Apprendre à manger. Sémiotique des objets de table pour enfants

Abstract

The subject of children at the table is related to that of conviviality on two levels. Firstly, at the level of the acquisition of social rules concerning the ways of being at the table, the codes of the meal, the recognition of appropriate behaviour in different contexts (at home, outside, formal, informal, etc.), in short, the "have to". Secondly, at the level of the acquisition of a general know-how, represented by all the somatic behaviours necessary for the consumption of the meal: learning to chew solid food, to drink from a glass, to use cutlery, to handle plates, bowls, soup plates, and so on. In this essay, we will analyse table objects designed for children (glasses, cutlery, plates, cups, bowls, bibs), assuming that they integrate in their forms, materials and dimensions, these famous duties and skills that small humans should acquire in order to access the collective and convivial meal in an appropriate way.