The harlequin eaters: from food scraps to modernism in nineteenth-century France

Abstract

"Investigating how the alimentary harlequin evolved in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, The Harlequin Eaters offers fascinating background to today's problems of food inequity as it unpacks stories of the for-profit recycling of excess food across class and race divisions. Superimposing figurations of the edible harlequin taken from a broad array of popular media, Janet Beizer examines representations not only of food but also of the marginalized people - the "harlequin eaters" - who consume it"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents

The emperor's plate : the business of leftovers in nineteenth-century Paris -- Urban cannibals : navigating the streets with Eugène Sue -- Postcards from the edge : recirculating the people's food -- From street food to street art : taking in Les Halles with Zola.