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Date of Award
2015
Document Type
Restricted Thesis: Campus only access
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Department
English
First Advisor
Dr. Thomas P. Bonfiglio
Abstract
This project’s literary analyses grow from non-literary criticisms of American neoliberalism, with regard to health and eating. This political framework requires some explanation, as it forms the basis for my argument about how contemporary American food-centric texts work. I am uneasy about the prevalent ideology which positions individual choices as the exclusive determinants of health and bodily appearance, ignoring other factors that condition our well-being. The individual, in this framework, bears full responsibility for her or his body. Messaging from the media and the government encourages citizens to monitor and discipline themselves—through dieting and exercise, for example—and to blame themselves if their bodies fail to align with an often too-narrow conception of health.
Recommended Citation
Swegan, Jen, "Handing over the fork : eating and the neoliberal authority in contemporary American fiction" (2015). Honors Theses. 872.
https://scholarship.richmond.edu/honors-theses/872