The Hostess: Hospitality, Femininity, and the Expropriation of Identity

by Tracy McNulty

Book Overview

The evolution of the idea of hospitality can be traced alongside the development of Western civilization. Etymologically, the host is the "master," but this identity is established through expropriation and loss--the best host is the one who gives the most, ultimately relinquishing what defines him as master.In The Hostess, Tracy McNulty asks, What are the implications for personhood of sharing a person--a wife or daughter--as an act of hospitality?...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0816647410
• ISBN13: 9780816647415
• Release Date: December 2006
• Publisher: University of Minnesota Press
• Length: 336 Pages
• Weight: 1.00 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.9" x 9.0"