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This post talks about Querencia and its similarities with Babette's Feast
I really enjoyed the usage of “space,” in Querencia as a medium to differentiate the west from the east. When I think about the eastern united states, I think of it as a more congested place – both in terms of food, culture, life style, etc. There seems to be more of a drive for efficiency, spending less time searching for food – even good food – as well as less time eating it. The busy nature of their culture seems to favor time, an intangible resource, over anything else. Time itself is something we know is there, but we can’t influence in any way unlike our physical resources of water, farm animals, etc. I think, strangely, this gives it more power over us because we know that it is technically limited through the acknowledgement that nothing, by itself, lives forever.
Definition of Querencia
This differs from the west, which seems to turn every aspect of the east on its head. Everything seems more spacious – we have deserts and farmlands and long strings of mountainous ranges. This, like in the east, affects our choices in the areas of food, culture, and life styles. Food is cultivated – it is seen being grown – and is a more patient process for those that live on longer lands. Oddly enough, despite using more of that “time” resource the east cares about so much, no one is discouraged or stressed about it. Because nature, while similar with respect to how little we can change it, can still be manipulated to a degree – we can choose to plant a seed or water a crop and then proceed to eat it. But that’s as far as our control goes. We can’t manipulate the rain or really control the animals and bugs that might destroy these crops without jeopardizing the work we patiently waited for. So, while nature still has power over us, it isn’t a dictator like time might be for the east. Furthermore, there’s more glory to be had in a resource that we can touch, that we as a person can feel what has been grown by our own hand. And, unlike the individualized focus of efficiency and time of the east, traditions through agriculture feel timeless when our fathers, grandfathers, and great grandfathers contributed the same work as you did. It turns into a more collective experience that rings with selfless self-preservation.
The movie Babette’s Feast reminds me of this kind of selflessness. She spent her money on a large meal, seeming to jeopardize her future for the sake of others, but the point of it seems to be that she was actually giving substance to her future through her connection with the ones who ate her food. It’s a basic thing, the consumption of food, that is an innate desire of our species. Yet, we take it for granted and that’s why we maintain a selfishness with it that is stemmed from a lack of appreciation for reciprocity. There’s more power to be had in taking the time to savor the prospect of food because one relinquishes their subservience to time and instead appreciate what control they do have with their community enveloped by the same natural urge.
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