Identity Presentation

Food Cultures March 26, 2012

Heather BlanchardMatthew BedardRobert Barnes

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Monday, March 26, 2012

What’s For Dinner?

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Video

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Food CultureReadings

• Shields-Argeles: Mastering French Cuisine, Espousing French Identity

• Lukacs: Iron Chef Around the World

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Shields-Argeles

Mastering French Cuisine,

Espousing French Identity

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Summary

• American women (Beth & Linda) married to french men

• Linda: In Chicago, supportive husband (food), extension of France/self, exotic

• Beth: In Paris, husband critical (food), extension of America/refute, simplification

• Value of French food rituals and assimilation to the cultural practice

• Selves defined through narrative reconstruction, the act of eating: presenting, preparation, discussion.

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Critical Evaluation

• Cultural other/superiority (Appadurai)

• Cosmopolitanism/expatriation (Beck)

• Cultural capital/construction of taste (Strauss/Tomlinson)

• Self-reflexivity (Fouccalt)

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Gabriella Lukacs

Iron Chef Around the World

Japanese food television,

soft power and

cultural globalization

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Video

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Summary

• Japanese cooking show

• High drama, High cost ingredients

• Global audience

• Localization (Iron Chef America)

• Media may not act as soft power

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Critical Appraisal

• Westernization

• Cultural Globalization

• Cosmopolitan Media (?)

• Sense-making through an Oriental framework

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Application

• Food as cultural capital (awareness, preparation, exploration, access)

• Playing into/reinforcement of stereotypes

• Definition and role of “the other”

• Food as entertainment

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What’s For Dinner?

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Discussion

• What is the role of food in cosmopolitanism?

• Can food transcend class?

• How does taste help constitute the nation/state?

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Bon Appetit!Itadakimasu!Happy Eating!

Heather BlanchardMatthew BedardRobert Barnes

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Business

Identity Presentation