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

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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 reveal 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 Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram. From the multimodal discourse of a Korean livestreaming online eating show, to food activism in an English blogging community and discussions of a food-related controversy on Omani Twitter, this book shows how language and multimodal resources serve not only to communicate about food, but also as a means of accomplishing key aspects of everyday social life.

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, Kings 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 *

Author Bio

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