Abstract
Over the past decade, Korean food has been growing in popularity around the world. This is largely due to the ongoing South Korean state-led gastrodiplomacy campaigns that systematically promote Korean culinary heritage abroad. While scholars have identified this governmental operation as a successful nation branding effort, none has explored the practical processes through which ideas and philosophies around Korean food are translated and adapted in different regions. Europe has been particularly overlooked. Combining in-person interviews with a thematic and linguistic analysis of the print and digital material published by Korean governmental organisations with offices in Great Britain, this paper investigates how these state entities have shaped and tailored the portrayal of Korean cuisine in the region. Specific references to taste and aesthetics are highlighted and so are recurring themes and contradictions. Whilst anchored to traditional culinary knowledge, the promotional practices showcase an openness towards reinvention and personalisation. The notion of dialogical gastro-connections is here introduced to explain the practical ways through which cultural information and messages about Korean food are exchanged between governmental organisations and their audiences, and continuously evolve. Ultimately, this paper posits that this newly created notion serves as a way to discern both the applicability and the importance of establishing dialogue-based cultural relations through food for any country or community interested in leveraging their culinary traditions abroad.
Presenters
Michela SiuniPhD Researcher, Department of Anthropology, SOAS, University of London, United Kingdom
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
GASTRODIPLOMACY, KOREANFOOD, SOFTPOWER, SOUTHKOREA, UK
