Easter Bread
Encyclopedia
In many European countries, there are various traditions surrounding the use of bread during the Easter
holiday.
, bread is a part of a wide social context. It is the most important food in Sardinia, as well as all over Italy and the Mediterranean. "Bread is a nexus of economic, political, aesthetic, social, symbolic, and health concernts" (Counihan, p.29). Bread is symbolic for life. A peasant proverb mentions, "Chie hat pane mai non morit - one who has bread never dies" (Counihan, p.29). The Easter Holiday is one where bread brings itself into the symbolic realm. Bread is significant for religious purposes. Luisa Fois described bread in her life after she was married and for the Easter holiday. The bread was made into a cross to represent the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Since they were married, they needed to eat it together. They would share their lives now, and they must share their "cross" together (their life's burden) as well. "Bread was a product of their union, and its shared consumption reaffirmed their interdependence" (Counihan, p.30). From this we gather than bread also displays a message, rather than being an item purely for consumption and nutritional purposes. Two kinds of Easter Bread are described in Counihans article. One contained two points, and an egg covered with a cross. "The egg and the points that recall birds in flight speak of fertility, sexuality, and procreation - basic themes in Easter and its pagan precursors" (Counihan, p.41). The second bread was designed to have no overall shape, but was rather baked to encircle an egg, with the initials "BP" put on it. The initials BP stand for Buona Pasqua or Happy Easter. "Letters rather than forms express meaning. Letters are symbolic of civilization and ... meaning" (Counihan, p.41).
is a traditional Russia
n, Belarus
ian and Ukrainian
Easter Bread.
Easter
Easter is the central feast in the Christian liturgical year. According to the Canonical gospels, Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion. His resurrection is celebrated on Easter Day or Easter Sunday...
holiday.
Sardinia
In Sardinia, ItalySardinia
Sardinia is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea . It is an autonomous region of Italy, and the nearest land masses are the French island of Corsica, the Italian Peninsula, Sicily, Tunisia and the Spanish Balearic Islands.The name Sardinia is from the pre-Roman noun *sard[],...
, bread is a part of a wide social context. It is the most important food in Sardinia, as well as all over Italy and the Mediterranean. "Bread is a nexus of economic, political, aesthetic, social, symbolic, and health concernts" (Counihan, p.29). Bread is symbolic for life. A peasant proverb mentions, "Chie hat pane mai non morit - one who has bread never dies" (Counihan, p.29). The Easter Holiday is one where bread brings itself into the symbolic realm. Bread is significant for religious purposes. Luisa Fois described bread in her life after she was married and for the Easter holiday. The bread was made into a cross to represent the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Since they were married, they needed to eat it together. They would share their lives now, and they must share their "cross" together (their life's burden) as well. "Bread was a product of their union, and its shared consumption reaffirmed their interdependence" (Counihan, p.30). From this we gather than bread also displays a message, rather than being an item purely for consumption and nutritional purposes. Two kinds of Easter Bread are described in Counihans article. One contained two points, and an egg covered with a cross. "The egg and the points that recall birds in flight speak of fertility, sexuality, and procreation - basic themes in Easter and its pagan precursors" (Counihan, p.41). The second bread was designed to have no overall shape, but was rather baked to encircle an egg, with the initials "BP" put on it. The initials BP stand for Buona Pasqua or Happy Easter. "Letters rather than forms express meaning. Letters are symbolic of civilization and ... meaning" (Counihan, p.41).
Russia, Belarus, Ukraine
A kulichKulich
Kulich is a kind of Easter bread, traditional in the Orthodox Christian faith and eaten in Russia, Belarus, Bulgaria and Serbia....
is a traditional Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n, Belarus
Belarus
Belarus , officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel ,...
ian and Ukrainian
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
Easter Bread.
Sources
- Counihan, Carole. The Anthropology of Food and Body: Gender, Meaning, and Power. New York: Routledge, 1999.