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“Bold at the Desk and the Stove”: the Re-Imagining of American Cuisine in the Work of M.F.K

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“Bold at the Desk and the Stove”: the Re-Imagining of American Cuisine in the Work of M.F.K “BOLD AT THE DESK AND THE STOVE”: THE RE-IMAGINING OF AMERICAN CUISINE IN THE WORK OF M.F.K. FISHER AND JULIA CHILD By Michelle Kathleen Parke A DISSERTATION Submitted to Michigan State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of English—Doctor of Philosophy 2014 ABSTRACT “BOLD AT THE DESK AND THE STOVE”: THE RE-IMAGINING OF AMERICAN CUISINE IN THE WORK OF M.F.K. FISHER AND JULIA CHILD By Michelle Kathleen Parke Though often residing on the periphery of literary scholarship, the work of food studies and feminist scholars on the literatures of American domesticity and cookbooks, or collectively “domestic literacies,” reveal a significant and too often ignored aspect of our nation’s history— the everyday lives of ordinary citizens. While many of these scholars emphasize the intersection of labor, economics, and gender issues, culinary practice is an effective—and often overlooked—lens through which we can examine how gender roles developed in a particular historical moment, how domesticity reflected the economic and sociopolitical discursive practices of the time, and how the nation’s relationship to food evolved. Clearly arranging the multitude of discursive practices and domestic literacies involved in one historical period can be difficult; however, systems theory can serve as an effective method for organizing and comprehending how these discursive practices and texts are networked, how they inform and shape each other, how they co-evolve, and how they act recursively and reflexively. Examining domestic literacies from a specific historical moment, such as the immediate post-World War II era in which gender roles experienced scrutiny and American cuisine suffered an identity crisis, proves more productive than tackling a broad scope of texts. Authors M.F.K. Fisher and Julia Child operate individually and collectively to create perturbations to the network of discursive practice systems that neighbor their texts. They work alongside and challenge texts, such as Betty Crocker’s Picture Cook Book that articulate problematic discourses about gender and domesticity, to reveal the complicated and multifarious relationship among domestic literacies, culinary practice, and this network. By examining these texts, we can further comprehend how the authors reshape the network of discursive practice systems and work to initiate the Good Food Movement that overhauls American cuisine and helps to construct the mid-century American national culinary identity. The iconic Betty Crocker’s Picture Cook Book serves as a representative text of the many domestic literacies in this period that functioned prescriptively and proffered conservative ideas of gender and domesticity. Though most often read simply as a cookbook, this text, when considered as part of the domestic literacies subsystem, reveals the multiple networked systems at work that shape the content of the text and how it is organized and structured. While Betty Crocker’s Picture Cook Book advocates a return to the kitchen for American women to serve their families, prolific food writer M.F.K. Fisher challenges such a linear and austere approach to culinary practice and gender in her text Map of Another Town. At the same time, in the early 1960s, Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking debuted and changed the American culinary landscape; it also operated alongside Fisher’s work to change and shape American culinary practice. Decades later, Child’s memoir, My Life in France, centering on the time leading up to the publication of her groundbreaking text sets the stage for the fundamental components of Mastering the Art of French Cooking and the broader culinary practice-as-art. Together, these texts, as a networked representative microcosm of the domestic literacies subsystem, function interdependently with the neighboring discursive practice systems, such as gender, labor, and economics, to alter American cuisine, culinary practice, and gender roles connected with the kitchen. Copyright by MICHELLE KATHLEEN PARKE 2014 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This dissertation evolved over several years and would not have been possible without the support and encouragement of numerous people. My advisor Judith Roof gave me valuable feedback, shared her passion for food, and encouraged me throughout this process. My committee members Stephen Arch and Robin Silbergleid stuck with me and offered vital insight. Gary Hoppenstand stepped in at the last minute on my committee, as an invaluable “closer,” and offered astute comments. My parents Bob and Carol Parke supported me emotionally and financially throughout this lengthy project. Siobhan Wright and Jody Nusholtz, my colleagues, offered nothing but encouragement along with gentle pushes to get this completed and doses of humor. Stacia Trask appeared at the end of this process but became a relief pitcher of sorts. She was the one person who “got it,” and the conversations about “process, process, process” became instrumental to my project. Maureen Lauder and Shel Veenstra were cheerleaders, coaches, and incredible friends over the years. Their knowledge and humor were vital to my well-being and to the overall process. Elizabeth Germanio offered patience, support, understanding, and laughter; I owe her a lavish, Julia Child-inspired meal. Finally, thank you to all of my friends and family who stuck by me and offered their encouragement throughout this roller coaster ride. v TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES .................................................................................................................viii LIST OF FIGURES ...............................................................................................................ix INTRODUCTION DOMESTIC LITERACIES, CULINARY PRACTICE, AND SYSTEMS ..........................1 After the Great War: Altering American Food Culture and Domesticity ..................5 Defining Culinary Practice ........................................................................................7 A Dash of Foucault: Defining Domestic Literacies and Gender, Labor, and Economics Systems ...................................................................................................16 Systems Theory, Narrative, and De-differentiation ...................................................22 Culinary Practice as a System ....................................................................................39 It Begins in the Kitchen .............................................................................................44 CHAPTER 1 “A NEW AND DIFFERENT COOK BOOK FOR A NEW AGE”: BIG RED ....................51 The Rise of Big Red ...................................................................................................56 “Spaghetti and Meat Balls” ........................................................................................58 “Smart Homemakers Say:” Meal Planning ................................................................66 “Make work easy:” Short Cuts ..................................................................................77 CHAPTER 2 AMERICA IS READY FOR A CHANGE ...........................................................................99 Betty Friedan and The Feminine Mystique ................................................................100 A National Culinary Identity Crisis ...........................................................................104 CHAPTER 3 MAPPING PROVENCE: M.F.K. FISHER’S DISCOURSE AND CULINARY PRACTICE ......................................................................................................110 The Mapping Project: Aix-en-Provence and a Map of Another Town ......................113 The Sights, Sounds, and Smells of Provence .............................................................118 The Stranger: At Home in a Foreign Land ................................................................121 Dining Out in Aix: 2Gs and The Glacier ...................................................................134 Unwritten Books, Man’s Need for Food, and Near-Misses .......................................141 The Philosopher Goes Abroad: Fisher’s Early Days in France .................................152 The Emerging Foodie ................................................................................................165 Learning a Hundred Things, All the Hard Way .........................................................173 Privileging the Process ...............................................................................................181 CHAPTER 4 MASTERING THE ART: JULIA CHILD IN PARIS AND CULINARY PRACTICE-AS-ART ............................................................................................................188 vi Julia Masters the Art of French Cooking ...................................................................193 Laying the Groundwork: The Opening Pages of Mastering the Art of French Cooking .........................................................................................................204 Mastering the Art of Chicken Fricassee and Its Variations .......................................213 Endless Variations .....................................................................................................235 Julia in Paris ...............................................................................................................246 Le Cordon Bleu ..........................................................................................................261 The Sprig of
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