Food Television and the
processes of globalization
A qualitative analysis of culture, representation and identity
in the context of cultural globalization portrayed in Food
Television
Preslava Petkova
Media and Communication studies: Culture, Collaborative Media and Creative Industries First-year Master thesis | 15 credits
Submitted: HT 2020 | 2020-08-19 Supervisor: Pille Pruulmann-Vengerfeldt
Abstract 3
Introduction 4
1.1 Layout 5
Background 6
2.1 Food Media 6
2.2 Interest in intercultural food 8
2.3 Netflix as global phenomenon 10
2.4 Ugly Delicious 14
Grounded Theory Approach 16
3.1 Introduction to Grounded theory 16
3.2 Why Grounded theory? 18
3.3 Use of Grounded theory 18
3.4 Theoretical framework 19
3.4.1 Theoretical concepts 20
Globalization, Identity and Representation 21
4.1 Globalization 22
4.2 Identity 24
4.3 Representation in Food Media 26
Methodology 28
5.1 Research Design 28
5.2 Constructivists paradigm 31
Ethics 33
Analysis and Findings 34
7.1 Formal analysis 35 7.2 Contextual Analysis 38 7.3 Representation 41 7.4 Discussion 44 7.5 Limitations 47 Conclusion 47 References 50 Appendix 53 10.1 Codebook/ Season 1 53
10.2 Codebook / Season 2, Episode 2 (example) 56
10.3 Focused codes 59
Abstract
This paper presents the initiative to research on Food Television and the processes of globalization. The research gap in the selected subject area is identified after an in-depth literature review and watching the culinary documentary ‘Ugly Delicious’. According to scholars globalization processes are influenced by the use of Media, as different channels are transmitting values shared by globalization. Over the years, globalization has developed sub-process such as cultural globalization, a term which refers to the merge of cultures and the formation of a global one. The identified research gap is to translate how globalization has been communicated in a culinary documentary. The title of the research is, therefore “Food Television and the processes of globalization: How does ‘Ugly Delicious’ use representations to portray cultural globalization?”, as it addresses the most pertinent research gap. Using visual data, such as video, requires a qualitative approach in which the content can be coded and later linked to theoretical knowledge. The role of the researcher is to find examples or patterns that represent cultural globalization within the frame of the two seasons of the documentary. The method which shapes this qualitative research is the Grounded Theory approach. A coding sheet will be generated to present the process and the logic of generating codes.
Keywords: Global development, Food Media, Globalization, Cultural identity, Cultural imperialism, Representation
1. Introduction
Food has always been perceived as a representation of cultural and economic capital (Bourdieu, 1896). In recent years of media development, food presence in diverse media platforms has allowed more and more people to develop a relation or an interest in food. Since traveling might not be an option for some, culinary shows facilitate the аccess to foreign cuisines and traditions. Prior to the 1980s ethnic media presence has been significantly lower than today’s, due to racial inequality (Hodkinson, 2017, p.224). Even though the situation of representation of cultural groups in the media has improved, there is still under-representation in key-decision making roles (Phillips, 2006).
Being a communication and media student has brought to light that one can relate almost every matter in daily life to the study field with the right arguments. What personally attracted me about this topic is my interest and affection for food. Watching multiple culinary TV programs made me think about how much one learns about different cultures, traditions, and heritage by watching such shows. It appeared to me that food as a medium is very powerful in representing different ethnicities. The field of Food media in cultural identification taps on theories for representation, globalization, cultural identity, mediatization.
As it has appeared in my literature research, there is a gap between the Food Media studies and Globalization theory, which I am interested in covering. Therefore the following paper is focused on the topic of food media, more specifically Netflix food documentaries revised through the lens of Globalization. The overall aim of the thesis is to discover how representations of different cultures, identities, and foods are used to portray cultural globalization. To cover the identified gap, a research question has been formulated:
How is cultural globalization portrayed in Netflix’s culinary show “Ugly Delicious”?
Providing arguments and proof for answering the posed question will be the focus of this study.
1.1 Layout
The layout paragraph aims to explain the flow of the thesis in the different sections. As it will become obvious later on, this paper follows an unusual structure, due to the interdisciplinary nature of the study, combined with my personal vision. The study carries the basis of the Sociological approach transmitted and adapted to the field of Media and Communication.
In the introduction part, the overall goal is to welcome the reader to the main context of the paper and to present the research gap, I am trying to cover with the stated research question. Following is Background, whose purpose is providing an overview of the context of the researched media, introducing the themes that guide this paper, and presenting the main source of data. This section aids the reader to build an understanding of Food Media and excel the transition to further paragraphs. Going forward is where the usual structure of the Master thesis is broken and adapted to serve the purposes of this study. Introducing the Grounded Theory Approach section is placed in a front position as it shapes the paper and explains the structure of the findings. The theoretical framework presents concepts that will, later on, serve as major tools in analyzing the collected data and gathering arguments to answer the research question. In addition to the section definitions of main theoretical concepts are provided for further relating them to the codes extracted from the data. The following section Globalization, Identity, and Representation serves a literature review. The work of scholars has been used as the key to understanding the basics of globalization and the different aspects of the process. Identity is an important term in order to understand the culture and therefore cultural globalization, observation of previous work has been used to set the basics knowledge on the notions identity and cultural identity. And lastly, the representation section aims to unpack the concept of cultural or individual representation in the food media concept. The Methodology paragraph discusses the research design and presents the steps taken. It also elaborates on the choice of paradigm together with the limitation of the paper. In the Ethics section, a few considerations, applicable to every researcher writing a similar paper, have been outlined. Most importantly the analysis does not involve direct contact with the public, which excludes the paper from major ethical issues. After gathering all the information needed,
follows the Analysis and findings section. It is separated into four parts. The first one is the formal analysis which provides a summary of the episodes and the most important themes and sub-themes from which the focus codes have been consisted. Then is a turn off the contextual analysis where the codes and themes from data are related and explained in the context of the main concepts - globalization, identity, and representation, eluding to second last step of the analysis - representation - where the is presented what are the signs of cultural globalization found through representations in the data. Lastly, there is the discussion segment which attempts to round everything together, before a concise final sum-up of the thesis is offered in the Conclusion section.
