CC BY
21
В.Д. Шевченко ORCID iD: 0000-0001-6357-2477
Самарский национальный исследовательский университет им. академика С.П. Королева,
г. Самара, Россия
УДК 409.35
РЕПРЕЗЕНТАЦИЯ ЕДЫ В АМЕРИКАНСКОМ МЕДИАДИСКУРСЕ DOI: 10.29025/2079-6021-2018-1(29)-22-27
Настоящая статья посвящена проблеме репрезентации еды в современном американском медиадискурсе. Автор анализирует некоторые социальные и лингвистические факторы, оказывающие влияние на репрезентацию еды в медиадискурсе, в особенности, общественные представления и социальные факторы, воздействующие на журналистов, а также специфику языковых форм, используемых с целью репрезентации еды. Особое внимание в работе уделяется когнитивным аспектам: автор рассматривает доминантные компоненты когнитивных моделей ситуаций и языковые средства их выдвижения. Автор приходит к выводу о том, что процесс репрезентации еды в современном американском медиадискурсе определяется целью построения специфической идентичности американской нации.
Ключевые слова: дискурсивные исследования, медиадискурс, репрезентация еды, когнитивная модель, идентичность.
Introduction. The media discourse has been studied by the representatives of various scientific fields due to the most significant role it plays in shaping the ideas and attitudes in the modern society, including the attitudes to food and food consumption. According to Slavka Tomascikova, media play crucial role in the signifying practices in postmodern societies and in contemporary society media represent the most important channels of cultural mediation. <. .> Consumer society through its media offers food representations in numerous forms - in a form of entertainment, education, information [15, p. 49-57]. In the present paper we shall try to analyze how food is represented in a form of information and education. In particular, we intend to investigate what negative aspects of food consumption are presented in the media discourse and what informative and educational values these materials possess.
Methods. While undertaking the research we applied the method of discourse analysis [9, p. 135-148], method of cognitive modelling [4, p. 5-23], method of semantic analysis, observation and description techniques.
Scholarly papers review. The problem of food representation has attracted attention of many scholars. Specific representation of food influences the attitude to food and food practices in the society that leads to emergence of new ideas and practices. The food has also been the object of numerous sociological, cultural, ethnographic, linguistic and philosophical studies [5, p. 157-160; 7, p. 22-36; 10, p. 23-30; 11, p. 275-293], which corresponds to the tendency of investigating various aspects of human being existence [1, p. 7-21; 2, p. 5-19; 6, p. 172-184; 8, p. 68-82].
Results and discussion. Having analyzed the articles taken from the American media discourse, we have come to a conclusion that one of its goals is to represent various characteristics of food and aspects of food consumption. Some of the media concentrate on the negative effects that food and food consumption may cause, for instance, portraying food as a source of danger, in particular, illness and death. Such media materials tend to actualize the specific cognitive models (scenarios) of situations (influenced by the pragmatic factors) in the recipient's mind.
One of the cognitive scenarios realized in the American media discourse is the "FOOD AS A SOURCE OF DANGER" scenario which can refer to various situations. The article entitled "Papaya Recall: As Salmonella Outbreak Spreads, Importer Urges Consumers to Stay Away " published on the Newsweek website on July 27, 2017 [newsweek.com] represents the following components of this scenario:
"FOOD AS A SOURCE OF DANGER" cognitive (model) scenario
General components of the scenario (macrostructure) Specific components of the scenario Textual elements used to realize the components of the scenario
PLACE OF THE EVENT u.S. (12 STATES) Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, Virginia
TIME OF THE EVENT july, 2017 These fruits were distributed July 10 to July 19
REASON infected food (particular BRAND) Caribeña brand Maradol papayas
EVENT infection Salmonella outbreak that killed one person and sickened 46 others <... > Forty-seven people in 12 states have been sickened by salmonella-contaminatedfruit, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention <...> Salmonella bacteria causes gastrointestinal symptoms including diarrhea, fever, and abdominal cramps. Separate scenario of the illness The illness usually lasts 4 to 7 days, and most people recover without treatment. In some people - especially children, elderly and immunocompromised - the bacteria can spread and infect the bloodstream and lead to death. A severe infection swiftly treated with a course of antibiotics usually results in full recovery. According the CDC, 1.2 million illnesses from salmonella occur each year and there are as many as 450 deaths annually in the U.S.
