine, central, interdisciplinary text that lays out key threads in the study of religion and food! This impressive cross-cultural selection of work spans food production, preparation, and ritual consumption, and delves into questions of ethics and identity. Insightful overviews of previous scholarship frame these pieces well, making this valuable for students of religion, food, anthropology, and history. * Peter Harle, University of Minnesota, USA *
With an unparalleled geographical, methodological, and temporal scope, this edited volume is poised to become an indispensable resource for the study of religion and food. It is an essential text for both new and experienced educators. * Nora Rubel, University of Rochester, USA *
This is an extraordinary lineup of highly specialized research chapters on the history of food and religion. The contributors are leaders in the field, and the volume brings together topics rarely discussed elsewhere. This is a very important work in the field, even groundbreaking. * Ken Albala, University of the Pacific, USA *
The first of its kind, this important edited collection draws on a rich and religiously diverse series of well-crafted essays to address the one, often taken for granted, thing that all religions ‘do’: food. United around four main themes - food cycles, rituals and practices, ethics, and identity and community – the book provides an exciting, timely, critical (re-)orientation toward understanding the sensual, food-related realities of religious life. * Amy R. Whitehead, Massey University, New Zealand *
ISBN: 9781350530751
Dimensions: unknown
Weight: unknown
544 pages