2. Background
The Background section serves as guidance through the phenomenons that have an impact on the research field. Having in mind the paper uses data from what is considered part of the Food Television, it builds a basic understanding of the subjects that will later appear in the data. It also introduces the media platform Netflix and briefs on the main data source.
2.1 Food Media
Food has been a topic, dating since the beginning of the world. It is considered shaping and mirroring all forms of human experience and cultural identity (Frye & Bruner, 2013). It is a key marker for societies, cultures, states, and ages, while its importance cuts over these classifications. For a bigger scope, food production carries both bringing order and turmoil to local, provincial, national, and international scenes and controls economies throughout the world. Absence of access to food can cause deaths, ailments, and in severe cases even war. With the emergence of media platforms it food has evolved and became democratized, and accessible to the mass consumer. Food medium includes books, magazines, tv shows, programs, and movies, as well as podcasts. Food media’s reach is estimated at hundreds of millions of people all over the world. The Food Network is one of the first founded food TV media focusing on cooking. Since its launch in 1993, a relationship between food and culture has been established by involving features of
international traveling, food ecologies, homemaking, entertainment, and competitions (Kelly, 2017, p.1).
During the past two decades, the media talks about food have multiplied. Most way of life magazines offer plans and articles about food. Furthermore, for the most recent decade, a whole telecom company has committed itself to food. Although, minimal scholastic exploration has researched what we call "food media" and the delights it offers. It can be contended that however, the Food projects are reality-based, it cautiously develops a customer dreamland for its watchers. Television has been called the most effective means of communication which is a very famous medium, and it is believed to change the dynamics of the world (Zaidi et al. 2012, p. 67) while influencing the brains of its audience. Where it has updated us with news, provided us with entertainment, it has also elevated our knowledge about food diversity. The enormous number of food channels all over the world with their chefs and food experts have been transferring their skills into the public. Apart from the food programs that we usually see on TV Channels, specific Food Channels also attain a lot of ratings and viewership (Zaidi et al. 2012, p. 66). Food media is a middle ground where food practices and content meets media outlets to produce a shared outcome such as magazines, TV shows, books, videos, etc. The universe of food has been colonized by a variety of electronic gadgets, online materials, and data advancements. Similarly, media content, as well, has experienced complex changes. According to Kelly (2017) Food TV no longer just teaches cooking techniques, but rather explains how consumption and production construct culture.
In the past decade, the concept of food media has evolved into the concept of “Digital Food”(Lewis and Philippov, 2018, p.207). The concept has traveled from sharing food photos through Social Media Platforms and viewing How to Cook this and that on Youtube. This has increased the digital food connectivity with millions of subscribers and followers of food bloggers and cooking experts (Lewis and Philippov, 2018, p.207). So the term food media is very vast and versatile. Hence, the concept of food media moves through systems of mediated representation involving print, film, radio, television, and the
Internet, which provides an introduction not only to media studies as an area of inquiry, but also to cultural studies, through the way scholars have engaged issues of power, globalization, inequality, social difference, and representation.
2.2 Interest in intercultural food
Multiculturalism in food is a notion that migrates on the back of colonial and postcolonial forces (Highmore, 2008, pp.392). Food is an immutable part of traveling, exploring, and conquering new territories. History and politics has a great effect on the spread of different cuisines around the world. Migration is one of the social processes that influence and initiate cultural change. An evident example of this cultural change is the popularity of Indian food in Britain. In a study British-Pakistani food consumption it is also found that multicultural food taste is developed by the different generations - the younger generations (the ones born in the UK) are experiencing a large range of different food cultures, while the older generations (many of whom came to the UK as adults) maintain traditions by strictly eating Pakistani cuisine (Highmore, 2008, pp. 390). For marginalized and more powerfully placed ethnicities, cross-cultural food consumption can be pleasurable and problematic. Food spaces can be seen as a place where new worlds are encountered, where one can experience various emotions such as joy, aggression or fear, but also those spaces reflect the multicultural shapes of a culture - its racism, its openness, its acceptance of difference (Highmore, 2008, pp. 396).
With the development of the world from a technological perspective - the introduction of different media channels allowed the spread of cultures became accessible for mass audiences. And since eating traditions are embedded in one’s culture (Jensen, 2003, pp. 190), the media's impact on food habits becomes more powerful. According to Donald Winnicott (1975), food can be a tool for creating a bigger, social multicultural world. Affected by globalization, today's multicultural society consumes a range of diasporic and ‘native’ cuisines on an everyday basis. That activity is shaping the multicultural pattern of a given culture or society (Highmore, 2008, pp.396).
Lisa Heldke (2003), a self-confessed ‘food adventurer’, connects her enthusiasm for southern hemisphere cuisines (described as ‘exotic’) with colonialism. Heldke’s analysis is a useful corrective to those accounts that might naively associate (Western-directed) cosmopolitan food consumption with a progressive attitude towards multiculturalism, but it leaves unaddressed material contact with food and its possible agency in re-orienting sensual perception. Kaya Ganguly shares an opinion that even in the today’s world where multicultural tastes are well accepted, haute cuisine is still French or Italian and subcontinental food alone is not much of an offer (Ganguly, as cited in Highmore, 2008, pp.291)
“After all, differences between national cultures (or local cultures) are often registered at precisely this level: the advertising hoardings and the TV programs of another country look different; talk, music and noise sound unfamiliar; climates and cooking provide a tactile and olfactory environment peculiar to this place and not another; and so on” (Highmore, 2008, p. 395). And of course, the very first elements that any holidaymaker, any refugee, any migrant has to overcome is the urgency of food, of sustenance
Food is one of the most important subjects, not only because it is a vital substance for human’s existence, but also due to its importance in preserving different cultures. Food is a universal language connecting people across the world. As eating habits are often related to one’s family and origin, it can be concluded that food represents one’s culture. Throughout history, shared meals have played an important role in creating bonds between cultures, and heritage is usually passed down and intimately bound up in the food one consumes. Passing out culinary habits and traditions operates as an expression of cultural identity. “Immigrants bring the food of their countries with them wherever they go and cooking traditional food is a way of preserving their culture when they move to new places” (Le, 2017). Food is memory - the ability to activate and remember the outcome of one’s senses - smell, sight, taste. It is that memory that humans share with one another and which connects people with the same or similar experience, values, and beliefs. Those categories help one build self-identification and locate their own culture on the map. Cultural identity
has a strong importance for the population, but within the era of mediatization and globalization, the nature of different cultures become vaguer and vaguer. The role of media in that is significant and since the relationship between food and globalization is relatively new to anthropology, the following paper will try to provide some new insights and angles on this topic.
