The Food Studies theme presents a talk on the “History of Pasta and the Italian Identity” with Karima Moyer-Nocchi on Wednesday, Sept. 12, from 5 to 7 p.m.
This talk is also part of the Sociology & Anthropology Colloquium Series.
From our modern viewpoint, pasta seems to have always been an integral part of the Italian culinary landscape, one of the key defining factors determining Italianità, or what it means to be Italian. Although shadowy references to pasta-like foods have been recorded as early as Ancient Rome, the road to becoming a culinary and cultural identity marker evolved slowly over centuries, and pasta did not fully consolidate as a source of national pride until the 20th century. This lecture examines how that evolution unfolded, the reasons it was stymied, and the context in which it finally became the leviathan centerpiece of the Italian table that it is today.
Speaker Biography
Moyer-Nocchi is a professor in the Modern Languages Department at the University of Siena and also teaches Food Studies at the University of Rome, Tor Vergata, and the University of Oklahoma, Arezzo, Italy. Her research explores the affective, political, and economic implications of foodways and culinary traditions.
She is author of Chewing the Fat – An Oral History of Italian Foodways from Fascism to Dolce Vita. Her most recent work The Eternal Table: A Cultural History of Food in Rome, an epic culinary history spanning from the pre-Romans to present day, will be published in January of 2019. Future musings include an autobiographical “assimilation” cookbook from the viewpoint of living (and cooking) in Italy as an immigrant with varied culinary interests. Ohio born and raised, Moyer-Nocchi has been a permanent resident in Italy for 30 years and currently resides in Umbria.
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