Meat

The essay reflects on the anthropology of everyday life in the socialist system, with particular reference to Poland between 1945 and 1989, using the example of meat – its acquisition, preparation and symbolic function. The treatment of meat under socialism is similar to that under Nazi occupation: shortages in meat supply pose a threat to the health, life and happiness of citizens. What is new in socialism is women’s specialization in home meat processing. Also, socialism produces “meat folklore” – the supply system, illegal circulation, queues, ration coupons, shopping as “hunting”. On the other hand, the authorities punish unofficial trade severely, which reinforces the popular conviction that meat is especially important. The opposition between past and the present lies in the different approach to meat and its consumption. The “meatness” of the past epoch can be treated from a contemporary ecofeminist perspective as an aberration, as abjectness and addiction. The text uses the generic tradition of Virginia Woolf’s essay-writing, where literary, anthropological and historical knowledge function alongside autobiographical micro-narrations.