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Well into the mid-seventeenth century, everybody in England – men, women and children – drank beer. Beer was the standard drink because drinking water was not particularly safe, especially in cities. The transition from beer to hot drinks such as coffee, chocolate and, above all, tea in the British Isles is a remarkable phenomenon. We shall trace this development from its beginnings in the seventeenth century.
The rise of hot drinks was intimately connected with global trade, colonialism, slavery (no hot drinks without sugar, no sugar without slaves) and the opium trade (Chinese tea was exchanged for opium produced in British India). There is an interesting connection between coffee and journalism and the development of the public sphere as the earliest newspapers were both written and read in London´s coffee houses. In the eighteenth century, the tea table became a site of middle-class domestic sociability. The etiquette of preparing and taking various drinks was intimately tied to evolving gender roles. Tea still retains a huge significance in the culture of British everyday life.
A reader will be available from the usual place in Reckhammerweg. Requirements: thorough preparation for each session, active participation, and, if applicable, written work according to your particular Studienordnung. As always: think, enjoy (!), annotate, and look things up if necessary. Please feel free to bring your favourite hot drinks to the seminar room. |
