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The sweetest gender: feminine subjectivities and the gendering of sweets in Barcelona (1650-1800)

Projektbeschreibung

Erkenntnisse zur historischen Süßwarenherstellung durch Frauen in Barcelona

Zu den Auswirkungen der kolonialen Handelsaktivitäten Spaniens zwischen 1650 und 1800, einer entscheidenden Phase der Globalisierung und der Verbreitung des Zuckerkonsums, existieren große Mengen historischer Literatur. Die Herstellung und der Verzehr von Süßwaren bilden in diesem Zusammenhang einen wichtigen Untersuchungsgegenstand. Angesichts der besonderen Rolle, die Frauen bei der Verbreitung von Gewohnheiten des Süßwarenkonsums spielten, ist hier auch die Geschlechterdimension von Bedeutung. Bisher befassten sich aber nur wenige Studien mit dem Aspekt der Frauen innerhalb dieser Entwicklung. Hier setzt das EU-finanzierte Projekt SWEET an. Es möchte den wirtschaftlichen, sozialen und intellektuellen Beitrag von Frauen zur Herstellung von Süßwaren in der Stadt Barcelona untersuchen. Die Forschungsarbeit stützt sich dabei auf Quellen, die reich an Informationen und bislang noch relativ unerschlossen sind. Diese umfassen schriftliche Texte sowie visuelle und materielle Artefakte, die einen wichtigen Teil des lokalen Kulturerbes darstellen.

Ziel

Held assumptions about an inherent female sweet tooth are long-standing, shaping beliefs, attitudes and eating habits from the early modern era to the present day. This research project investigates the process of feminization of sweet taste as well as feminine subjectivities in the making and eating sweets in Barcelona between 1650 and 1800, a crucial period of globalization and popularization of sugar consumption. By addressing the connection between sweets and female nature, this study aims to examine how cultural meanings of sweet food emerged and evolved in the period when sugar was becoming a mass-consumption commodity in Europe. Firstly, this study explores how the changing culinary tastes and the diffusion of new medical knowledge affected the ways of thinking about ‘sweet food’ as well as the social and economic aspects of the sugar trade. Secondly, it examines the agency of women in the manufacture of sweets in private and public spheres, challenging the guild of confectioners in the city. Finally, it looks at refrescos as specific patterns of consumption of sweets and sociability in which women played a crucial role as civilizing agents in the Spanish Enlightenment. This study is based on a large set of underexplored textual, visual and material sources, making use of the rich cultural heritage preserved in Barcelona. By examining the social, intellectual and economic agency of women, this research seeks to move beyond historiographical narratives dominated by men as central actors in the global history of sugar. This research will change the main focus of the recent scholarly away from the courtly circles and Atlantic colonial trade to a Mediterranean and non-courtly urban contexts, which is underrepresented in the field of the substantial historiography on sugar. Overall, it will provide an original reading of the Spanish Enlightenment and further their incorporation into the current debates on the Global Enlightenment.

Koordinator

THE CHANCELLOR MASTERS AND SCHOLARS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE
Netto-EU-Beitrag
€ 212 933,76
Adresse
TRINITY LANE THE OLD SCHOOLS
CB2 1TN Cambridge
Vereinigtes Königreich

Auf der Karte ansehen

Region
East of England East Anglia Cambridgeshire CC
Aktivitätstyp
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
Links
Gesamtkosten
€ 212 933,76