Food as Sign and Code :: Wendy Leeds-Hurwitz Semiotics Essays

Food as Sign and Code What do you think of when you see or smell your favorite food? On one hand the sight or smell of that food might trigger hunger, or even a memory of the last time you shared that meal with a loved one. The point is, the smell or sight of our favorite food would trigger a different thought or feeling in each of us. This is an example of Semiotics. Semiotics is defined as "anything that can stand for something else." Roland Barthes was one of Europe's most renowned theorists of semiology. Barthes believed that in order to generate a complete sign, there were two parts that have to work together. These two parts are known as the signifier and the signified. A good example of this is your favorite food you thought of earlier, it would act as a signifier, and the thought that came to your head when thinking of this food would act as the signified. Together they create a sign. This is just a simple example of a complete sign. In her book Semiotics and Communication: Signs, Codes, Cultures, Wendy Leeds-Hurwitz describes the wide use of food as signs, and also as social codes. The reason foods are so useful as signs and social codes is because they are separable, easily adaptive to new environments, and it is not difficult to cook, or eat for that matter. Food is a major part of our daily lives, Not only for survival, but it plays a substantial social role in our lives. We will look deeper into the semiotics of food, how food is used as identity markers, and also the role that foods play in social change in our lives. First let us start with the semiotics of food. Food as Semiotics Food is very accessible. Therefore, it has been one of the top choices used in explaining semiotic theory. An important contributor to the semiotics of food is Mary Douglas. She applied her assumptions of semiotics of food as a social code. Douglas and her assistant generated a hierarchical description of the events when people take food. This description is listed below. 1. Food Event-- it is the most general; it refers to an occasion when food is taken, without prejudice as to whether it constitutes a meal or not. 2. Structured Events-- this refers to social occasions that have been thoroughly organized.