Introduction: Edible Alterities, Perspectives from La Francophonie

Abstract

This special issue of Portal contains papers that investigate the ways in which food and food cultures have created but have also disrupted links between different parts of the Fancophone world and between Francophone culture and other societies. Long considered a cornerstone of what is “French”, food and food culture in French speaking societies outside of France (and outside of many of the major centres of French cuisine within France) have been eclipsed by the dominance of the French culinary tradition. This volume uses examinations of literature, festivals, daily practices, languages and diaries to explore how Francophone cultures outside of France have not only positioned themselves relative to the dominant models of French food culture, but have used local produce and practices to question the fundamental assumptions and conventions concerning food in Francophone societies and in broader transnational contexts.