Foodways and Consumption in Southern Thai Literature in the Print Era

Abstract

This article is based on documentary research which aimed at studying foodways and consumption in southern Thai literature in the print era. Data were collected from 23 poetic novels printed in small-book form and written during 1938-1963. The findings were presented using a descriptive analysis method. The study results revealed that foodways and consumption in southern Thai literature in the print era were associated with social space and the emerging of a capitalist culture trend. The varieties of the created meanings of food in the forest areas were stressed which signified the origins of food resources and their originality as well as the uniqueness of the people in each group. The writers also created signifiers of forests in a positive way reflecting “the values” and “the importance” of forests to people in terms of local ecology. The topic of food and consumption is also related to various beliefs such as on birth, Buddhism, strength, well-being, sexuality, social status, the charisma of rulers, and immortality.