Whereas food consumption unites the human experience and contributes to cultural globalization, the taste is what forms the base of the division. Criticizing someone’s taste in any given cultural phenomenon (food, music, TV) is a judgment on their identity. As Theodore Adorno (Adorno et al. 1999) discusses, one’s preferences might be perceived by another as what is considered ‘low cultural forms’ as evidence for the poor choice, taste, or reflection of their distasteful social presence. As taste has been a theme of interest by many scholars, among whom is Pierre Bourdieu (1984) who argues that it “reveals the deepest dispositions of habitus”. It does not only signify social position, race, gender, or class, but it elevates status and discernment particular to one nation or culture. Taste is what maps hierarchy and purpose onto the differences created by history, geography, politics, climate and so one.
2.3 Netflix as a global phenomenon
Introducing Netflix is important to the reader in order to build awareness of global reach and impact on streaming media that it has. It also describes the development of the platform to its current state where it is able to produce its own content and spread it almost everywhere around the world.
Established by Reed Hastings in 1997, Netflix started as a membership-based online film rental company. In the beginning, Netflix was a web entryway through which followers or subscribers can get motion pictures, series or movies in DVD configuration and afterward have these DVD's conveyed to them legitimately to their homes. Initially, Netflix was situated in the United States of America and it used the U.S. Postal support, but before the end of 2006, Netflix had an aggregate of 44 distribution places over the United States which made it simpler and quicker to convey its DVDs to its endless supporters. Netflix,
having a subscriber base of 6.6 million supporters, could guarantee conveyance of its DVDs to over 90% of its supporters within one business day and before the departure of 2006, Netflix had accomplished incomes of about $1billion. As DVD format has outdated within the years and new platforms have emerged, Netflix has adapted and is now considered one of the biggest streaming sources. The enterprise marks ever-growing success and expansion, since its founding. Currently, Netflix is considered the biggest provider of video-on-demand movies, in a sea of competitors such as Apple and Disney joining Amazon and Hulu (Lobato, 2019, pp.X).
Figure 1. Nu mber of nominations and wins for Netflix original programs at the Primetime Emmy Awards
from 2013 to 2019 (Statista)
Since the decline of domestic films, a brand new phenomenon has taken over that lets in customers to look at a Film or tv display at the press of a button. Simply put, Netflix has taken over our lives, increasing its emblem throughout some of the international locations across the world, turning into international pressure and a big competitor to be named as the most important and exceptional around the globe. Netflix offers its own production, and each year since 2013 the quality and the recognition is getting bigger and better. Having in mind that “Ugly Delicious” is a Netflix Original production, its reach is assumed to be throughout all the countries people can access those provided streaming services (Quora: Downton, 2019). As Netflix produces its own content, therefore, the inclusion of
Figure 1, serves as proof of the recognition Netflix Originals have, which has been growing constantly each year.
What initiated as an exclusively American show has now become a new normal in more than 190 countries. Over 167 million subscribers worldwide, the streaming platform has changed the landscape of TV media worldwide (Netflix Revenue and Usage Statistics, 2020). It has itself become a huge form of infotainment as well as entertainment. Over the past decade, it has now become a brand itself and has done a lot of expansion. Apart from streaming numerous films and TV programs, Netflix has reached the level of producing shows. During the Consumer Electronics Show, held in Las Vegas, 2016, the CEO and co-founder of Netflix - Reed Hastings - announced that its services are now available for most parts of the world. The list with the countries who yet have no access to Netflix’s services, includes China, North Korea, Syria, and Crimea (Lobato, 2019, p.3). Growing a business from domestic to global comes along with challenges from a political, economic, and cultural perspective. No longer after Netflix declared its almost worldwide availability, countries like Kenya and Indonesia disapproved of the content that the streaming provider beheld (Lobato, 2019, p. 3).
Figure 2.1 Netflix subscribers, 1st quarter of 2020 by region (Statista)
The digital broadcasting service announced that finally, the basic language of their content will not be English. Although Netflix initiated in California, and later it has reached all over the world. In fact, 50℅ of their contemporary demographic lives away from the US, and hence the firm is acquiring cultures and languages from all over the world. Therefore, Netflix is converting into a global phenomenon by offering more than 20 languages. Compared to 2019 (Figure 2), the first quarter of 2020 (Figure 2.1), there is the growth of about 7-8% in the region of Europe, Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific as well as around 2% in Latin America, U.S, and Canada. The biggest share of subscribers still belongs to the US, but the spread of Netflix’s services to the rest of the world is slowly advancing. International audiences are now more interested because of the local or regional language because watching a series without your local.language becomes irritating. Netflix has become a global diversified phenomenon because of the cultural diversity it is representing (Editors & Editors, 2017). Netflix (2020) on its own website claims that “Traveling, tasting, baking, making -- these cooking shows are all about one thing: good food. Please try your best not to drool on the remote.” From cookbooks to Radio cooking shows, from radio shows to TV Shows and then from Netflix to Youtube, the obsession of people with food and culinary shows is never-ending. Still, people watch these culinary
shows on TV, Listen to them on Radio, Follow them on Youtube, specifically on Youtube millions of subscribers are on Cooking channels and the channel owners are earning enough in dollars (Netflix, 2020). The importance of discussing the phenomenon that Netflix is crucial for understanding the global digital trend
2.4 Ugly Delicious
With the rising popularity of the food industry, many media outlets have taken the opportunity to come up with different ways to capitalize upon these trends. Netflix is no different. The platform has over forty shows, documentaries, and movies related to culinary and Ugly Delicious is one of them. According to IMDB (Internet Movie DataBase), the show has a rating of 7,8/10, voted by 2,527 users of the website (IMDB, 2018). Figure 3 below is a backup argument, supporting the global reach of the show via Netflix platform.
