Identity and Ideology in Digital Food Discourse: Social Media Interactions Across Cultural Contexts

by Alla Tovares (Editor), Cynthia Gordon (Editor)

Overview

Exploring food-related interactions in various digital and cultural contexts, this book demonstrates how food as a discursive resource can be mobilized to accomplish actions of social, cultural, and political consequence. The chapters in this volume demonstrate how social media users employ language, images, and videos to construct identities and ideologies that both encompass, and transcend, food.

Drawing on various discourse analytic frameworks to digital communication, contributors examine interactions across a range of social media, including Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, and Instagram and from diverse linguistic and cultural contexts. From the multimodal discourse of a Korean livestreaming online eating show, to food activism in an English blogging community and discussions of controversial food imports on Omani Twitter, this book shows how, in digital contexts, language and multimodal resources serve not only to communicate about food, but also as a means of accomplishing key aspects of everyday social life. Highlighting how users display sociability and aggression, create and challenge identities, draw social and cultural boundaries, and convey political and activist stances, Identity and Ideology in Digital Food Discourse examines the intersection of food and digital communication to illuminate the relationship between discourse, action, and ideology.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781350119147
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	11/26/2020
Pages:	280
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 0.69(d)

About the Author

Alla Tovares is Associate Professor of English and Linguistics at Howard University, USA.

Cynthia Gordon is Associate Professor of Linguistics at Georgetown University, USA.

Table of Contents

Introduction, Cynthia Gordon (Georgetown University, USA) and Alla Tovares (Howard University, USA)
1. Constructing and Problematizing a “Picky Eater” Identity Online, Didem Ikizoglu and Cynthia Gordon (Georgetown University, USA)
2. Food, Health and Online Identities, Geert Jacobs (University of Antwerp, Belgium), Jana Declerq, Sarah Van Leuven and Stéphan Tulkens (Ghent University, Belgium)
3. Constructing the Fashionable Eater, Gwynne Mapes (University of Bern, Switzerland)
4. The Construction of Veganism in Vegan Food Blogs, Cornelia Gerhardt (Saarland University, Germany)
5. Debates about Food on Yelp and TripAdvisor, Camilla Vásquez (University of South Florida, USA)
6. Co-constructed Action in Mukbang, a Korean Livestream of Eating Food, Hanwool Choe (Georgetown University, USA)
7. Activist Identities in 'Grow Your Own' Blogging Community, Isidoropaolo Casteltrione, Nadine Pierce and Ana Tominc (Queen Margaret University, UK)
8. Food as Political Action on Omani Twitter, Najma Al Zidjaly (Sultan Qaboos University, Oman)
9. Food as Ideology in Today’s Russia, Alla Tovares (Howard University, USA)
Afterword, Alla Tovares (Howard University, USA) and Cynthia Gordon (Georgetown University, USA)
Index

Editorial Reviews

This pioneering work on online food discourse beautifully integrates fascinating empirical studies with theoretical advances and critical depth. A crucial read for scholars of food, language, and discourse.” —Dan Jurafsky, Professor and Chair of Linguistics, Stanford University, USA

“This volume is a fascinating exploration of digital food discourse, an important aspect of contemporary culture. It investigates food-related ideologies and aesthetics, and considers interesting dimensions regarding how people enact identities and ambiently affiliate around food. It will definitely spark further research ideas in anyone who reads it!” —Michele Zappavigna, Senior Lecturer, School of the Arts and Media, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia

“This imaginative collection brings to the table a healthy variety of food-related discourses in diverse cultural and social media contexts, showcasing the intricate relationships between food, identities and (multi-modal) communication. It will unfailingly whet the appetite of scholars and students of digital discourse analysis for further studies on a topic of high visibility and importance in the social media landscape.” —Alex Georgakopoulou, Professor of Discourse Analysis & Sociolinguistics, King's College London, UK

“The fascinating and oft-unexplored relationship between food, language, and social meaning is examined thoroughly. ... It will be of interest to linguists and, as a reflection of the digital zeitgeist, general readers alike.” —Language in Society

From the Publisher