Food Studies and the Reemergence of Lévi-Strauss’s Structuralism in Literary Criticism

Abstract

Food provides more than physical nourishment; it is a language that can vary from generation to generation and culture to culture. Because of this, Food Studies has arisen as a prominent area of interest in both the anthropological and literary sectors. The structuralist theories of Claude Lévi-Strauss, particularly those presented in “The Culinary Triangle,” served as precursors to Food Studies and can be readily applied to literary texts. By analyzing Han Kang’s The Vegetarian through such a lens, I illustrate in this paper how Lévi-Strauss’s work and its relation to Food Studies is relevant in literary criticism, particularly when exploring characterization