Food and Anthropology in the Early Works of Matilde Serao

Abstract

Food has long been considered by anthropologists to be an integral part of self-representation, culture, and identity. The present study investigates the early works of Matilde Serao, focusing on food imagery and culinary customs of the city of Naples. Serao’s fiction and journalistic production reveal a socio-anthropological approach that emphasizes food’s importance within familial and community life. By incorporating documentary and autobiographical elements, the writer offers a unique perspective on the city of Naples and its identity in the late nineteenth century. As we will see, the depiction of food as a socioanthropological construct serves as an effective means to convey important concerns regarding society and history at large, thereby contextualizing Serao’s original place within women’s writing in Italy.