The Book of Tasty and Healthy Food: Mythology or Pragmatics?
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15826/qr.2019.3.405Keywords:
culture of everyday life; Soviet culture; utopian project; gastronomical culture; mythology; ideology; pragmaticsAbstract
This article is devoted to an iconic but little-studied phenomenon of Soviet life, The Book of Tasty and Healthy Food. The most studied aspect of this work is the ideological one: however, this paper considers a completely different dimension. The main objective of the proposed analysis is to detect the dialectic of the mythological and the pragmatic in the text and structure of this book. All myths (and modern ones are no exception) do not simply form a picture of the world: they also regulate and direct the practices of everyday life. Using this specific text, the article examines the formation of new practices of everyday Soviet life. The author relies both on synchronic and diachronic analysis, as it is important not only to understand how the text of The Book of Tasty and Healthy Food was structured, but also to trace the transformation that occurred from edition to edition. The book was reprinted many times; this study focuses on four editions (1939, 1952, 1955). The article shows the practical significance of the book and how it reflects the real changes in the lives of Soviet citizens.
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