“Nourritures terrestres, nourritures spirituelles – du subcontinent indien au Bel Paese, voyage dans les textes de Laila Wadia –”

Abstract : "Food for Life and Food for the Soul – from the Indian Subcontinent to the Bel Paese, a Literary Journey through Laila Wadia’s short Stories –" Food seems to be a very central topic in Laila Wadia’s short stories (since her first published story – « Curry di pollo », that is ‘Chicken Curry’ – winner of the literary prize Eks & Tra for migrant literature in 2004). For the past twenty years, the Indian- born author has been living in Italy. The food topic appears to be an emblem for the question of identity in her texts. Food gives the title to most of the shorts stories she wrote from 2004 to the end of the decade : from « Fornelli spenti » (‘Cold Furnaces’) to the « Cena delle letterate » (‘the Women Writers’ Dinner’). According to the philosopher Michel Serres: « Le goût institue la sapience » [‘the sense of taste institutes sapience’]. We will therefore analyse Wadia’s writings – published in various collections and anthologies – examining the variations on the theme. What is really going on, when food becomes the nourishment for both the spirit and the body? Laila Wadia’s writings deal with fundamental issues such as the modalities of the cultural transmission from mother to child (in particular from mother to daughter), the emergence of a new kind of gap between first and second generations immigrants and the acculturation process. Such issues are developed within the framework of short stories that often turn out to be an effective exemplification of these very notions. Though a focus which is mainly social, the relationship between orality and language is certainly not omitted (see ‘The Women Writers’Dinner’).