Alimentary Figurativeness in the Novel by A.V. Korolev “Laughter”
pdf (Русский)

Keywords

Alimentary Imagery
Food Code
Anthropophagy
Hedonism
Sacrifice
Archaic Notions
Metaphorism
Mythopoetics
The Nature Of The Comic
Inversion

How to Cite

Zavyalova, E. (2022). Alimentary Figurativeness in the Novel by A.V. Korolev “Laughter”. Studia Alimentaria, 1(1), 96–119. https://doi.org/10.46539/saj.v1i1.5

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to determine the functions of alimentary signs in the novel “Laughter” by A.V. Korolev (2001–2011). Elements related to food images, situations, and customs related to gastronomy were identified, analyzed, and systematized. It is proved that the author of the work actively uses stable phrases associated with images of food. Allegorical turns of “Laughter” contain references to the absorption and digestion of food, and a number of coloronyms are based on “food” associations. Most case-law texts are chosen on the same principle. The novel lists animals that are suitable for traditional cuisine. Birds are mentioned many times. The primacy in the plot belongs to quails and chickens, which is explained by a number of circumstances of folklore, social-historical, domestic and physiological nature. In the minds of ordinary characters, food becomes the substratum of existence. Quite often in “Laughter” the theme of Anthropophagy sounds. The reversibility of food to the eater, the transformation of dishes for a wedding celebration into dishes for a funeral meal-fundamentally important for understanding the idea of “Laughter” inversions. A.V. Korolev brings the image of the victim to the fore. Many lines of the novel are connected with the problem of cruelty: Palace intrigues at the court of the Bourbons, mass propaganda during the Third Reich, Stalin's system of terror and informers, “Nord-Ost”. In “Laughter” the writer clearly and in detail recreates the panorama of modern hedonism. The novel by A.V. Korolev could be called “The History of World GourMania.”

https://doi.org/10.46539/saj.v1i1.5
pdf (Русский)

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