54 pages • 1-hour read
Cod: A Biography of the Fish that Changed the World
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Background
Authorial Context: Mark Kurlansky
Mark Kurlanksy is an American journalist and author with a long and varied writing career, beginning with a degree in Theater from Butler University and working as a playwright in New York City. He wrote several off-Broadway plays and worked in a variety of jobs, including pastry chef, dockworker, and commercial fisherman.
In the late 1970s he changed his writing focus to journalism and from 1976 to 1991 he worked as a foreign correspondent for The International Herald Tribune, The Chicago Tribune, The Miami Herald, and The Philadelphia Inquirer. He published his first book, A Continent of Islands: Searching for the Caribbean Destiny, in 1992.
Kurlansky is highly regarded for his carefully researched topics, accessible and engaging prose, and the narrative quality he brings to history. His work, primarily in the field of microhistory, is heavily inspired by his varied jobs. For instance, he has returned to the topics of fishermen and food writing on several occasions, including The Last Fish Tale: The Fate of the Atlantic and Survival in Gloucester, America’s Oldest Fishing Port and Most Original Town (2008), World Without Fish (2011), Salt: A World History (2002), and his most recent publication The Core of an Onion (2023). Several of his books have made the New York Times bestseller lists. Additionally, he won the James A. Beard Award for excellence in food writing in 1998 and the Bon Appétit Food Writer of the Year award in 2006. He has now published 39 books, primarily nonfiction.
Cod is Kurlansky’s third publication. It won the 1998 James Beard Foundation Award for Best Food Writing and was lauded by the New York Public Library as “one of the 25 best books of the year” in 1997. Cod reflects Kurlansky’s interest in microhistory, as he uses a narrow focus on one specific food source to examine issues of commerce, colonialism, and humanity’s relationship with the natural world, just as he would later do with Salt.
Genre Context: Microhistory
“Microhistories” is a term denoting historical studies that intentionally narrow their focus to small units of time, place, or topic. By focusing one’s research and investigation on a smaller scale, historians can examine the minutiae of a topic with greater depth and understanding, while still addressing larger questions of cultural relevance. The term “microhistory” was first coined by American historian George R. Stewart in 1959 but became popular in the mid-1970s. Two of the accepted early “founders” of the subgenre are Italian historians Carlo Ginzburg and Giovanni Levi (Ginzburg, Carlo, et al. “Microhistory: Two or Three Things That I Know About It.” Critical Inquiry, vol. 20, no. 1, 1993, pp. 10-35).
Microhistory developed in reaction to the perceived limitations of traditional forms of historical research and writing, which tended to cover large swathes of time and/or geography in search of overarching “meta-narratives.” Many traditional historical narratives also tended to make generalized statements about history or humanity (Ghobrial, John-Paul A. “Introduction: Seeing the World Like a Microhistorian.” Past & Present, vol. 242, no. 14, 2019, pp. 1-22), whereas microhistory is more interested in cultural and geographical specificity. Furthermore, while traditional historical narratives often focus upon key political and historical figures, such as famous rulers and conquerors, microhistory often spotlights the lives of lesser-known or even ordinary individuals.
Microhistory is a relatively recent sub-genre of historical writing and research. Microhistories are particularly common and useful in studying local communities, niche subject areas, and singular events. Microhistorians use varied research techniques but often rely more heavily on individual experience and personal anecdote than do global historians. Microhistory is not necessarily limited to a single event, time, or person. Rather, as in the case of Kurlansky’s Cod, a singular topic may form a core organizing principle a historian can follow through time, examining its historical/cultural significance and impact. Some other examples of microhistory include Empire of Cotton by Sven Beckert and The Cheese and the Worms by Carlo Ginzburg.
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