This project is based on ethnographic methods and theories primarily from the discipline of folklore (folkloristics) but drawing also from cultural anthropology, oral history, public history, and other ethnography-based fields. Folklore methodology emphasizes individuals’ experiences and interpretations. Each individual is living in specific situations (contexts) that shape their lives and the ways they view the world. They also are working within larger “structures” (nations, economies, current events, social institutions, etc.) that both offer and obstruct opportunities for that individual. By listening to people’s stories of how they are dealing with the specific challenges confronting them because of the pandemic , we see ways in which the human spirit finds—and also creates, affirms, and negotiates–meaning in difficult times. The stories being documented through our oral history suggest ways that we, as individuals, can still matter and make a difference.
As public folklore and public humanities, this project explores questions of meaning, specifically of how food is being used to nourish us, not only physically, but also emotionally, socially, culturally, and spiritually.
Please feel free to contribute additional references and links to each section.This section includes information on:
- References (scholarship) on comfort foodways (Selected/Pre-Covid-19)
- Resources and references on research methods and theories
(folklore, anthropology, oral history, public history, sociology, public health)
- Public history and oral history–definitions and resources
- Links to organizations documenting to comfort foodways; relevant events.
- Links and references to popular media stories on the pandemic and comfort food.
center for food and culture 