Food has long been considered by anthropologists to be an integral part of self-representation, culture, and identity. The present study investigates the early works of Matilde Serao, focusing on food imagery and culinary customs of the city of Naples. Serao’s fiction and journalistic production reveal a socio-anthropological approach that emphasizes food’s importance within familial and community life. By incorporating documentary and autobiographical elements, the writer offers a unique perspective on the city of Naples and its identity in the late nineteenth century. As we will see, the depiction of food as a socioanthropological construct serves as an effective means to convey important concerns regarding society and history at large, thereby contextualizing Serao’s original place within women’s writing in Italy.
Food and Anthropology in the Early Works of Matilde Serao