Gastronomic Poetry. Food and Affect in a Catalan Setting

This article aims to delineate the connections between food and affect as shown in a representative selection of poems that convey how affect can be expressed through gastronomic poetry. Central to affect theory is a drive to recognize the constant modulations of affective states and so assemble a fuller picture of life lived moment by moment. In the chosen examples, expression through poetry and the transmission of affect converge. Carner, Estellés and Rosselló-Pòrcel in some of their poems elevate food to a symbolic category associating gastronomy, sexuality, eroticism and religion. In the confluence of Food Studies and Affect Theory, the article discusses food as a way to reflect on and define a sense of belonging through metaphor and other strategies that express affect.