Figure 3. How well is Ugly Delicious doing? Comparison between the US and Globally (Parrot Analytics)
The genre of the show is described by Netflix as a social & cultural documentary, food & travel, and lifestyle program, directed and produced by David Chang, Peter Meehan, Christopher C. Chen, Morgan Neville, Lisa Nishimura. As part of the producers’ crew, David Chang and Peter Meehan are no strangers to food media content, as previously both of them collaborated on an independent food magazine called “Lucky Peach”. The plot for the show goes around an award-winning chef David Cheng and his travels related to food. “Ugly Delicious” doesn’t simply educate the viewer about ‘how to cook’, but how to use food as one element in exploring different cultures and their history. During the two seasons, he explores culinary hot spots around the world (from Tokyo, through Huston, to Copenhagen), joined by writers, activists, artists, and other chefs who use food as a tool to break down cultural barriers and tackle misconceptions. Many of the discussions in the show touch on topics such as racism, politics, immigration as well as feature different cultures and ethnicities (Netflix, 2020). According to numerous reviews, found on popular web pages, such as IMDB (IMDB, 2018), state that the politics involved in the show represents liberal points of view and discourage viewers to enjoy the food content of the series. As the main scene of the documentary is the USA, discussion about racism, immigration, and origins are presumably sensitive topics for many. In my personal view, the show brings knowledge, entertainment, shines a light on different cultures, and present opinions related to food that might not occur in everyday life.
Watching “Ugly Delicious” in parallel to my studies has had a significant impact on the topic of choice for this paper. Furthermore, I can say that the selection of the show is based on personal preferences. The content presented in the documentary has given me food for thoughts, which I relate to the subject of my studies and found it interesting to observe deeper. As the show features cultural issues and topics as much as it features food, it seemed like a fruitful material in relation to my Master’s program. My personal watching history does not include many other food documentaries, but compared to others, I have seen (f.x. “Chef’s Table”, “The Chef show” and “Somebody feed Phil”) I prefer “Ugly Delicious” for its dynamics, for the topics it presents and for its ease to follow. The only problem I found is that for some reason there is no African cuisine included in the show. I
might not be the only one having this concern, as others have already addressed this issue. In a website called Africa is a country there is an article, which is an open letter to the host of the show, David Chang, named: “A plea for foodie celebrities like Chang, the host of a popular Netflix show, to take African cuisine seriously” (Timbs, 2020).
3. Grounded Theory Approach
As the grounded theory approach is the skeleton to my thesis, it is of huge importance, to begin with introducing the method, why it was a reasonable solution for this thesis, and how it has been used.
3.1 Introduction to Grounded theory
Grounded theory is rooted in symbolic interactionism, which derives from the pragmatist ideas of James, Dewey, Cooley and Mead (Hammersley, 1989 as cited in Heath and Cowley, 2004, p.142). The term “symbolic interactionism” has been developed by Blumer (1937), who emphasizes on “the role of concepts that are sensitizing rather than definitive, that gain their utility and significance from patterned relationships rather than quantifiable correlations” (Heath and Cowley, 2004, p.142). While Glaser and Strauss were studying ‘death and dying in hospitals’, they established systematic methodological strategies that could be applied in other areas of research. With their publication from 1967 - “The Discovery of Grounded Theory: Strategies for Qualitative Research”, the sociologists were considered the founders of the grounded theory method (Charmaz, 2014, pp.40). The appearance of this method brought back the interest to the field of qualitative research and aimed to place it beyond descriptive studies. The release of Glassier and Strauss’ work ignited a qualitative revolution and inspired a generation of social scientists to develop theories from qualitative data (Denzin & Lincoln, 199, p.ix) Glaser and Strauss’ guidelines transformed the tradition and made analytic guidelines accessible to researchers within and beyond the disciplinary borders of sociology and the continental borders of North America (Charmaz, 2014, p. 45). The positivist background of Glaser and Strauss’s education in pragmatism is what constructs the core of the grounded theory. The attempts of Glasser to adopt approaches from Paul Lazarsfeld and Robert Merton echoes strongly in many of the
basic principles of grounded theory. The presence of Strauss was to be found in the involvement of human beings as active structures within the research. The logic that grounded theory follows shifts between substantive areas and formal theory, “generating abstract concepts and specializing relationships between them to understand problems in multiple substantive areas”(Charmaz, 2014, p.49). Grounded theory research is not a linear process and a pivotal insight or realization of analytic connections can occur at any time, so it is encouraged to stop and write whenever ideas come to the mind.
Figure 4. A visual representation of grounded theory. An earlier Tweed and Charmaz (2011, p. 133).
Alison Tweed constructed the original figure (Charmaz 2017, p. 61)
Although the name ‘Grounded Theory’ contains the term ‘theory’, it is a research method, based on categorizing, comparing, and analyzing data and relating it to existing theory. Katie Charmaz, a developer of Constructivist Grounded Theory, has written books for navigating people when using Grounded Theory. In her words, the method has systematic yet flexible guidelines for collecting and analyzing qualitative data in order to construct theories. The process of going back and forward when analyzing gives a fresh and original take on the given data. The main approach is to study the statements and actions presented in the data material and make an analytic sense of them (Charmaz, 2017, pp 34).
Leading its origins from sociology, the Grounded Theory approach appears applicable to other disciplines as well. Further elaboration on the relation between sociology and media and communication study is presented in 3.3 Use of Grounded theory.
3.2 Why Grounded theory?
This paper required an approach analyzing a big amount of qualitative content, therefore the most suitable was the Grounded Theory method. Since the major data observed in this paper is a video material, conducting the analysis of it appeared to be more precise and successful. The main features of the approach focus on simultaneous involvement in data collection and analysis; constructing analytic codes from data, not from preconceived logically deduced hypotheses; constant comparison during each stage of the analysis; advancing theory development during each step of data collection and analysis; memo-writing to elaborate the categories, and identify gaps; sampling aimed toward theory construction, not for population representativeness; conducting the literature review after developing an independent analysis. (Charmaz, 2014, pp. 44). Like other methods, Grounded Theory holds its weaknesses. They are due to the large amount of data that the method is handling. Often the weaknesses affect the researcher at most since the method has no specific guidelines in terms of coding and creating categories. The choice for this method over content analysis comes from the fact that the categories arising from the coding are not just predefined, they rather develop within the process. Regardless of that, features of content analysis, such contextual analysis and interpretation are used as part of the empirical toolbox.
