Reflection

Snatched Commensality: To eat or not to eat together in times of Covid-19 in France

Datos Bibliográficos

ID5407515
AutoresE Fourat (0000-0002-1115-5273, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique), Tristan Fournier (0000-0001-5632-028X, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, autor de correspondencia), Olivier Lepiller (0000-0003-2564-8260, Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement)
Año2021
Volumen29
Número2
Páginas204-212
Fecha de publicación2021-04-03
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessNo
TipoARTICLE
RevistaFood and Foodways (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0740-9710 • E-ISSN: 1542-3484
EditorialInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/07409710.2021.1901383
OpenAlexW3138483867
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas5
Referencias citadas8

During the Covid-19 pandemic, the French Government imposed a strict lockdown from March 17th to May 11th 2020. These extraordinary times challenged the social norm of commensality, a practice that is particularly strong and engrained in France. How has lockdown impacted meal-sharing habits? How have the rules and norms of commensality withstood the weakening of social bonds caused by lockdown? Based on a qualitative study of 20 socially diverse households, this essay proposes a typology of adaptive commensal eating patterns: 1) Eating together can provide reassurance by reproducing ordinary routines or by enacting food traditions; 2) Tinkering with lockdown rules leads to creative new forms of commensality, or to an ersatz of commensality; 3) Sharing every meal with the same people can trigger the rejection of commensal practices. These patterns may also represent possible phases in the experience of lockdown, since some individuals shifted from one pattern to another. The final part of the paper discusses the very nature of the social link highlighted through the lens of commensality

2019-20 coronavirus outbreak · Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19 · Government (linguistics · Norm (philosophy · Outbreak · Political science · Sociology · Typology · Agriculture and Rural Development Research · Anthropology · Culinary Culture and Tourism · French Urban and Social Studies · Law · Medicine · Philosophy · Psychology · Social Psychology