Social Symbolism of the Old Order Society Eating

Abstract

The article is devoted to the general chronological framework of appearance of the gastronomic culture, and discloses some of the socio-typical patterns of feeding process of the rich and the poor people in the society of the old regime. The paper deals with the background conditions according to which the social symbolic of some foodstuffs was changing from the “elitist" to the “folk" food; some foodstuffs served as "social transfers", which contributed to the intensification of social interaction and created foundations for the integration of society on an irrational basis. The presence of latent properties of gastronomy and its significant role in the processes of social identification, as well as maintenance, consolidation and deepening of social inequality in the society of that time is emphasized.