Close Reading (title your post Close reading: [name of the author(s)]):

Identify one of readings that interests you or puzzles you; briefly summarize
the authors argument; explain how or why it interests you or puzzles you;
and pose an open-ended discussion question that might help your fellow
classmates follow your inspiration or address your concern.
Close Reading: Mintz The Changing Roles of Food in the Study of
Consumption
1. Summary of the authors argument
Mintz argues that changing consumption patterns in 17 th-18th century Europe
can indicate the contemporary transition of the continent into modernity.
She looks in particular at certain stimulating commodities sugar, tea,
coffee, and tobacco and explore why these substances rather than others
became so popular amongst the masses in a period that is considered a
turning point in western history. She offers two terms to consider when
looking at the importation of commodities: intensification (imitation and
emulation of practices that accompany commodities) and extensification
(independent development of meanings/practices).
2. What makes this interesting?
Mintz managed to succinctly remind me of the fundamental importance of
food to human existence, and how foodstuffs can carry a range of meanings.
I find the questions that she proposes throughout the chapter particularly
interesting and useful if used in other contexts: how do commodities
become everyday; why do certain substances become so desired rather
than others; how are imported commodities considered by local
communities, and appropriated according to their own values and
conditions. The idea of respectability and how it relates to food is quite
interesting as well. I found the second half of the chapter, in which she looks
at modern consuming patterns in America, less interesting.
3. Discussion question
Here are a few questions we could consider in class:
1. How does the umbrella term of respectability (including hospitality,
generosity, propriety, sobriety, social rivalry, etc.) relate to food
consumption in China?
2. What commodities were considered rare, luxurious, and expensive in
China, and did they ever change to become enjoyed by the masses?
Did the opposite happen, by which basic, boring, or peasant foods
were given higher status?
3. Can we identify a similar shift towards modernity in China, and relate
it to food or a different commodity?
4. How can we compare the consumption of sugar/tea/tobacco in Europe
to the use of opium in China?

5. How useful is it to look at individual tastes, rather than the general

tastes of the masses?