Abstract

In literary work, readers can recognize certain devices employed by the author to reflect on the human condition. Through these literary devices, the author can express creativity, emotion, history, politics, or problems of gender and race. One of these themes is food, because it can embody part of a culture and community through its artistic representations. In my proposal, I will analyze the function of food as a metaphor, establishing comparisons in four Latin American narratives: "Leccion de comida" (1971) by the Mexican author Rosario Castellanos, "Historia de arroz con habichuelas" (1983) by the Puerto Rican author Ana Lydia Vega, "Carne quemada"(2007) by the Spanish author Rosa Montero, and "Los amantes" (1996) by the Argentine author Silvina Ocampo. In these narratives, food fulfills a diverse role, ranging from a critique of the patriarchal system to the metaphoric separation of love. Food also succeeds in critiquing postcolonialism and being an erotic form of communication