TY - JOUR
T1 - National meal or tribal feasting dish?
T2 - Jordan’s mansaf in cross-cultural perspective
AU - Shunnaq, Mohammed
AU - Ramadan, Susanne
AU - Young, William C.
N1 - Funding Information:
William Young’s field research in Jordan was supported by generous grants from the Fulbright-Hayes Commission, which funded his teaching and research at the Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology at Yarmouk University, Jordan, from August 1991 to June 1994.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Association for the Study of Food and Society.
PY - 2022
Y1 - 2022
N2 - National discourses about mansaf, the most well-known dish in modern Jordan, tend to obscure its use in feasting. This study views mansaf as a “feasting food,” comparable to the dishes used in other societies and in earlier historical periods to recruit and reward allies, produce and reproduce differences in status or rank, and repay social debts. By placing mansaf in broad cross-cultural and historical contexts, this paper highlights features of mansaf that have not been dealt with explicitly elsewhere. The study also explores the local significance of mansaf in consolatory rituals and feasts. We argue that the members of a household and their guests assume socio-political roles while serving mansaf during feasting. They engage in forms of non-verbal communication that can only be deciphered by those who are familiar with this particular heritage food and its consumption. Thus, mansaf is used as a vehicle for transmitting non-verbal messages about reciprocity and alliance among households, extended families, and tribes.
AB - National discourses about mansaf, the most well-known dish in modern Jordan, tend to obscure its use in feasting. This study views mansaf as a “feasting food,” comparable to the dishes used in other societies and in earlier historical periods to recruit and reward allies, produce and reproduce differences in status or rank, and repay social debts. By placing mansaf in broad cross-cultural and historical contexts, this paper highlights features of mansaf that have not been dealt with explicitly elsewhere. The study also explores the local significance of mansaf in consolatory rituals and feasts. We argue that the members of a household and their guests assume socio-political roles while serving mansaf during feasting. They engage in forms of non-verbal communication that can only be deciphered by those who are familiar with this particular heritage food and its consumption. Thus, mansaf is used as a vehicle for transmitting non-verbal messages about reciprocity and alliance among households, extended families, and tribes.
KW - Bedouin
KW - feasting
KW - funerals
KW - heritage food
KW - non-verbal communication
KW - reciprocity
KW - ritual
KW - weddings
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U2 - 10.1080/15528014.2021.1948753
DO - 10.1080/15528014.2021.1948753
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85110775899
SN - 1552-8014
VL - 25
SP - 977
EP - 996
JO - Food, Culture and Society
JF - Food, Culture and Society
IS - 5
ER -