American Studies ETDs
Publication Date
Spring 4-11-2025
Abstract
Though often characterized as a celebrity chef, Anthony Bourdain achieved stardom from his lively writing rather than skills in the kitchen. As such, the sociopolitical importance of his life and work is greatly illuminated by his compulsive literary references. Through George Orwell’s Down and Out in Paris and London, Émile Zola’s The Belly of Paris, Graham Greene’s The Quiet American, Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, and the personas of William S. Burroughs and Hunter S. Thompson, the tensions central to Bourdain’s legacy are unveiled. This thesis offers a portrait of Bourdain as a complicated figure of the American left whose prominence is better understood via the class-consciousness, colonial contradictions, and hypermasculine fragility he absorbed from literature.
Language
English
Keywords
Anthony Bourdain, Literature, Leftism, Colonialism, Class, Conrad
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
American Studies
Level of Degree
Masters
Department Name
American Studies
First Committee Member (Chair)
David Correia
Second Committee Member
Bernadine Hernández
Third Committee Member
Scarlett Higgins
Recommended Citation
Warmuth, Carl. "Sharp Knives, Dark Hearts: Class, Colonialism, and Rebellion on Anthony Bourdain's Bookshelf." (2025). https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/amst_etds/147
Included in
American Studies Commons, Literature in English, North America Commons, Other Film and Media Studies Commons
