Italians Mad at Food: virtual performance in defense of cultural food identity

Abstract

By popularizing information showing the most different culinary experiences on the internet, social media also made known the ways of doing in different places. In some cases, the dissemination of these practices has been severely criticized by individuals who identify themselves with a given culture. One such case is the one of those who identify with the Italian food culture. These people started to get attention on social networks due to the vehement criticisms of the way Italian cuisine is portrayed by the culinary channels. This work aims to present a qualitative observational analysis from an anthropological point of view, made in posts related to “typical” Italian food presented on the pages "Italians Mad at Food", "Buzzfeed Tasty" and "Tastemade" on Facebook and Instagram, from December 2018 to January 2019. The goal of showing different people coming together around what they consider an offensive reproduction of “typical” Italian cuisine is to discuss the authenticity, legitimacy and identity character that food plays in society.