The Paradox of Pride and Loathing, and Other Problems Author(s): Simon J. Bronner Source: Western Folklore, Vol. 40, No. 1, Foodways and Eating Habits: Directions for Research (Jan., 1981), pp. 115-124 Published by: Western States Folklore Society Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1499856 . Accessed: 08/07/2013 18:59 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp . JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact
[email protected]. Western States Folklore Society is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Western Folklore. http://www.jstor.org This content downloaded from 138.87.237.178 on Mon, 8 Jul 2013 18:59:38 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions The Paradox of Pride and Loathing, and Other Problems SIMON J. BRONNER "This is fieldwork," another folkloristsaid to me, grinning,as I consumed a bowl of homemade turtle soup at a church picnic in Fulda, Indiana. "Yes," I replied, "but most people would call it eating." True, I had been told by my colleagues that I had "ex- perienced the artifact," or had been a "participant ob- server"-orientations which seemed to make my lunch more ethno- graphic. Underlying these jests, however, is a notion that present methods of collecting and analyzing foodways data are inadequate for an understandingof the complexitiesof food-relatedbehavior, and a notion perhaps that food researchersare more interestedin consuming exotic foods than in explaining food-relatedbehavior.