PARTICIPANTS OF THE EVENT FOOD distributor, people SICKENED BY FRUIT, THE ADMINISTRATION, AGENCIES, press ETC. Grande Produce, the papaya distributor, Forty-seven people in 12 states have been sickened by salmonella-contaminated fruit, The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
CONSEQUENCES (ACTIONS) hospitalization, death Twelve people have been hospitalized and one has died
conducting an analysis, Whole Genome Sequencing (WGS) analysis was conducted on ten patient samples in the outbreak, and all were related. This result indicates that the patients were likely sickened by the same type offood <... > Papaya samples from a Baltimore store tested positive for two specific strains of salmonella detected in people who were sick, which are Salmonella Kiambu and Salmonella Thompson
measures taken by the authorities The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Wednesday issued a nationwide recall of Caribeña brand Maradol papayas after a salmonella outbreak that killed one person and sickened 46 others <... > However, the FDA is continuing to advise consumers across the country to avoid all Caribeña brand Maradol papayas. The FDA also notes that there are illnesses in states where Grande Produce did not distribute papayas and is therefore continuing the investigation
statement on the website AND IN THE press "If anyone has these papayas in their home, they should dispose of them immediately. These can be identified by a red, green and yellow sticker shown here," the FDA said in a statement on its website
MEASURES TAKEN BY THE FOOD DISTRIBUTOR On July 26, 2017, Grande Produce, the papaya distributor, notified consumers through a press release that it had conducted a limited recall of Caribeña brand Maradol papayas
FUTURE ACTIONS The FDA plans to update the public on the outbreak. "At this time, Caribeña brand papayas from Mexico have been identified as a brand linked to these illnesses, the agency said in a statement. "Additional brands will be announced as the information becomes available"
As it has been mentioned above, this cognitive model (scenario) can refer to various situations, for instance, going to the supermarket, having a meal, calling an ambulance, going to the doctor's, conducting an analysis, being in a hospital etc., which, in their turn, have their own cognitive situational models [3]. Thus, the cognitive scenario realized in the media discourse has a generalized character as it embraces a set of cognitive models of various situations. The "FOOD AS A SOURCE OF DANGER" cognitive scenario is constructed in accordance with a more generalized cognitive model which can be referred to as a macrostructure.
The cognitive model, which is stored in the recipient's mind, has the following generalized linear structure: INFECTED FOOD (REASON) DISTRIBUTED BY A COMPANY (PARTICIPANT I) a DELIVERING FOOD TO THE SPECIFIC PLACES - SUPERMARKETS (ACTIONS OF THE PARTICIPANT) a BUYING FOOD (ACTION) BY THE CUSTOMERS (PARTICIPANT II) A INFECTION (EVENT) A HOSPITALIZATION, DEATH (CONSEQUENCES) A STATEMENT ON THE WEBSITE AND IN THE PRESS (ACTION) A CONDUCTING AN ANALYSIS (ACTION) BY SPECIALISTS (PARTICIPANTIII) A MEASURES (ACTION) TAKEN BY THE AUTHORITIES (PARTICIPANTIV), MEASURES TAKEN BY THE FOOD DISTRIBUTOR (CONSEQUENCES) A FUTURE ACTIONS (CONSEQUENCES). Not all of the components of the cognitive model are indicated by the language means in the text of the article (e.g. such actions of the participants as DELIVERING FOOD TO SUPERMARKETS or BUYING FOOD BY THE CUSTOMERS etc.), but these components cannot be excluded from "FOOD AS A SOURCE OF DANGER" cognitive model as they are integral constituents of the situations that this model refers to (e.g. going to the supermarket, going to the hospital etc.).
