| Sumario: | This article explores the complex semiotic meanings embedded in the choice and the representation of food served at the official lunches, dinners and banquets at the Brussels International Exposition of 1935. The aim is to investigate how food was used by the organizing elite as a politicized instrument for cultural expression and diplomacy and for national typification, by analyzing the menu cards and descriptions of these banquets in official documents and newspapers. In what ways did Belgium try to establish a certain relationship to the guests invited to the table? To what extent and how did Belgium use this diplomatic arena to construct a national identity? How did the country, during these ritual meals, deal with the Flemish-Walloon tensions that it faced internally? And to what extent did economic factors play a role in the choice of certain ingredients or dishes?
|
|---|