Chocolate and the European Internalization of Mesoamerican Aesthetics - Essay Example

The article d ‘Tasting Empire: Chocolate and the European Internalization of Mesoamerican Aesthetics’ written by Marcy Norton which was published in the American Historical Review explains the industrious efforts on the improvisation and value addition of indigenous chocolates. These measures by the Europeans resultantly made tastier versions of chocolates. The article serve as a narration of the evolutionary processes involved in turning the chocolates as an ever time favorite for the Europeans. It also deals with the theories allied with these processes. The author has successfully related the history of the value addition processes with the principles relating to international economy, sociology and many other factors. The main argument of the article contradicts the historic view which was commonly considered on the reasons that led the Europeans to turn the chocolate as a tasty stuff. In the historic literatures available in this context, the point has been made that the Europeans considered the Mesoamerican indigenous taste of the chocolate as undesirable. Further it is assumed by these literatures that they masked the indigenous taste with further value additions to make it popular to the world1. Medical excuses were listed by the literatures to justify this value addition process.2 The article by Marcy Norton argues against these beliefs on the evolutionary history of modern tastes of chocolate. The main point of argument is that the popularization of the taste of chocolates was more or less a result of the cross cultural exchange of tastes. The value of the native aesthetics served as a key point to the success of chocolaty flavors. Any form of chocolates which made ‘fame and name’ in Europe evolved from the recreation of the Mesoamerican indigenous tastes in differential forms. However there are compositions of modern chocolates which are widely different from the indigenous forms. The cause of this has been explained by the author as a gradual evolutionary process which was triggered by the technological and economic market demands. The adoption of a foreign taste by societies has been historically evaluated by the article. Colonization, Imperialism and globalization in addition with many other sociological and economic theories have been related by the author to analyze the background of the context. Further, these theories have been used to support the arguments posed by the article3. A number of literatures have been included by the writer to substantially support these theories and to discover the reason for a society to adopt new and foreign things into its routine. The exchange of goods through the civilized international linkages and the imposed trade of goods in a colonized scenario have facilitated this adoption process. A review of the information made available by the culinary historians also has aided the article in searching the reason for a change in the choice of taste4. Sociological aspects also have been reviewed as factors which favored this process. However the expansion and the adoption of foreign taste were accelerated through the internationalization of economies which made international products available in every nook and corners of the world at affordable prices. The impact of other commodities and their role in the popularization of chocolate has been dealt in detail in the article. The relation between the consumption of coffee with the increase in popularity of chocolate has also been reviewed by the article. The role of coffee and the increased usage of sugar in this context have been proved by a number of literatures. Other factors like the neurophysiologic impact of chocolate also are stated to promote the acceptance of chocolate among people5. The consumer history has served as an ideal measure for the analysis of the popularity of chocolate usage across the globe. The pharmacological point of view that the addiction to chocolate would have been one reason of the widespread of chocolate as a globally accepted produce has been negated by the article. The history of chocolates has seen a notable gap of seventy years between the first European encounter with chocolate and its wide scale use in Europe. This point has been used by the author to support his view that addiction was not an integral factor in the increase of liking for chocolates6. Moreover the pharmacological impacts analyzed were much related to cocoa than to chocolate. The moral and ethical value of chocolates as it meant to the Mesoamericans has been devaluated by a number of cultural-functionalists. These values have been altered while Europeans industriously carried out process which continued till the taste and flavor evolved as liked by them. Various vectors also carried the chocolate across the globe. The intercultural relationships which developed between European missionaries and the indigenous people, conquistadores and tributaries market buyers, and between the vendors and merchants who moved often and easily within an integrated Spanish Atlantic world also aggregated this process.7 The stages which promoted the sale of chocolates also have been evaluated by the article. The socialization of chocolates was aggressively promoted by a number of social, economic and cultural developments which happened in different periods of the history. Few references to the political factors also have been made by the article to substantially support the views proposed by it. The value addition process which happened gradually has been explained by the author in detail with substantial backing by the historical evidences. 8 The article in totality has made extensive inquest into the historical evidences available on the subject. The arguments made by the article have been supported by the literatures available on the subject. The reader is provided with an extensive historic background of the subject allowing the critical analysis of the points posed by the author. Another highlight of the paper is the wide range of aspects covered in relation with the key subject. Political, Sociological, Cultural, Medical, Economic and Psychological aspects on the evolution of chocolate as a commonly accepted taste have been dealt in detail by the article. However the range of the article, at places serves as a weakness of the article because it raises the chance of the reader getting misled subjectively and conceptually. The arguments made by the writer have been reasonably backed by the historical evidences in combination with the support of previous studies done on similar concern. Read More