After reading “The Anthropology of Space: An Organizing Model,” by Edward T. Hall and watching Babette’s Feast directed by Gabriel Axel, I look at dining events and social interactions in a whole new way. There are many rituals that are involved with dining, and many social barriers that could cause tension or uncomfortable feelings for the people involved.
In Babette’s Feast, it is interesting to see at the end how the adults from the village in Denmark follow General Lorens Lowenhielm’s lead because they do not know the proper etiquette that the French use while eating. Each area of the world has their own rituals, and it could seem rude or make them seem less cultured or educated if they did not follow what the General was doing. Also in the movie, the adults of the village get together and one of the sisters tells them that they will not be eating “God’s food” and they must try to not taste anything. She saw what Babette had bought and was beginning to prepare in their kitchen and had a nightmare about it. It was not acceptable for them to be eating things like that and she was worried what might happen to them. In the theory reading for this week, Hall speaks about “fixed-feature space”. He says that this is “one of the basic ways of organizing the activities of individuals and groups.” He defines this as the set up of a building, room, village, or nearly any area that follows a plan that changes with culture and time. This can be shown in the sister’s home. There is a separate area for cooking where the boy waits to serve the adults. It seems improper for him to enter at certain times, especially while they are toasting or praying. This is where architecture could influence ritual.
