Reviewed by: Les nourritures de Jean-Jacques Rousseau: cuisine, goût et appétit by Olivier Assouly Ivy Dyckman Assouly, Olivier. Les nourritures de Jean-Jacques Rousseau: cuisine, goût et appétit. Garnier, 2016. ISBN 978-2-406-05751-2. Pp. 444. The notion of food is complex, with various considerations. At its most basic level, food can be discussed in terms of production, preparation, and ingestion. A more [End Page 244] sophisticated treatment would deal with trends and movements in agriculture and diet. The most far-reaching aspects concern the effects of climate, populations, and politics on the global food system. As Assouly demonstrates, all the above issues are not just relevant to our era. Rousseau had definite and, at times, paradoxical views on food and its path from field to mouth to table to politics. Some of those arguments continue to resonate. In the introduction, Assouly outlines the thematics of his text, which he divides into three sections. The first speaks to the role and significance of cuisine in its simple to elaborate gastronomic states and the function of goût as the sensory mechanism that distinguishes nutritious and tasty fare from that which is not. L'appétit is of foremost concern in the second part. Assouly demonstrates how Rousseau reshapes it to become the basis for nutrition reform. That is, the individual as both man and citizen creates his own diet for the purpose of self-preservation. In the final segment, food is politicized. As a member of society, each person is obliged to consider the political, moral, and economic necessities of the state in order to keep it equally healthy and independent. L'appétit and goût are not merely relegated to an individual's table but are indispensable to the function of the whole of a society. The division of these sections is fluid. Arguments and citations overlap and are repetitive. When examining Rousseau's ideas about food—a subject not commonly associated with him—Assouly incorporates familiar terms into the text. It is impossible to read any analysis of Rousseau without encountering l'amour-propre, l'amour de soi, la nature, la perfectibilité, la pitié, and so on. The positions of selected ancient and early modern physicians and philosophers—among them Aristotle, Plato, Locke, and Tissot—are highlighted to defend or counter Rousseau's argumentation. As textual support, Assouly relies primarily on Émile and to a lesser extent the second Discours. He also mines from La nouvelle Héloïse, Du contrat social, Essai sur l'origine des langues, the Confessions, and the Rêveries du promeneur solitaire. In the third section, two Assouly discussions are noteworthy for their political dimensions and clarity. On the surface, both seem counterintuitive to Rousseau's thought. The first concerns maternal breastfeeding, which Rousseau touts not for its physiological benefits but for its sociological and moral implications. Because of this initiation to the act of feeding, bonds are formed between mother and child, husband and wife, and eventually a productive citizen and the state. The process self-perpetuates, ensuring a stable political union. The second touches on Rousseau's advocacy of hunting for neither subsistence nor pleasure but to create a harmonious society where violence is channeled and virility is fostered through a constructive activity. [End Page 245] Ivy Dyckman Independent Scholar Copyright © 2018 American Association of Teachers of French
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Jan 2, 2019
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