3.3 Use of Grounded theory
Grounded theory approach is a popular choice when conducting qualitative research, handling significant amounts of data, such as interviews, social experiments, in this case - video materials. Originally the method is used by researchers in the social sciences (Glaser & Strauss, 1967), but it has been applied to numerous disciplines since (Scott, 2009). This paper is focusing on analyzing human behavior through media ‘text’, which creates an interplay between Sociology and Media and Communication studies. Therefore integrating
sociological approach, such as the Grounded theory, shows the interdisciplinary nature of the study.
Investigating the relation between the phenomenon of globalization and culinary TV shows, required gathering and analyzing some qualitative data. In order to gain better insight on the research topic, a food TV show has been selected for qualitative research and analysis. Usually, qualitative research involves some form of textual analysis and the data is based on language, images, or observations. In the given paper the chosen data is a video material - a full season of a Netflix original culinary show, named “Ugly Delicious”. The TV show features four episodes, focusing on different journeys of the lead character - Dave Cheng. The series has documentary nature, rather than entertaining. What is to be found in the selected video materials is if food has a part in the processes of cultural globalization. The episodes were observed mainly as text, as well as obvious visual images of ethnicities or races were considered. Building a content analysis on a video material may appear harder than one assumes. Coding for variables and identifying codes brings a new set of challenges. Using the Grounded theory approach, a new angle on how to filter and code the data appeared. This method is described by Katie Charmaz (2014) in her book “Constructing Grounded theory”.
3.4 Theoretical framework
This section aims to provide a more grounded basis for the theories used to discuss and analyze the findings.
Stuart Hall (2001) describes that humans possess a system of intrinsic meaning-making processes. This complex system, Hall calls a conceptual map and refers to it as a built over years of experience living in the world. The conceptual map is based on the recognition of different factors, which indicate conceptual meaning and how related or not is to other concepts (Hall, 2001). In this paper, the concept is used due to its quality of allowing people to make sense on an immediate level in their everyday life. It is important to mention that the paper does not observe protagonists’ actual ‘everyday life’, but rather staged and planned content. This content is in the form of video material, but to be able to
analyze it with the Grounded theory method, one may address it as ‘text’. The term ‘text’ can be understood as applying to anything that can be read, that is, anything that transmits meaning (Barthes, 1968). That does not only include written or spoken language, but also the collective presence of ‘signs’ which signify meaning and relate to each other to create meaning from context (Barthes, 1968). Taking the visual nature of ‘Ugly Delicious’, observing different scenes can find patterns of signs which can lead to creating ‘focused codes’. The ‘text’ helps to identify elements of the scene itself; it is a matter of a denoted description of the image.
3.4.1 Theoretical concepts
Having reviewed literature sources that draw links to useful concepts, it is important to establish a ground for the research by providing definitions. Identifying definitions facilitate the upcoming process of coding, analyzing and connecting theory and data. The formation of the definition below has been composed of personal interpretation or directly from the literature. Using the Grounded theory approach, those terms will be later used as a theory that coding can link to. Creating this cohesive link between codes and theoretical findings is crucial in order to come up with arguments answering the research question.
Culture refers to a system of shared knowledge, cultivated behavior, transmitted experience, beliefs, values, attitudes, meanings, hierarchies, religion, notions of time, roles, concepts of the universe, and material objects and possessions acquired by a relatively large group of people. (Samovar & Porter, 1994)
Cultural identity is the identity of a group or culture, or of an individual as far as she/he is influenced by her/his belonging to a group or culture. (Jensen, 2003)
Multiculturalism can be perceived as the way a certain society reacts and interacts with cultural diversity (Highmore, 2008).
Cultural globalization is the notion of different cultures uniting under the same ‘global’ denominator. Overcoming the national culture in the name of ‘global’ one. (Pagano, 2007) Anti-globalization - a process opposite of globalization, where instead of merging into ‘global’ the focus is on keeping the ‘individual’ and ‘national’. (Wang, 2007)
Globalization - Globalization defines a process through which events, decisions, and activities in one part of the world can come to have a significant consequence for individuals and communities in quite distant parts of the globe. (McGrew, 1992)
Individual identity could be described as the formation of the basis of an individual’s dignity, self-respect, and social position. (Voicu and Cuza, 2013)
National identity is a product of modernity, a form of collective identity, a way of thinking that promotes the interests, and values of a certain social group. (Voicu and Cuza, 2013)
Representations are understood as the means of using language to say something meaningful about, or to represent, the world meaningfully, to other people. (Hall, 2014) Cultural imperialism is a notion explaining the inequality and the dominance of certain cultures over others (Roach, 1997)
4. Globalization, Identity and Representation
Reviewing some literature sources gives an introduction to the key concepts that can influence the research. Those topics serve as inspiration for the empirical work, as creating codes, later on, will refer to finding patterns or signs of those concepts. It is important to understand the ideas and gather information related to the subjects of identity, globalization, and representation, in order to be able to shape the data. Although those three points might seem far from each other, in this Media and Communication study they interplay with each other. Globalization processes are strongly related to the transmission of cultures and cultural values that affect individuals and communities around the globe. Zooming into identity one can find the relation between the individual and the community and their direct connection to culture. And to discover how culture and identities are showcased in the media context, one must explore the representation.