According to H. Fulton et al., "in the discourse of news reporting, the linear chronology of events is typically obscured in order to emphasize the immediacy of what has happened - to make it seem more like news as it happens" [12, p. 240]. The textual realization of the cognitive model differs from the linear one: the journalist begins his article with representation of CONSEQUENCES (MEASURES TAKEN BY THE AUTHORITIES, HOSPITALIZATION, DEATH, CONDUCTING AN ANALYSIS), REASON (INFECTED FOOD), EVENT (INFECTION) and PARTICIPANTS OF THE EVENT (PEOPLE SICKENED BY THE FRUIT), which corresponds to the requirements of communicative situation within the media discourse encouraging the journalist to provide the readers with the most important information. Thus, positioning these components at the beginning of the article using the language means makes them the key components constituting the framework of the cognitive model from the point of view of the media discourse. The other components are of importance too (PLACE OF THE EVENT, FUTURE ACTIONS etc.), but in this media article the journalist tends to draw readers' attention to the activities of participants: she focuses on the actions throughout the text, describing the actions taken by various participants: issued a nationwide recall, twelve people have been hospitalized, Whole Genome Sequencing (WGS) analysis was conducted, Grande Produce, the papaya distributor, notified consumers, the FDA is continuing to advise consumers, they should dispose of them immediately, the FDA plans to update the public on the outbreak. Actions are described from different angles: some actions are performed by the participants (Active Voice), some are directed towards the participants and objects (Passive Voice); the author depicts acts of mass communication, acts of medical care and analysis. The journalist's concentration on the actions makes the media text quite dynamic as it demonstrates the development of the main event (infection) and related situations (hospitalization, conducting an analysis, measures taken by the participants etc.).
Such component of the cognitive model as EVENT (INFECTION) is foregrounded by means of a separate paragraph, containing a separate cognitive scenario of "ILLNESS" (as a part of the more generalized "FOOD AS A SOURCE OF DANGER" model): Salmonella bacteria causes gastrointestinal symptoms including di-
в.д. ШЕВЧЕНКО
arrhea, fever, and abdominal cramps. The illness usually lasts 4 to 7 days, and most people recover without treatment. In some people - especially children, elderly and immunocompromised - the bacteria can spread and infect the bloodstream and lead to death. A severe infection swiftly treated with a course of antibiotics usually results in full recovery. According the CDC, 1.2 million illnesses from salmonella occur each year and there are as many as 450 deaths annually in the U.S. [newsweek.com].
The journalist focuses on the key components of the cognitive model due to the pragmatic factors: one of her tasks is to foreground the specific elements of the cognitive model in order to achieve the communicative goal which leads to a different realization of the cognitive scenario - the author begins with the elements which correspond to logics of the media discourse. Such linguistic presentation of the cognitive model is in accordance with the Grice's maxim of relation [13, p. 41-58]. According to the data presented above, the author of the media article concentrates on such element of the cognitive model as actions and the actions described refer to infection and illness, the accompanying situations, their consequences etc. The linguistic realization of the cognitive model demonstrates that the author's communicative goal is to present food as a source of danger and to raise people's awareness of the food's potential dangers through representation of the actions associated with infection and illness. M. McLuhan argues that the press page yields the inside story of the community in action and interaction; such concentration on action is aimed at instilling the dynamic image of an event in recipient's mind [14, p. 226]. In order to foreground such element of the cognitive model as infection the journalist uses the paragraph containing information about salmonella bacteria, peculiarities of the illness etc. The presence of the terms in the paragraph (Salmonella bacteria, gastrointestinal symptoms, diarrhea, fever, abdominal cramps, antibiotics etc.) introduces the traits of scientific discourse into the media text. Such inhomogeneity of the media discourse is aimed at persuading the reader: the scientific data contained in the media text serve to support the journalist's ideas about food as a source of danger.
