The use of sugar (sweet metaphors) in literature 

In the last two class sessions, we talked about the the power dynamics in sugar trade. The documentary shed light and provided visual evidence on how the producers of sugar has been taken advantage of the sugar planters. In the past, they were exploited as slaves but in modern day they are faced with the modern and sophisticated form of slavery, capitalism. In chapter 4, Mintz explicates the two different meanings of sugar: 1) inside meaning and outside meaning. The inside meaning refers to sugar becoming a commoner,where everybody could regardless of their class would have access to it. The first meaning is related to consumers of the sugar and the way they made sense of it. The second meaning refers to the empire, king, royal families and to the wealthy classes that their wealth was growing due to the growing productivity of British labor at home and abroad. As discussed in the class, sugar might not be the cause for the industrial capitalism but it is indeed a drive to get there. The amount of wealth that wealthy classes secured by sugar paved the way for industrial capitalism. What draw my attention in this chapter, however, was the use of sugary word in language and literature. 

Mintz elucidates that "linguistic imagery suggested not only the association of sweet substance with certain sentiment, desires and moods but also the historical replacement, in large measure, of honey by sugar" (p. 154). The quality of sweetness has been highly preferred in human taste that was applied to personality, generous acts, music, poetry and even daily conversations. We already discussed about whether or not individuals have a "sweet tooth". But, in chapter 4, Mintz highlights a great point that's also relevant to individuals with "sweet teeth". He states that in contemporary English "sugured" and "honeyed" words has been simplified by "syrupy tones" and "sweet talking". For example, expressing love by calling our loved ones "sweetie and/or honey is a common phenomenon of our social life. Attraction and emotions are also expressed by sweet talk. For example, looking at babies, puppies or hearing someone talking about a kind gesture makes us automatically say "how sweet". It is worth questioning first how it was originated? It is also worth questioning that from the six common tastes, Sweet, Salty, Bitter, Sour, Pungent, and Astringent, recognized almost by all culture why sweet is the dominant and/or the only taste when it comes to expressing love, affection, attraction, a generous act, a good deed, and many more? How it is deeply rooted to not only English but some other regions' literatures where people use sweet talks regardless of their choice of taste.