Synopses & Reviews
Alcohol is not only big business. It is an essential part of social relations in so many cultures that its global importance may be outdistancing its critics. What does sake tell us about Japan or burgundy about France? How does consuming or indeed abstaining from alcohol tie in with self-presentation, ethnicity, class and culture? How important is alcohol to feelings of belonging and notions of resistance? Answering these intriguing questions and many more, this timely book looks at the meanings of alcohol consumption across cultures. Contributors look at the interplay of culture and power in bars and pubs, the significance of advertising symbols, the role of drink in day-to-day rituals and much more. The result is the first sustained, cross-cultural study of the profound impact alcohol has on national identity throughout the world today.
Synopsis
Alcohol is not only big business, it has become an essential part of social relations in so many cultures that its global importance may be outdistancing its critics. Despite grim health warnings, its consumption is at an all-time high in many parts of the developed world. Perhaps because drinking has always played a key role in identity, its uses and meanings show no signs of abating. What does sake tell us about Japan or burgundy about France? How does the act of consuming or indeed abstaining from alcohol tie in with self-presentation, ethnicity, class and culture? How important is alcohol to feelings of belonging and notions of resistance?Answering these intriguing questions and many more, this timely book looks at alcohol consumption across cultures and what drinking means to the people who consume or, equally tellingly, refuse to consume. From Ireland to Hong Kong, Mexico to Germany, alcohol plays a key role in a wide range of functions: religious, familial, social, even political. Drinking Cultures situates its consumption within the context of these wider cultural practices and reveals how class, ethnicity and nationalism are all expressed through this very popular commodity. Drawing on original fieldwork, contributors look at the interplay of culture and power in bars and pubs, the significance of advertising symbols, the role of drink in day-to-day rituals and much more. The result is the first sustained, cross-cultural study of the profound impact alcohol has on national identity throughout the world today.
The book includes 2 maps, 2 tables, 2 diagrams.
About the Author
Thomas M. Wilson is Professor of Anthropology, Binghamton University.
Table of Contents
"It's My Twist": Drinking Culture and the Expression of Identity--Thomas M. Wilson * Bars, Drinking and the Cultural Landscape of Basque Identity--Sharryn Kasmir * Social Wine, Ethnic Wine: Ethnicity and Wine Consumption in the Basque Diaspora in Barcelona (Spain)--F. Xavier Medina * Consuming Wine in France: The 'Wandering' Drinker and the Quest for Identities--Marion Demossier * Sobriety and the Sacred: The Success of Alcoholics Anonymous in Mexico--Stanley Brandes * Cognac, Beer, Red Wine or Soft Drinks? Hong Kong Identity and Wedding Banquets--Josephine Smart and Alan Smart * Conformity through Transgression: Drinking Parties in Norwegian Homes--Pauline Garvey * Alcohol, Violence and Issues of Masculinity: The Case of Gangs--Geoffrey P. Hunt and Karen Joe-Laidler * Not for the Sake of the Nation: The Case of Shochu--R. Kenji Tierney * Drinking with the Enemy? Drinking, Drunkenness and the Making of Interethnic Co-operation and Conflict in Post-War Bosnia--Andrew Dawson * Drinking Country: Cause and Effect in a Japanese Valley--Brian Moeran * Cold Beer, Warm Hearts: Community, Belonging and Desire in Irish Pubs in Berlin--Cliona O'Carroll * Acting British and Italian When you Are Neither: Sports Clubs and the Negotiation of National and European Identities in Malta--Gary Armstrong