New Books Network Eurie Dahn, "Snack" (Bloomsbury, 2026)
Mar 16, 2026
Eurie Dahn, a scholar of Black American periodicals and Jim Crow–era literature, digs into why snacks matter. She traces packaging, industry tactics, and the rise of products like Flamin' Hot Cheetos. Short definitions, kids’ snack culture, immigrant food connections, and diet‑culture tensions make for a lively cultural history of small treats.
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Snack Defined By Triviality
- The word snack historically encodes triviality, meaning a small bite rather than a substantial meal.
- Eurie Dahn traces the word to the 1400s definition of a snap or bite, showing triviality is built into the term itself.
Packaging Turned Snacks Domestic
- Packaging transformed snacks from public vendors into commonplace household items and legitimized snacking at home.
- Dahn links the 20th-century rise of packaged snacks to their spread into private/domestic spaces and increased grocery real estate.
Six Signs That Make Something A Snack
- Dahn proposes six practical qualities that separate snacks from meals: no immediate cooking, no utensils, short duration, portability, less satiety, and a playful vibe.
- She emphasizes exceptions but uses these markers to analyze snack behavior and category boundaries.
