Elite Authenticity

This exploration of food's role in culture and class dynamics reveals how Elite Authenticity addresses the intersection of materiality and discourse in social status.

In Elite Authenticity, Gwynne Mapes delves into the intricate relationship between food and social structures, highlighting how food serves as both a cultural cornerstone and a means of asserting status. The book explores how the material aspects of food—its ingredients, production, and preparation—interact with its discursive elements, such as marketing and representation, to shape contemporary class dynamics. This duality makes food an ideal lens through which to examine language's role in social stratification and class formation, engaging with modern sociolinguistic debates on language materiality.

Mapes employs a variety of research methodologies, including analyses of restaurant reviews, articles from the New York Times food section, Instagram posts from @nytfood, and ethnographic fieldwork in several prominent Brooklyn restaurants. She also incorporates a recorded dinner conversation with food enthusiasts, providing a rich tapestry of data that illustrates how the concept of elite authenticity emerges within food discourse. This concept reflects a complex interplay of rhetorical strategies through which social distinction is both constructed and contested.

The book adopts a multimodal critical discourse analysis approach, drawing from diverse fields such as linguistics, cultural studies, and anthropology. By examining aural, visual, spatial, material, and embodied discourse, Elite Authenticity offers valuable insights for scholars and students interested in communication studies, critical discourse analysis, and the social implications of food culture.