In “Toward a Psychosociology of Contemporary Food Consumption,” Roland Barthes, a French structuralist, explains how food acts as a system of communication and provides a body of images that mark eating situations. He believes that the fact that Americans use as much sugar as they do should spark interest in many fields of study.
Barthes states that the development of advertising has shown people that the product they are actually buying is “by no means the real product.” Advertising has created artificial understandings and values in the products. He says that the loyalty people have in certain products is the only thing separating the products, “…products that are so identical that frequently even the manufacturer cannot find any differences.”
Barthes continues on his point of food not just being food. He demonstrates how food is communication whether through serving food to friends or a business lunch with a boss, food is no longer just for eating. He claims that, “…activity, work, sports, effort, leisure, celebration – every one of these situations is expressed through food.” Food still maintains the physiological aspect we need it to but now it also serves as a social setting.
The piece concludes with Barthes stating that we change the way we see food to fit our lifestyles. He says that “food… will lose in substance and gain in function,” meaning that we will not think about what food we are eating but rather how to work it into our schedules.
In “Toward a Psychosociology of Contemporary Food Consumption,” Roland Barthes, a French structuralist, explains how food acts as a system of communication and provides a body of images that mark eating situations.
ReplyDeleteThe development of advertising proves time and time again that what the customer sees on the advertisement is not the same product that they end up purchasing. Advertising has created artificial understandings and values in products. Barthes states that the loyalty people have in certain products is the only thing separating the products by stating that the “…products are so identical that frequently even the manufacturer cannot find any differences.”
He continues his point of food no longer being just food by demonstrating how food is communication. Whether through serving a meal to friends or a having a business lunch with your boss, food is no longer just for consumption. He claims that “…activity, work, sports, effort, leisure, celebration – every one of these situations is express through food.” While food still maintains its physiological aspect of nutrition, it now serves as a social setting too.
The piece concludes with Barthes stating that we change the way we see food to fit out lifestyles. He says that “food… will lose in substance and gain in function,” meaning that we will not thing about what food we are eating but rather how to work it into our schedules.