The main goal of this dissertation project is to explore “what is British food?”, looking at historical ideas of British food as well as opinions from culinary professionals and individuals, using the information to analyse the notion of authenticity pertaining to British cuisine. Secondly, aiming to examine the perceptions of British cuisine. Most notably, why there seems to be a general dislike of the cuisine among people, or how it is often simply forgotten.

By combining historical accounts and anthropological analyses (academic and popular) of the essence of British cuisine, trying to form a satisfyingly concrete description of British cuisine.
Following on from this will be looking at the notions of ‘authenticity’ as it relates to culinary circles, and how these notions might or might not fit with our description of British cuisine. This should be able to afford some insight into what it means for a cuisine to be labelled as ‘authentic’.

The research will be library/desk-based research and analysis.

The literature review should relate to these questions, theories that have been used to explain this and similar matters, and previous work on the material or data. You are writing a dissertation in Anthropology (or with a substantial anthropological component), therefore the review needs to be grounded in the anthropological literature.

It is essential to situate the work in this broader context.

This Literature Review summarizes the ‘state of the art’ of a subject and how it relates to the dissertation. A question you may ask yourself in the process is: “How have anthropologists (or others, where relevant) addressed the central themes/topic of interest, and how might an anthropological perspective or approach contribute new perspectives on these themes/topic?”

It could take a chronological, historical approach, or be thematic, beginning in the broadest terms and becoming progressively more focused.

The Literature Review provides a critical overview of the existing research that is significant. It is not simply a summary. Although there is a need to summarise relevant research, you should evaluate this work, and show the relationships between different sources, schools of thought, or methods. At the end of the Literature Review, a reader should understand what has already been done on the topic and how your projects fit in/why it needs to be done.

Some questions the Literature Review might address.

• What do anthropologists (and other relevant scholars) already know about my topic?
• How have previous scholars in anthropology addressed this topic or related issues?
• What existing theories/theoretical approaches may be relevant to the questions/topic?
• Where are the inconsistencies or other shortcomings in the current knowledge?
• What can an anthropological lens contribute to this topic?
• What evidence is lacking, inconclusive, contradictory or too limited?
• What research methods or approaches seem unsatisfactory?
• Why should this research be studied?
• What views need to be (further) tested or investigated?

Finding appropriate sources

The majority of sources should be peer-reviewed academic literature, including journal articles and books (electronic or print format). You may also find relevant material in conference proceedings, government and corporate reports, and dissertations. While newspaper/media sources may be appropriate for added context or as sources for analysis, be sure to use academic sources as the foundation for your argument.

Remember that the literature may not directly address the topic in the specific location, but there may be anthropological literature on similar issues elsewhere that you can use for comparative context, or there may be shared theoretical themes that will be helpful for framing the topic.

The dissertation is in anthropology and needs an anthropological lens towards the topic. It is always worth checking the Annual Review of Anthropology, in case there is a recent review of your topic of interest. This journal covers important issues in all the subfields of anthropology.

Pay attention to the date of the literature identified. It is often the case that there is some classic anthropological literature on a topic, but it is ideal to also have relevant recent literature so that it is in touch with contemporary critiques of earlier literature and new avenues for approach. If you do refer to literature from decades ago, you need to state that this reflects earlier perspectives and supplement it with more recent research.

One useful approach is identifying a leading anthropologist who has written about the topic (or similar) and then taking a look at their publications either in Google Scholar or on their staff page at their university.

Social anthropology:
Explore anthropology databases, such as AnthroSource and Anthropology Plus. Some of the key journals will be the Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, American Ethnologist, Social Anthropology, Cultural Anthropology, Current Anthropology, and American Anthropologist.

Eventually, the literature review will be integrated into the dissertation in some manner. It may form a chapter on its own or become part of the Introduction.

Structure of the literature review

A brief introduction that presents an overview of the topic (e.g. what are the key theoretical/conceptual issues, anthropological approaches to this topic)

Then the body of the review in which you identify a larger number of sources that describe various approaches to the topic, and then delve into a few examples (e.g. specific research articles or ethnographic case studies) in more depth.