4.1 Globalization
As a base reading in regard to media and cultural studies, is the book of Paul Hodkinson (2017) “Media, Culture and Society”, which gives fruitful definitions to some of the key concepts and provides useful theories. Hodkinson (2017) discusses theories of cultural
imperialism focused on “globalization of culture as a highly unequal process dominated by powerful capitalist interests based in wealthy countries”. But the work of scholars such as Ugo Pagano (2007), Mohammed Zayani (2011), Marza Jan (2009), Mir et al. (2014), Sheffield and Griffin, Wang (2007) and others establish a ground for understanding the process of globalization and the aspects that it undertakes. In 1961, the world globalization entered for the first time the American English dictionary (Scholte, 2002). Many authors broadly defined globalization as a process of integration, as McGrew (1992) describes it:
“Globalization constitutes a multiplicity of linkages and interconnections that transcend the nation-states (and by implication the societies) which make up the modern world system. It defines a process through which events, decisions, and activities in one part of the world can come to have a significant consequence for individuals and communities in quite distant parts of the globe”.
In her work, Mirza Jan (2009) argues that globalization is often portrayed as a positive process, unifying widely different societies, integrating them into a “global village” (Jan 2009, p.66). Supporting that argument, Mir, Hassan, and Qadri (2014) add that globalization is a multifaceted wonder which incorporates financial, social, political, and mechanical measurements. In any case, globalization includes major developments in the social, social-political territories (Mir et al., 2014, p.607). Globalization isn't a comprehensive or dynamic type of internationalism, rather it progresses as a monoculture of thoughts, legislative issues, and monetary models. It might be considered an effective development on a world size of specific localisms of a social, financial, and political associations, which are neo-liberal and entrepreneur in character ( Mir et al., 2014, p.608). The blend of material and ideological components make globalization an authoritative procedure.
While all the scholars discuss the globalization of cultures, Yi Wang (2007) tackles the sense of the diversity of the cultures involved in globalization processes - “in the new era of globalization, people become much more concerned about the uniqueness and particularity
of their own culture” (Wang 2007, p.83). That notion of unique culture reflects a process opposite to globalization, one that can be called anti-globalization.
Ugo Pagano (2007) reflects on the processes of globalization in a more cultural perspective and describes it as a process that “overcome national cultures in the name of global culture”, and that beholds a paradoxical continuity between nationalism and globalism (Pagano 2007, p.650). Similarly, Wani (2011) discovers the existing relation between culture and globalization, but he emphasizes on the fast pace of the process, which is a concern for many nations. The rapid spread of ideas, logic, substances, genders from one part of the world to another, not only homogenizes the culture all across the world but rather it represents the “Americanization'' of world cultures (Wani, 2011, p.36). The concept of Americanization refers to the spread of American cultural impact on the local cultures of not so Westernized world. Food is considered one of the most significant parts of cultural globalization in which food and food media play a critical role. Every country has its own cultural preferences in food, which reflects its cultural integrity. It is proven through processes such as ‘Americanization’ food can transmit not only taste and ingredients, but cultural values and ideas (Wani, 2011, p.36).
The exchange of food across regions, nations, and continents has occurred for centuries, although the study of the relationship between food and globalization is relatively new to many fields, including Media and Communication studies. The term ‘food globalization’ had minimal results in the search of the literature for this paper. The notion is first discovered in the text by Lynne Philips (2006) and it is described as a process of global food regime that has explained the adoption of standardized planting, picking, and packing practices in agriculture around the world (Philips, 2006, p.39). The concept also sheds light on increased global sourcing for and distribution systems and standardization of production industries. As involving many factors, according to Grew (2011) food appeared to be an especially productive theme in investigating the significance of globalization. The subject of food is attached to financial turns of events and environment, political strategy and religion, taste, and custom (Grew, 2011, p. 210). Supporting that opinion, Kennedy,
Nantel and Shetty (Kennedy et al. 2004) share that the wonder of globalization is majorly affecting food frameworks around the world. The progress of food frameworks is usually related to urbanization, expanding wages, advertised progression, and outside direct speculation. Globalization alludes to decrease in boundaries to the cross-outskirt development of products, administrations, and capital; an expanded progression of products, innovations, data, money related capital, methods of dispersion and promoting; and, partially, relocation of people groups and work (Kennedy et al., 2004, p.13).
The reviewed literature presents the aspects and factors of globalization that are key to this study. It nods affirmatively to the ongoing processes of globalization and highlights the food and cultural factors involved. While some belief in the positive outcome others argue about the negativity and the damages it can cause on cultures and individuals - erasing their originality and uniqueness (Wang. 2011). The media has a main role in spreading those processes, this paper focuses on finding evidence of how food media portrays signs of globalization processes.
4.2 Identity
As it appears from the selected texts, identity is a multifaceted term, it exists within culture, within the individual and the collective. Understanding better the meaning of different facets of identity, one must set a definition as a starting point of the investigation. Voicu and Cuza’s (2013) text talks about identity as a social category or, the sense of personal identity, that forms the basis of an individual’s dignity or self-respect. To further explore the term within cultural studies, Friedrich Krotz (2007) argues that the notion of identity is observed as the production of cultural knowledge and in the process of constructing cultural identities through discursive formations and cultural symbols (Krotz, 2007, pp. 226). Usually, identity requires a collective, as Jacob Svensson defines it “being alone can hardly make a meaningful identity; we need others in order to be ourselves.”(Svensson, 2014, pp.352). Here comes the notion of the collective identity and the relation between the collective and the individual. Voicu and Cuza (2013) argued that collective identity cannot compete with individual identity because it does not have “deep-rooted memories
that can induce a sense of loyalty the same way individual identity does”, but they can coexist (Voicu and Cuza, 2013, p. 170).
Another aspect of identity is cultural identity. Forming it involves taking on worldview beliefs and engaging in behavioral practices that unite people within a community, passed on from generation to generation, such as eating, dressing, working, as well as transitioning life events such as graduating from school, marriage or having children (Jensen, 2003, p. 190). Cultural identity is constructed by a broad range of beliefs and behaviors that one shares with members of its own community. Often religious and moral beliefs and behaviors are crucial elements in peoples’ understanding of their cultural identity ( Jensen, 2003, p. 191).
