No matter who you are or where you’re from, food sends you messages. A raw steak, dinner at a friend’s house and good table manners all send messages, conscious or unconscious, to those observing. These messages can be understood through semiotics, the study of symbols. The food, act of preparing it and the manner in which you eat are all different symbols, and are constantly interpreted.
In the most basic sense, food is understood by all living organisms. A bear receives messages from berries it sees and forages, and from prey it catches and kills. One example of this type of symbol is illustrated in the science fiction novel, Babel-17 by Samuel R. Delany. In the novel, the main character, Rydra, is given a talking bird as a present. The bird is trained to say certain phrases and one of these is “Hello, Rydra, it’s a fine day out and I’m happy.” Rydra becomes frightened by this because she knows the bird is thinking “There is another earthworm coming.” To the bird, Rydra’s presence represents food and Rydra herself is a symbol for food.
What’s more useful to us is how we interpret prepared meals. The act of preparing food for someone is symbolic. Making a meal for someone has apparent symbols in itself; the amount of effort that goes into preparing a meal creates value, and then by giving someone a meal they receive the message that they are deserving of the food and all of effort that went into it.
Even manners are symbolic. Table manners have social value and displaying them shows respect for the other person and also directly speaks highly of your person. Knowing how to properly use silverware is not just a silly formality. Pierre Bourdieu, sociologist and philosopher, saw this and remarked “It is cheaper to impress with an expensive meal than expensive clothes, cars or houses.”
Although food is easily understood to us as necessary sustenance, food unconsciously represents more than just that. It is evidence of relationships and value and this is unconsciously weighed in our minds whenever we encounter food.
- The Semiotics of Food, http://www.eng.umu.se/culturec/FOO.htm
- Babel-17, Samuel R. Delany
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