Fiat panis: identity representation and identity change in food narratives

ABSTRACT

The Covid-19 pandemic has affected the food production, distribution, and consumption industries in unprecedented ways. As food continues to play a fundamental role in identity representation processes and identity change, it becomes essential to understand how the pandemic and the resulting crisis have impacted the lives and professional activities of those who place food at the center of their identity. Through the analysis of personal narratives produced by Italian participants, this contribution aims to describe the way Covid-19 has influenced both professionals’ and food amateurs’ identity representations and their resistance strategies to the negative outcomes of the pandemic. The analysis shows that the pandemic has produced dynamics of radicalization of the participants’ identities as well as strategic and optimistic compliance. These observations lay the foundations for a deeper understanding of the Covid-19 food industry crisis and the role that food narratives play during periods of emotional turmoil and economic uncertainty.

KEYWORDS:

• COVID-19
• food
• food narratives
• identity
• narratives

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 https://www.panorama.it/abbonati/business/horeca

https://www.corriere.it/economia/consumi/20_settembre_28/negozi-bar-ristoranti-90mila-chiusure-crisi-covid-entro-fine-anno-71350f72-019e-11eb-af0b-6e1669518b1a.shtml

https://www.ilmessaggero.it/italia/covid_ristoranti_dpcm_chiusi_alle_18_negozi_news_oggi-5544403.html

2 https://www.forbes.com/sites/enriquedans/2020/11/15/theres-no-denying-the-evidence-restaurants-and-bars-are-helping-spreadcovid-19/?sh=7b0cba7e3353

https://www.livescience.com/covid-19-superspreading-venues-restaurants.html

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/09/10/health/restaurant-dining-covid-19-cdc-study-wellness/index.html

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/sep/08/meat-production-animals-humans-covid-19-slaughterhouses-workers

3 https://www.tgcom24.mediaset.it/cronaca/covid-protesta-dei-ristoratori-alla-camera-in-piazza-anche-casapound_30636448-202102k.shtml

https://www.msn.com/it-it/notizie/other/covid-da-luned%C3%AC-nessuna-zona-rossa-in-italia-pressing-sul-governo-per-la-riapertura-dei-ristoranti-al-chiuso-e-delle-palestre/ar-BB1gr5Eb?MSCC=1604337262

https://www.repubblica.it/politica/2020/04/26/news/coronavirus_riaperture_cabina_regia_governo_regioni-254928829/?ref=RHPPTP-BH-I254972764-C12-P3-S2.4-T1

4 https://www.leggo.it/alimentazione/news/ioapro_ristoranti_aperti_15_gennaio_salvini_ultime_notizie_video-5698690.html

https://www.ilfattoquotidiano.it/2021/05/12/riaperture-meloni-draghi-si-sta-rivelando-piu-favorevole-alle-chiusure-di-conte-italia-viva-e-centrodestra-votino-la-nostra-mozione/6195443/

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Fabio Indìo Massimo Poppi

Dr. Fabio Indìo Massimo Poppi is Assistant Professor/ Research Associate at the University of Łódź (Poland) and Associate Professor at Sechenov Moscow University (Russian Federation), with an interdisciplinary background in Critical discourse studies, Pragmatics, Social cognition, Italian culture, Art and Film studies. He is currently involved in a project that examines the interface between humour (both verbal and non-verbal) and impoliteness in social media communication, testifying that online aggression can serve humorous purposes and that online humour may originate in aggression, whether genuine or feigned (e.g. Dynel and Poppi 2019; 2020; 2021). At the same time, he works on processes of ideology construction, violence, organized crime (e.g. Poppi and Ardila 2021) and sex-related phenomena (e.g. Poppi and Sandberg 2020) often using a narrative, interactional fantasizing or discourse analytical approach.