This course provides an overview of the complex relationship between two universal human activities that not only satisfy our basic needs (to survive and to communicate), but have a deep symbolic, often ritualised, cultural component as well. By drawing on linguistics, linguistic anthropology, sociology, cognitive science and media studies, the course introduces the interdisciplinary field of linguistics by examining the interplay between language and food-related practices (food classification and naming, food preparation, eating and drinking) in various historical and socio-cultural contexts around the world. It tells a story of food names and cross-cultural contact and borrowing, of what metaphors are and how they are formed, of the `grammar? of various culinary traditions, of social stratification and symbolic capital as they are related to `food talk?, of regional linguistic variation, and of advertising. The course addresses an engaging topic in order to familiarise students with a number of important social scientific concepts, and to develop their critical thinking skills.
Programme: LMS(HSS)
This course provides an overview of the complex relationship between two universal human activities that not only satisfy our basic needs (to survive and to communicate), but have a deep symbolic, often ritualised, cultural component as well. By drawing on linguistics, linguistic anthropology, sociology, cognitive science and media studies, the course introduces the interdisciplinary field of linguistics by examining the interplay between language and food-related practices (food classification and naming, food preparation, eating and drinking) in various historical and socio-cultural contexts around the world. It tells a story of food names and cross-cultural contact and borrowing, of what metaphors are and how they are formed, of the `grammar? of various culinary traditions, of social stratification and symbolic capital as they are related to `food talk?, of regional linguistic variation, and of advertising. The course addresses an engaging topic in order to familiarise students with a number of important social scientific concepts, and to develop their critical thinking skills.