Foods and words: naming dishes in 16th-century Spanish literature
The Renaissance believed in the creative power of names. Particularly in 16th-century Spain, there was an effort to put words on a whole series of new realities, particularly those of the New World, where the discovery of new vegetal, animal and mineral species multiplied the need for new terms, or for broadening the scope of those that already existed. Literary texts largely integrated this requirement. Literature was thus going to name the world, especially in a space to which it granted a renewed place: the table, all the more so since the meal makes it possible to immobilise people momentarily, which makes it possible for language to unfolding with greater ease, to really invest the space. Sitting at the dinner table sets the conditions necessary for a discussion to take place. The authors at the time therefore often resorted to it. At the table, the man discusses the most diverse subjects from all over the world. But, inevitably, what he is looking at in front of him, the food, will prevail in his reflection. Hence a marked interest in food vocabulary in the texts, particularly through a real fascination for certain dishes. But naming the dishes also makes it possible to touch on issues that go far beyond food itself: what then do words that talk about dishes really talk about? This is what we will try to identify here.