FOOD AND MOOD IN THE PARTICULAR SADNESS OF LEMON CAKE

Abstract

The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake (2010) written by Aimee Bender presents the relation between foods and female moods. Aimee Bender implemented a mixture of real and imagery in her magic realist novel in which the female protagonist, Rose Edelstein, experiences some important changes in her life starting from her ninth birthday. These changes are closely related to food and affect Rose physiologically, psychologically, and emotionally. Rose loves lemon cake and her mother who starts spending most of her time in the kitchen cooks this cake for her ninth birthday. However, Rose feels hollowness aftertaste and feels that her mother is unhappy because she realizes that she can sense the feelings of people from the foods she consumes. Thus, this study aims to reveal the relationship between foods and feelings by analysing Aimee Bender's novel from a postmodern feminist perspective focusing on foods, feelings, gender roles, and female identity.

Keywords

• Postmodern feminism
• Food
• Mood
• Female
• Identity

THE PARTICULAR SADNESS OF LEMON CAKE ROMANINDA YEMEK VE DUYGU DURUMU

Abstract

Aimee Bender tarafından yazılan The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake (2010) isimli roman yiyecekler ve kadınların duyguları arasındaki ilişkiyi göstermektedir. Aimee Bender kadın başkahraman Rose Edelstein’ın dokuzuncu yaş gününden itibaren hayatında bazı önemli değişiklikler yaşamaya başladığı büyülü gerçekçi romanında gerçek ve hayali birbiri ile harmanlamıştır. Bu değişiklikler yiyecekler ile yakından ilişkilidir ve Rose’u fizyolojik, psikolojik ve duygusal olarak etkilemektedir. Rose limonlu keki çok sevmektedir ve zamanının büyük bir kısmını mutfakta geçirmeye başlayan annesi onun için dokuzuncu yaş gününde bu keki yapar. Ancak, Rose’un ağzında kalan tat bir boşluk hissidir ve annesinin mutsuz olduğunu hissetmiştir çünkü artık o tükettiği yiyeceklerden kişilerin duygularını hissedebilmektedir. Buradan hareketle bu çalışma yiyecekler ve duygular arasındaki ilişkiyi Aimee Bender’ın romanını yemekler, duygular, cinsiyet rolleri ve kadın kimliğine odaklanan postmodern feminist bir bakış açısı ile inceleyerek ortaya koymayı amaçlamaktadır.

Keywords

• Postmodern feminism
• Yemek
• Duygu durumu
• Kadın
• Kimlik

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