We consider the media text one of the main instruments of forming identity: the media text reacts to and reflects the significant events in life of the society; journalist's attention - as well as subsequent texts - indicate society's attention (people's preferences, interests, desires etc.) to events, processes and situations. The community finds the media discourse interesting as long as it contains the materials which are interesting to the community, i.e. denote its peculiarities and correlate with its identity. The positioning of news items in the media discourse also influences community interest. According to M. McLuhan, "... the daily communal exposure of multiple items in juxtaposition <...> gives the press its complex dimension of human interest" [14, p. 225]. Thus, the ideas existing in public consciousness are reflected, considered and processed by the media discourse. After having been processed by the journalist, they acquire new meanings and reenter the community influencing the public consciousness and practices. Consequently, the media texts, on the one hand, reflect the community's identity and, on the other hand, participate actively in sustaining and supporting it.
According to S. Tomascikova, elements of food constitute the content of media narratives that serve as tools for the representation of various types of identities [15, p. 49-57]. The language means representing such elements of food as papayas, salmonella-contaminated fruit, red, green and yellow sticker and others participate in constituting the narrative about salmonella infection in the US, within the framework of which the cognitive model is realized. With language means used to represent the specific components of the "FOOD AS A SOURCE OF DANGER" cognitive model, the media text tends to reflect, process and (re)construct specific identity: the American nation is portrayed by means of the media discourse as a food- and health-aware nation. The narratives found in the media discourse demonstrate that this feature of the American community is an aspect of everyday culture. Such narratives are efficient tools for representing specific identity.
This view is shared by S. Tomascikova, who claims that the messages food narratives convey have a potential to be read and received by majority of audiences because food stories intertwine with audiences' daily lives. The elemental nature of food and its connection with the body and identity forge a relationship between eating and identity [15, p. 49-57].
Conclusion. We suppose that the reasons for constructing the particular identity lie in nature of the consumer society: the seeming welfare and oversaturation lead to closer attention to food that results in elaborate representation of food as a source of danger. In accordance with identity being constructed, the media discourse fills the "danger" component of the cognitive model with meanings illness (particular meaning salmonella) and death using particular language means.
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В.Д. Шевченко, доктор филологических наук, доцент, Самарский национальный исследовательский университет имени академика С.П. Королева, Социально-гуманитарный институт, факультет филологии и журналистики, заведующий кафедрой английской филологии. Адрес: 443086 Самара, Московское шоссе, 34; e-mail: [email protected]
Для цитирования: Шевченко В.Д. Репрезентация еды в американском медиадискурсе // Актуальные проблемы филологии и педагогической лингвистики. 2018. № 1(29). С. 22-27. DOI: 10.29025/2079-6021-2018-1(29)-22-27.
REPRESENTATION OF FOOD IN THE AMERICAN MEDIA DISCOURSE DOI: 10.29025/2079-6021-2018-1(29)-22-27
Viacheslav D. Shevchenko ORCID iD: 0000-0001-6357-2477
Samara National Research University
The present paper is devoted to the problem of representing food in the American media discourse. The author analyzes the social and linguistic factors offood representation in the media discourse, in particular, the ideas and social factors that guide the journalists as well as the linguistic form of food representation. Particular attention is paid to cognitive aspects: the author analyzes which components of the situational cognitive models are foregrounded in the media articles and by what linguistic means. The reasons for this process are also investigated. The author comes to a conclusion that the process of food representation in the American media discourse is determined by the aim of constructing a specific identity.
Key words: discourse studies, media discourse, food representation, cognitive model, identity.
В.Д. ШЕВЧЕНКО
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Viacheslav D. Shevchenko, Doctor of Philology, Associate Professor, Samara National Research University, Institute of Social Sciences and Humanities, Faculty of Philology and Journalism; English Department, Head; the address: 443086 Samara, Moskovskoye shosse, 34; e-mail: [email protected]
For citation: Shevchenko V.D. Representation of food in the American media discourse. Aktual'nye problemy lilologii i pedagogiceskoj lingvistiki [Current Issues in Philology and Pedagogical Linguistics], 2018, no 1(29), pp. 22-27 (In Engl.). DOI: 10.29025/2079-6021-2018-1(29)-22-27.
