Tripe Soup at the Service Area: Thoughts about an Infrastructure of Meaningful Sociality

Author(s)

Michael Anranter

Abstract

In this paper, I draw on ethnographic fieldwork (participant observation) carried out at a Bulgarian service area to argue that such spaces create a 'meaningful sociality' building on imagination and sensual experience, as well as on experiences of intersectional oppression or dominance. I draw on the history and adaptations of shkembeto (tripe soup) and my observations of its preparation and serving at one such service area. This soup, which is famous in Turkey and Bulgaria, offers some people disorienting sensory experiences that are associated with complex power relations, which makes the service area a site for reflection on discrimination and gender roles. The paper closes with reflections on the sociality of such places, which is ephemeral but meaningful both there and at home.

Organisation(s)

Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology

Journal

Journal of Ethnology and Folkloristics

Volume

18

Pages

152-166

No. of pages

15

ISSN

1736-6518

DOI

https://doi.org/10.2478/jef-2024-0010

Publication date

06-2024

Peer reviewed

Yes

Austrian Fields of Science 2012

504009 Ethnology

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Cultural Studies, Anthropology

Portal url

https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/en/publications/tripe-soup-at-the-service-area-thoughts-about-an-infrastructure-of-meaningful-sociality(0b6e9307-0544-45a0-add2-81508bb1428b).html