According to Assmann and Czaplicka (1995), the collective memory could be understood as a term closely related to history. To elaborate this argument the authors are saying that “a group bases its consciousness of unity and specificity upon this knowledge and derives formative and normative impulses from it, which allows the group to reproduce its identity”. The concept of the cultural memory, containing the elements of images, texts, rituals specific to society, serves to convey the identity of the society through its cultural heritage (Assmann and Czaplicka, 1995, p. 128). As cultural identity usually means to be part of a group or collective, it is often related to the term collective identity which appears in some scholarly articles of cultural studies. Types of collective identity – class, gender, race, religion – may overlap or combine with cultural and national identity. National identity is focusing upon culture, ideology, identity, class or modernization is to neglect The fundamental focus of national identity is culture, ideology, identity, and class which neglect nationalism that as a political ideology concerned with power.
The article by Voicu and Cuza (2013), argues that cultural identity is one’s perception of their position in the spectrum of cultures and purposeful behavior directed towards acceptance into a particular group, as well as certain features of the character that automatically assigns a group membership. According to Voicu’s research, there are two
models of cultural identity. The first one is based on race, ethnicity, social and economic status, gender, religion, ability/disability, or language, where those categories represent a group within an individual can take part. The second model observes cultural identity as belonging equally to the past and to the future, constantly evolving within time, place, history, and culture: “matter of ‘becoming’ as well as of ‘being”. Scholar, David Winterstein (as cited in Voicu and Cuza, 2013), identifies four types of cultural identities: nested or embedded identities, ‘marble-cake’ or mixed identities, cross-cutting or overlapping identities, separate or exclusive identities.
Diversity is a concept related to representation and cultural identity in texts by Stuart Hall. In an interview together with Paul Gilroy (Goodman, 1993), Hall discusses media representation as what society knows and what it feels about certain subjects. A subject of representation could be the identity, which according to Hall is “ a ‘production’ which is never complete, always in process, and always constituted within, not outside, representation”. He observes cultural identity in terms of one, shared culture, reflecting on common historical experiences and shared cultural codes (Hall, 2014 pp.223). Hall argues that the phenomenon of cultural identity is constructed by four main axes - inclusion, exclusion, identification within a culture’s value system, and association of a cultural group with a specific territory. The first and the second axis demonstrate the relation of the individual to the group, where the third and fourth work as identification within a culture’s value system and association of a cultural group with a specific territory.
4.3 Representation in Food Media
A milestone for representation theory is Said’s book “Orientalism”, which discusses the Orient and Orientalism, East and West their representations. It considers the creation of the notion "Orient" as a result of cultural imperialism, industrial capitalism, mass consumption, and colonialism in the nineteenth-century. The trends in Europe, at that time, for materials and objects from the Middle East and Asia, such as porcelain and carpets, and the ability for Europid races to purchase those objects confirms imperialism in Europe. Nineteenth century art highlights the use of representations of the "Orient”, which
from scholar perspective are challenging the ways that the “West” represented the “East,” and complicating the misconception of a “unidirectional westward influence”.
Following the concept of ethnic representation, Hodkinson discusses the representations of marginalized groups in mass-media channels and the consequences of those representations - being the withdrawal of some ethnic groups from mainstream media (Hodkinson, 2007, p.224).
The interest in the topic of food has been present for a long time, but food issues have largely been examined within the context of relatively closed systems of production—in households, in local communities, and in ethnic groups. To build an understanding of how representations are used in media, and more specifically in food media, a fruitful text is Joanne Hollows’, paper regarding Jamie Oliver’s TV show, focuses on “Leisure, labor and domestic masculinity”. The text emphasizes the opposition of female and male representation in Jamie Oliver’s TV show, but it also mentions the representation of ‘traditional’ British fare like English breakfast or ‘British’ dishes associated with ‘memories of childhood’ (Hollows, 2003, p. 235). She also discusses the sense of a nation as multiple times referring to “Britishness” and “Italianicity” composing the image of the main character. Britishness is vital for building Oliver’s identity and the Italianicity signifies masculinity. Another reference to the representation of nations in the TV show is the associations to ‘national’ cuisines, where ‘French’ is understood as signifying ‘posh’, while ‘Italian’ - ‘everyday domestic cookery’ (Hollows, 2003, p.235). The author also draws on the relation between food and Bourdieu’s habitus and theory of cultural capital, denying the labor involved in acquiring culinary cultural capital - “Bell (2000) (as cited in Hollows, 2003) argues that television chefs, like gourmands in general, inhabit the paradoxical position of ‘marking distinction while also democratizing tastes’” (Hollows 2003, p.231).
5. Methodology
The methodology implemented for this paper follows the Grounded theory approach. As the processes from gathering the data, observing it, coding, analyzing it, and relating it to
theories construct the fruitful steps of building the research design, they will be discussed in the section below.
5.1 Research Design
- Step 1 / Formulation of the research question
In order to specify the research problem, Pruulmann-Vengerfeldts’ pyramid (Figure 5) is taken into consideration to specify a research question. As a first step is the initial phenomenon of cultural globalization through which lens the project will be observed. Following the path of the pyramid, the next section (tools and technology) can be narrowed down to Food Television, in the specific context of culinary shows. As a last step in the pyramid, the research area can be further narrowed down to the portrayal of cultural globalization in the documentary “Ugly Delicious”. As the research question has been modified several times in the process of writing, it is important to acknowledge that the findings and the data itself have contributed to the formulation of the question.
Figure 5. Left: Slide from Johan Farkas lecture / Right: Adapted graph to the research area of my choice
- Step 2 / “Line-by-line coding” (Appendix 10.2)
Identifying the method used in the paper as a Grounded theory approach, categorizes and codes are identified by locating patterns related to the theoretical concepts. To begin with, coding the given amount of data is used the approach, described as “line by line coding”. For many grounded theorists, line-by-line coding is considered as the first step and means naming each sentence of the text (Glaser, 1978, as cited by Charmaz 2009, p. 259). This
practice leads to a very detailed depiction of the text and allows us to notice ideas that might be missed in broader coding. Inspired by Glaser (1978) line-by-line coding with gerunds, “is a heuristic device to bring the researcher into the data, interact with them, and study each fragment of them. This type of coding helps to define implicit meanings and actions, gives researchers directions to explore, spurs making comparisons between data, and suggests emergent links between processes in the data to pursue and check.”(Charmaz 2009, p.252). The aim with “line-by-line” coding is to establish whether or not a relationship between food media, represented by TV shows, and cultural globalization exists. Observing closely helps discover themes, patterns, and ideas that otherwise might have left unseen.
