Idea of Transformation on Babbette’s Feasts by Isak Dinesen

Week 5 Reading and Film: Babette's Feast

 is part of the collection of short stories Isak Dinesen published in Anecdotes of Destiny. Sometimes, the short story is also published as a very small novella. Please open the file attachment to access the story after you have explored the background information I have included for you.

Once you have read the short story, screen Gabriel Axel's 1987 filmed interpretation, which won the Academic Award for Best International Feature Film, in preparation for this week's discussion and reflection. The film is available for streaming on Amazon for $3.99, but your local library may also have a DVD of the film in its collection.

Ideally, you will read the text closely first and then watch the film. Reading the novella before screening the film allows you to develop your own images and relationship to the characters and events of the tale. This will allow for a thoughtful comparison between the text and the film.  When you screen the film, remember to pause frequently to take notes on specific scenes, the camera work, and elements of the mis-en-scene.

The following links provide resources you might find helpful in analyzing both the text and film. For background information and critical commentary explore the linked websites and short video that provides a succinct review and introduction to the novella and its filmed interpretation.

This optional New York Times film review focuses on the food scenes and introduces major themes of the story.

While we do not have time to look at the differences between catholic and protestant churches and cathedrals in great depth, you may find the image in these two links interesting. Remember, when we walk into a catholic cathedral we are meant to be awed. The architecture is meant to make us feel small and insignificant. This suggests an unapproachable God who communicates through the representatives of the church with the congregation. Contrary to this, many protestant churches are meant to emphasize that God is approachable and each member of the congregation is expected to connect with the divine.

Religious difference--the catholic church and the protestant church.

Catholic Cathedrals--Images 

Protestant Church Interiors--Images

Besides a basic understanding of the two branches of Christianity, we should also have a sense of the historical events that are referenced in the novella.

1871 Paris Uprisings by Adam Gopnik-- New Yorker. This article provides historical background information about the uprising and civil war Babette is fleeing when she is forced to leave Paris. If you do not have time to read the entire article, be sure to read the excerpt below.

Excerpt from Gopnik's "Fighting Over the Paris Commune"

 "What united the Communard front wasn’t economic theory, or even socialism; it was anti-clericalism. Indeed, one has a strong sense that the deepest unifying element on both sides involved attitudes toward religion. There were very few on the Versailles side who would have been announced atheists. There were almost none on the Communard side who went to church. The Communards hated the ideological dictatorship and royalist sympathies of the Catholic Church, and transformed one Paris church after another into a community “club.” The Commune banned all religious teaching, and removed the crucifixes from classrooms. In the ugliest episode of the Commune, Rigault and his confederates took the Archbishop of Paris hostage, held him in prison, and then killed him and his adjutants, even though the fight by then was almost over" (par. 9).

Part 1

No secondary sources just your thoughts on readings

Consider both the novella as well as the film in this week's discussion forum. While the chapter divisions in Babette's Feast help us to focus on the different characters and events, the film provides us with a visual interpretation.  Respond to one of the discussion questions in your initial post.

Consider the major and minor characters--the reverend, his daughters and their suitors, the community, and Babette. What are the attitudes toward food we encounter as we learn about the different characters? What are the food attributes we associate with each? What meaning should we attach to these foods?

One of the themes that emerges when we analyze the novella is the idea of transformation. What are the different food/appetite related transformations that the novella brings to our attention.  Are the effects of the transformations we observe the same for all or are there differences? What might their significance? How is this theme of interest to modern culinary artists? Consider the work by Allie Wist Salvador Dali.

What are the major differences you noticed between the written text and the film? What may have motivated the director's interpretation of the text? If you were to produce a movie of Babette's feast, what would you emphasize differently? Why?

A criticism of the tale that some voice is that the story unfolds very slowly.  Consider the narrative structure of the novella as well as the movie and select two scenes in which readers may initially wish to speed up the action, but the slowness of the narrative and the long shots in the movie actually add an important element to our understanding. What is added and why is it significant?

As always, support your analysis with references to specific scenes and paraphrases or, if possible, dialogue from a particular scene or scenes. 

Part 2

No secondary sources just your thoughts on readings

Then engage with others who have responded to a different question to explore aspects of the works that you did not consider in your initial post. Of course, be sure to respond to the contributions others are making to your original post.

Part 3

Make sure work cite any sources used here.

Now that you have had the opportunity to engage with both the short story and the film, consider that Dinesen wrote this short story explicitly to enter the American publishing market.

What seems to be assumptions she is making about the tastes of her potential American readers whose imaginations she hoped to intrigue? In particular, examine the connections between the range of religious traditions that are referenced in the tale and the two very different cuisines that are represented by the simple foods that nourish the inhabitants of Berlevaag and the once-in-a-lifetime culinary delights that French cuisine offers as Babette fulfills her wish to once more create a true French dinner for those who have offered her shelter and a new home. 

 A well-developed journal will be between 2 (four paragraphs) to 4 pages (eight paragraphs) in length (double spaced) and engage critically in the ideas and concepts presented.