Food as a cultural symbol: The case study of François Rabelais’s Gargantua and Pantagruel and its Ukrainian translations

Abstract

Food became a symbol of societal and national identity throughout the Renaissance, when perceptions of the world shifted from divine to anthropocentric. There were more descriptions of food in Renaissance texts; the authors provided a thorough account of the composition of dishes, as well as traditions and customs of the time. Food, like humanism, has the same aims in Rabelais’ works: human progress through the nutrition system. Two Ukrainian translations of Rabelais’ “Gargantua et Pantagruel” are examined in the article, and the significance and content of food-related episodes are interpreted in various ways.