The rhetoric of cookbooks in eighteenth-century England

Christine Michele Norris, Purdue University

Abstract

Eighteenth-century England produced a large number of influential cookbooks. Cookbook writers in this century, however, seem divided about what constitutes the appropriate scope and form of a well-written text. These divides over field standards for writing can generally be defined as a struggle between elite court cookbook writers and common country cookbook writers to determine the way the field should develop. This dissertation examines three issues facing eighteenth-century cookbook writers in shaping the conventions of their field: the role of the plain style in writing cookbooks and in creating recipes; the appropriate manner of citing previously published material and avoiding plagiarism, and the proper way to introduce innovative or novel recipes into a collection. The dissertation offers a comparative analysis of the writing styles of key eighteenth-century British cookbook writers, including Charles Carter, John Farley, Hannah Glasse, Elizabeth Raffald, and William Verrall. The study shows that rather than creating a coherent set of field standards for good writing, cookbook writing developed into high and low subfields, each with their own standards for good writing, documentation, and innovation.

Degree

Ph.D.

Advisors

Sullivan, Purdue University.

Subject Area

Rhetoric|Composition

COinS