What Is Tradition?

a phenomenological study of how tradition is kept alive in the context of local food

Liselotte Hedegaard

pp. 5-21

in: Andrea Borghini, Nicola Piras & Beatrice Serini (eds), Philosophy of Food, East Asian Journal of Philosophy 1 (2), 2022.

Abstract

This paper aims at presenting an initial inquiry into the meaning of tradition through a study of how tradition is preserved in the context of foods that are rooted in local history. The framework is a phenomenological approach, supplemented with interdisciplinary insights. Departing from definitions of tradition in selected academic disciplines, the paper presents a phenomenological study of tradition. It involves three dimensions of tradition. The corporal dimension of tradition addresses the corporal “I can” as a savoir-faire that is essential to the mastering of a traditional craft. The sensory dimension of tradition is directed at the complexity of taste-experience and the syntheses that allow for understanding taste as a palatable whole and for establishing connections to a social reality. The emotional dimension of tradition uses the strength of taste-experience as the point of departure for examining the sentiments of identification and attachment that are linked to tradition. Together the three dimensions add a layer of incorporated knowledge, skill and sentiment that works at a pre-reflective level but has fundamental impact on our relationship to the past – and thereby our understanding of tradition.