‘Food-Faddish’-ing: Elizabeth Bishop and Cooking-up Identity

Utilizing food studies theory, this article accordingly uncovers how the deliberate attention afforded the discussion and identification of food within Elizabeth Bishop’s work such as her 1953 short story “Gwendolyn” and her poem “A Miracle for Breakfast” are an attempt to use food as a navigational tool. Concerning questions of gender, sexuality, personal identity and power, these registers of craving, appetite and food-centric imagery reveal a strong relationship between Bishop’s sense of individuality and the social dimensions of food.