Almost everyone has come across a fantasy novel in their
time which depicts utterly bizarre forms of food. From Harry Potter to The
Hunger Games to Narnia to The Hobbit, the sense of other-worldliness and the
unfamiliarity of their food is intriguing to say the least. This blog is, of
course, named after the boggart banishing spell from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Askaban- RIDDIKULUS! It felt apt to title my blog after this as
quite frankly, many of the foods depicted in fantasy fiction novels are just
that- ridiculous. Amazingly ridiculous.
Throughout the course of this blog I hope to close read
certain sections of fantasy texts and look at how food is adapted to these
worlds and also analyse the use of everyday food within the texts- as if we can
all remember, after Harry casts the Riddikulus spell in The Prisoner of Azkaban, he faints and is given a simple piece of chocolate to help him feel better, not unlike anything we would do in our current time, as sugar helps get glucose levels up to make one more stable again. I hope you all will come on this journey with me as we look at the normal and the abnormal food culture of fantasy literature, and discuss the important roles it plays within each text.
