Eat or be eaten. Symbolism of food according to psychoanalysis
The British author looks at various aspects of food from the perspective of Jungian psychoanalysis. It connects historical eating habits with the development of collective consciousness, not forgetting the common sharing of food or the meanings associated with fatness and thinness.
The British author looks at various aspects of food from the perspective of Jungian psychoanalysis. She is interested in the conscious and unconscious, physical and psychological, literal and metaphorical levels of our food intake. It connects historical eating habits with the development of collective consciousness, dealing with the ability to distinguish what to accept or reject as quality nutrition. It returns to the period of gathering and hunting, showing how the development of new skills needed to outwit and kill large animals is related to increasing brain size, intelligence and the dominance of the male principle. It reminds us that the female consciousness is in turn endowed with the delicate and careful ability to cultivate plants, process them and prepare food. He does not neglect sharing a meal together - he sees it as a social commitment and a basic ritual for bringing family and community members together. The book concludes with a chapter dealing with the cultural and psychological meanings associated with fatness, thinness, body image and self-image.
