Monday, January 17, 2011

A Tasty Lunchtime Lecture on Cannibalism and Haggis.


Cannibalism, Contamination and the Carnivalesque: Haggises and Haggis-Eaters as Grotesque Bodies

Department of Folklore Lunchtime Seminar Series
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
12:30 p.m.-1:30 p.m.
Room ED-4036, Education Building, MUN

In anticipation of Robert Burns Night, Joy Fraser (PhD student, Folklore) presents "Cannibalism, Contamination and the Carnivalesque: Haggises and Haggis-Eaters as Grotesque Bodies."

This presentation explores the motif of the grotesque body in expressive cultural depictions of Scotland's national dish and its supposed physiological effects on its consumers. Illustrations are drawn from both English and Scottish culture. Among the most prominent metaphors featured in portrayals of haggises are those of the foreign body, the diseased or contaminated body, and the cadaver. Consuming the dish thus becomes an act of cannibalism, through which the bodies of its consumers are themselves contaminated and rendered grotesque. The carnivalesque imagery of the nauseated haggis-eating body with its uncontrollable fluids is mirrored, in turn, in depictions of overflowing and exploding haggises, the food assuming the characteristics of the eater.

Colleagues and friends from Memorial University and beyond are welcome to attend. Please feel free to bring your lunch. For more information, visit http://www.mun.ca/folklore/about/seminar.php.

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