On Mannerism And Public Eating

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On Mannerism and Public Eating But the evidence of this research is that attitudes to eating in the street – particularly by the young – may be changing and that this in turn may be leading to a re-definition of the nature of ‘public culture’ and hence the place of the street. (Valentine 1998:198) According to Gill Valentine, she argues in “Food and the Production of the Civilised Street,” that the views of eating in the street have gradually changed in cotemporary society. For Norbert Elias and several other researchers, the previous attitude of eating on the street was considered uncivilized, barbaric, animalistic, and shameful. Norbert Elias’ theory from The Civilizing Process is the framework in which we can understand the social structures involved with mannerisms and civility. Elias’ work shows the historical context in which a number of judgments and observations shaped particular facets of behavior and of cultural expression. Central to Elias’ theory of a civilizing process is the “increasing social constraint towards self-constraint.” Self-constraint, for Elias, was applicable in everyday human activities from eating, drinking, defecating, blowing one’s nose, urinating, etc. Within each activity, Elias tracks the progression of manners from the Middle Ages till 20th century, using manner books as his resources. It is through Elias’ detail accounts of eating meat, spitting, table manner, the use of knives and forks, etc, in which he illustrates the general development of civility. In general, Elias claims that the medieval codes of conduct were simple: don’t blow your nose on the tablecloth, don’t pick your teeth with a knife, don’t spit, don’t slurp, etc. Over time, codes of conduct have become more strict and enforced in efforts to reduce shame and promote civility and self-control. Elias suggests that the threshold of shame and embarrassment involves

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