As the data for this paper is video material, each episode of the second season of “Ugly Delicious” has been transcribed with the line-by-line coding method. After coding the whole season, a brief focused coding of the season one followed, in order to observe if there will be any significant data to support the codes and the ideas shared in the second season.
- Step 3 / “Focused coding” (Appendix 10.3, table 1)
“Focused coding” (Charmaz, 2014, pp. 282). Finding the overall purpose of the episode and setting its themes and finding repeating patterns. In order to proceed with further research and get closer to answering the main questions, focused coding helps to identify codes or themes that repeatedly appear or have better significance than others (Charmaz 2009, p.283). The process of refining the codes, starts with the transcribed line-by-line codes, which are highlighted by answering the question: what kinds of theoretical categories do these codes indicate? The colors used to highlight the line-by-line codes have served as indicators of a pattern or similar meaning, which has then evolved in a focused code. Example of that can be the codes “Tracking the paths of immigration and the spread of curry”, “Showing how curry is used Caribbean food”, “Showing how curry is used in Japanese miso”, “Including the German curry sausage” and their merge into “Indian influence through immigration” (Appendix, 10.2)
Analyzing the episodes of season two by discussing them in detail and describing the discussed topic from which the focused codes has arisen. This type of analysis is crucial for the paper in order to build proof for the origin of the codes for anyone who has not been able to watch the show. It provides detailed insights into the ethnicities of the characters involved, the locations they visited, and the opinions they shared throughout the length of the episodes. Furthermore, the focused codes are discussed in a context of cultural globalization and theoretical concepts, to draw the relation between them.
- Step 4 / Analysis (Appendix 10.3, table 2)
The Analysis part is divided into three main stages. The first stage is named Formal Analysis and is a descriptive, formal analysis of each episode of the second season, accompanied by a short sum-up of the first season in order to support repetitive themes. The emphasis throughout this stage is not to apply any biased opinion nor interpretation beyond the most basic articulation of the main scenarios showcased in the episodes, visible to every viewer’s naked eye. This first stage could be considered as a content analysis of sorts.
The next stage involves consideration for the context of the main concepts, where a broader look at the piece, including examples of focused codes that can be translated as a sign of cultural globalization. In this section, it is presented the logic of how the codes have been referred to the theoretical concepts.
As the last stage of the analysis is focusing on the representation used to showcase the main concepts, it is important to understand the significance of the concepts, in order to make a conclusion.
- Step 5 / Discussion
Building the logic between the food media field and its effect over cultural globalization processes. Establishing a relationship between grounded theory and theory. As a Grounded theory in the current paper is used as a research method of analyzing data it needs theoretical support. The process of forming the basis of this relationship starts by carefully observing the focused codes and the discovered patterns in the content of the
documentary “Ugly Delicious”. Considering cultural globalization as a center of interest in this paper it is important to understand how this process is happening and how it is described in the data. Using the definition of it, constructed from theory and literature, one can find codes that interpret the notion in the data. After the relationship between data and theory has been established, the next step is to take examples that build logic on how food media, represented by the documentary “Ugly Delicious” is portraying the cultural globalization process.
- Step 6 / Conclusion
After analyzing and discussing the findings, the information gathered is summarized and presented in the conclusion section. Its aim is to answer research questions.
5.2 Constructivists paradigm
In addition to observing the data as a media text, and the use of Grounded theory this thesis requires a logic of inquiry through which the data can be analyzed. To sum up the purpose of the four logics, Blakie and Priest (2007) description has been used: Inductive logic produces generalizations from data; Deductive logic tests theories by testing hypotheses derived from them; Retroductive logic proposes causal mechanisms or structures and tries to establish their existence; and Abductive logic generates social scientific accounts from everyday accounts. It is important to note that Abductive logic answers research questions differently to the other three logics (Blaikie & Priest, 2019, p.118) and consists of many layers.
In respect of using the Grounded theory approach, the choice of the constructivists’ paradigm aligns with qualitative data analysis. The use of this paradigm is described by Collins (2010, p.38) as the “lens through which we view the world” and influence the way of making sense of things. The constructivist perspective shreds notions of a neutral observer and value-free expert, it is based on the researcher’s subjectivity, and construction and interpretation of the data (Charmaz, 2014, pp. 55). As constructivism uses the
epistemology of abductive logic, it derives from social actors’ behavior in their everyday activities. The material selected for this paper is staged and produced media ‘text’, therefore it is hard to claim its nature as an everyday activity. The focus will then rather be on the social actors’ behavior, meaning what they say, their body language, and the motives and intentions, directing their behavior. Referring back to Roland Barthes’ (1968) description of what constitutes a text, there are various other possibilities than our own, for interpretation of those actions, which naturally results and contributes to constructions of theories out of those ‘texts’.
The constructivist paradigm in the context of Grounded theory approach is used to describe these activities and meanings, and deriving from them build categories reflecting theoretical concepts that can form the basis of an understanding of the problem at hand. (Blaikie & Priest, 2019, p.120). The social scientist working with abductive logic, the task is to use people’s behavior to discover the symbolic meanings, intentions, and rules, which provide the orientations for their actions (Blaikie & Priest, 2019, p.117). What is considered to be a constructivist's view is that “human beings, selected to be the focus of research, produce various truths and knowledge in their actions” (Constructivism - Jyväskylän yliopiston Koppa, 2020), which correspond to the data for this paper, collected through a documentary TV series where the main characters are actual human beings. As their actions in the show, one can consider their ideas transmitted through talks, facial expressions, and reactions. Much of those social-life activities are routine, conducted in a taken-for-granted, unreflective attitude. It is when others, such as social scientists/researchers are observing and questioning social actors' behavior that they are forced to construct meanings and interpretations. The role of social scientists is to encourage the process of discovering meanings and theories. To begin with, a researcher needs to both discover the everyday concepts - which in this paper’s case are the ‘line-by-line’ codes, used to typify features of the surrounding world and discover the meanings around them. Following its task, the researcher has to report the concepts in language that stays as close as possible to that of the social actors, that’s why the use of gerunds is the most suitable as it keeps the sense close enough. After the discovery of the
