Date of Completion
2016
Document Type
Honors College Thesis
Department
Global & Regional Studies
Thesis Type
Honors College, College of Arts and Science Honors
First Advisor
Dr. Teresa Mares, Ph.D.
Keywords
Poland, post-socialism, food, transition, globalization
Abstract
This thesis explores post-socialist cultural practices, globalization, and conceptions of modernity through the lens of food. Socialist influence remains visible in Poland’s collective memory, architecture, symbols, political and economic systems, and, as examined in this thesis, foodways. Linking macroeconomic and political upheaval with multigenerational ethnography, this project examines how everyday foodways have transitioned in Poland post-1989. Under socialism, chronic food shortages prompted Polish cooks to learn “…jak zrobić coś z niczego” (“…how to make something from nothing”). Ethnography with a typical middle-class Polish family reveals that they have incorporated new ingredients, recipes, and cuisines into their repertoire as the country has become more integrated into the global market. They retain, however, food practices that challenge Western conceptions of modernity, including growing home gardens, home-distilling liqueurs, and reviving regional culinary traditions. Combining ethnographic fieldwork in Poland with archival research using Przyjaciółka magazine, I explore perceptions and realities of life in the Polska Rzeczpospolita Ludowa (Polish People’s Republic) and the increasingly globalized orientation of the current generation.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Fedrizzi, Julianna F., "Making Something From Nothing: Exploring Food, Transition, and Globalization in Post-Socialist Poland" (2016). UVM Honors College Senior Theses. 102.
https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/hcoltheses/102