Food for the people: studying 'The Australian women's weekly' cookbooks

Abstract

Magazines both reflect and influence communities of readers who have shared values, interests and lifestyles. Australians traditionally have been avid readers of magazines, and those magazines that feature food - what Australians eat and in what ways - represent a robust sector of the commercial, newsstand magazine market. This is especially so of one of the nation's highest circulation magazines, 'The Australian women's weekly' ('AWW'), which is in its eightieth year of publication. Much has been said about the profound effect of 'AWW' on the nation's culinary identity and practices. This commentary typically includes some acknowledgment of 'AWW' not only as a magazine but also as a publisher of highly successful cookbooks for at least thirty years. However, little extended scholarly attention has been given to the singular contribution made by the 'AWW' cookbooks, as a genre in their own right, to national culinary culture. This paper takes a step toward redressing this gap in scholarship, and it advocates further research to that end. It begins by situating the 'AWW' cookbooks within the Australian magazine publishing industry and identifying their distinctive features. It then explores the cultural significance of the cookbooks, in part through an overview of illustrative examples, and highlights the potential of further research to augment understanding of Australian culinary culture.