Die Geschichte des Zuckers ist eine Erfolgsgeschichte. Nach der Entdeckung der karibischen Inselwelt um 1500 wurden dort riesige Zuckerrohrplantagen errichtet. Seit dem 18. Jahrhundert stieg der Zuckerkonsum in Europa stetig an, Zucker wurde zum Grundbestandteil des Speiseplans und ist heute aus unserem Leben nicht mehr wegzudenken. Die Kehrseite bilden die Schicksale der Plantagenarbeiter. Wie sich die Welt der Karibik durch den Bedarf der Europäer nach Zucker veränderte und was der Zucker für Europa bedeutete, erzählt Sidney W. Mintz in einer spannenden Mischung aus Global-, Wirtschafts- und Kulturgeschichte.
Not a cookbook, but a encyclopedia collection of entries on all things sweet. The articles explore the ways in which our taste for sweetness have shaped-- and been shaped by-- history. In addition, you'll discover the origins of mud pie; who the Sara Lee company was named after; why Walker Smith, Jr. is better known as "Sugar Ray Robinson"; and how lyricists have immortalized sweets from "Blueberry Hill" to "Tutti Fruiti".
As a young anthropologist, Sidney W. Mintz undertook fieldwork in Jamaica, Haiti, and Puerto Rico. Fifty years later, the eminent scholar of the Caribbean returns to those experiences to meditate on the societies and on the island people who befriended him. These reflections illuminate continuities and differences between these cultures, but even more they exemplify the power of people to reveal their own history.Mintz seeks to conjoin his knowledge of the history of Jamaica, Haiti, and Puerto Rico—a dynamic past born of a confluence of peoples of a sort that has happened only a few times in human history—with the ways that he heard people speak about themselves and their lives. Mintz argues that in Jamaica and Haiti, creolization represented a tremendous creative act by enslaved peoples: that creolization was not a passive mixing of cultures, but an effort to create new hybrid institutions and cultural meanings to replace those that had been demolished by enslavement. Globalization is not the new phenomenon we take it to be.This book is both a summation of Mintz’s groundbreaking work in the region and a reminder of how anthropology allows people to explore the deep truths that history may leave unexamined.
Delving into the cultural significance of food, a renowned anthropologist examines America's eating habits throughout history. The book uncovers how culinary practices reflect societal values, regional diversity, and evolving traditions. Through engaging narratives and insightful analysis, it reveals the profound connections between diet, identity, and community in American life.
This compelling look at the wellsprings of cultural vitality during one of the most dehumanizing experiences in history provides a fresh perspective on the African-American past.
This is the absorbing story of Don Taso, a Puerto Rican sugar cane worker, and of his family and the village in which he lives. Told largely in his own words, it is a vivid account of the drastic changes taking place in Puerto Rico, as he sees them. Worker in the Cane is both a profound social document and a moving spiritual testimony. Don Taso portrays his harsh childhood, his courtship and early marriage, his grim struggle to provide for his family. He tells of his radical political beliefs and union activity during the Depression and describes his hardships when he was blacklisted because of his outspoken convictions. Embittered by his continuing poverty and by a serious illness, he undergoes a dramatic cure and becomes converted to a Protestant revivalist sect. In the concluding chapters the author interprets Don Taso's experience in the light of the changing patterns of life in rural Puerto Rico.
