Cookbooks by Female Celebrity Chefs

A CRITICAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS OF LANGUAGE AND GENDER IN COOKBOOKS BY FEMALE CELEBRITY CHEFS

KELSI MATWICK

A DISSERTATION PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA

2016

To my family

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

First, I give thanks to the Lord for His abundant blessings. I am also grateful for my chair, Professor Ann Wehmeyer, who has supported and guided me from the beginning of this project until the end, and made each step of the writing process a learning experience. I owe her my gratitude for her dedication and professionalism. I would also like to extend my thanks to my committee members, Dr. Paula Golombek,

Dr. Diana Boxer, Dr. Jane Townsend, and Dr. Barbara Pace. Their invaluable comments and feedback made the completion of this study possible.

I owe love and gratitude to my mother and my father, Ann and John Matwick, who were a source of encouragement and support. Last but not least, I thank my twin sister, Keri, who kept me going and made the journey that much more fun.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

page

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ...... 4

LIST OF TABLES ...... 8

ABSTRACT ...... 9

CHAPTER

1 INTRODUCTION ...... 11

1.1 Overview ...... 11 1.2 Review of Literature ...... 12 1.3 Purpose of the Study ...... 21 1.4 Research Questions ...... 23 1.5 Significance of the Study ...... 24 1.6 Dissertation Layout ...... 26

2 THEORETICAL BACKGROUND AND FRAMEWORK ...... 30

2.1 Overview ...... 30 2.2 Theoretical Framework ...... 31 2.2.1 What is CDA? ...... 31 2.2.2 Fairclough’s Three-Dimensional Framework ...... 32 2.2.2.1 Text analysis ...... 33 2.2.2.2 Discursive practice analysis ...... 34 2.2.2.3 Sociocultural practices ...... 36 2.2.3 Gender, Hegemony, and Ideology ...... 37 2.2.4 Summary ...... 40 2.3 Model of Analysis ...... 41 2.3.1 Lexicalization ...... 42 2.3.2 Presupposition ...... 43 2.3.3 Interpersonal Function ...... 45 2.3.3.1 Modality ...... 46 2.3.3.2 Politeness ...... 48 2.3.4 Language and Gender ...... 50 2.3.5 Intertextuality ...... 53 2.3.6 Topics ...... 55 2.4 Conclusion ...... 58

3 METHODOLOGY AND DATA ...... 60

3.1 Overview ...... 60 3.2 Data Selection ...... 60 3.3 Methodology ...... 62

3.4 Overview of Female Celebrity Chefs ...... 63 3.5 Data Methods Analysis ...... 68

4 TEXTUAL ANALYSIS ...... 70

4.1 Overview ...... 70 4.2 Lexicalization ...... 71 4.2.1 Description of the Food ...... 71 4.2.1.1 Tradition vs modern ...... 71 4.2.1.2 Easy and delicious ...... 73 4.2.2 Culinary Terms and Loanwords ...... 77 4.2.3 Unique lexemes and distinctive phrases ...... 81 4.2.4 Recipe Titles ...... 84 4.3 Presuppositions ...... 86 4.4 Interpersonal Function ...... 91 4.4.1 Hedges: Mitigate Imposition ...... 92 4.4.2 Boosters: Convey Enthusiasm ...... 94 4.4.3 Personal Pronouns ...... 95 4.5 Summary ...... 96

5 DISCURSIVE PRACTICE ANALYSIS ...... 104

5.1 Overview ...... 104 5.2 Intertextuality ...... 106 5.2.1 The Expert Voice and the Amateur Voice: Ina Garten ...... 106 5.2.1.1 Expert makes French cooking accessible ...... 107 5.2.1.2 Expert aligns with professionals ...... 110 5.2.2 The Expert Voice and the Amateur Voice: Ree Drummond ...... 111 5.2.3 The Expert Voice and the Amateur Voice: Giada De Laurentiis ...... 114 5.3 Topics ...... 116 5.3.1 Discourse of Cooking for Men and the Self ...... 118 5.3.2 Discourse of Time...... 125 5.3.2.1 Nostalgia for the past ...... 125 5.3.2.2 How to live in reality: Make it ahead or faster ...... 128 5.3.3 Discourse of Expertise ...... 131 5.3.4 Discourse of Authenticity ...... 135 5.3.5 Discourse of Control ...... 139 5.3.5.1 Discourse of Control: When to eat desserts ...... 141 5.3.5.2 Discourse of control subverted ...... 144 5.3.6 Discourse of Food and Feeding ...... 146 5.4 Summary ...... 150

6 DISCUSSION ...... 152

6.1 Overview ...... 152 6.2 Findings at the Textual Level ...... 153 6.2.1 Lexicalization ...... 153

6.2.2 Presupposition ...... 158 6.2.3 Interpersonal Function ...... 159 6.3 Findings at the Discursive Practice Level ...... 162 6.3.1 Intertextuality ...... 162 6.3.2 Findings at the Discursive Practice Level: Topics ...... 165 6.4 Summary ...... 172

7 CONCLUSION ...... 174

7.1 Overview ...... 174 7.2 Theoretical Reflections ...... 174 7.3 Significance of the Study ...... 176 7.3.1 Linguistic Findings ...... 176 7.3.2 Sociocultural and Ideological Findings ...... 179 7.4 Female Celebrity Chefs ...... 185 7.5 Study Limitations...... 186 7.6 Avenues for Future Research ...... 187

LIST OF REFERENCES ...... 189

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH ...... 203

LIST OF TABLES

Table page

3-1 Female celebrity chef cookbook data ...... 69

4-1 Presuppositions about readers ...... 99

4-2 Presuppositions about cooking ...... 101

4-3 Presuppositions about dessert ...... 103

Abstract of Dissertation Presented to the Graduate School of the University of Florida in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy

A CRITICAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS OF LANGUAGE AND GENDER IN COOKBOOKS BY FEMALE CELEBRITY CHEFS

Kelsi Matwick

May 2016

Chair: Ann Wehmeyer Major: Linguistics

Utilizing a Critical Discourse Analysis approach, this study compares and contrasts the gendered discourses in cookbooks by three female celebrity chefs: Giada

De Laurentiis, Ree Drummond, and Ina Garten. Drawing on Fairclough’s three- dimensional framework, the study examines how their cookbooks construct gender roles and identities portrayed both textually and discursively in the prose surrounding the recipes. Integrating CDA with gender and language studies, it examines five linguistic features: lexicalization, presupposition, interpersonal function, topics, and intertextuality, that inform the study's ideological findings. The study finds similarities among the three celebrity chef cookbook collections on both the textual and discursive level; it finds that the discourse continues traditional femininity but emphasizes self- fulfillment and empowerment of the domestic life. Further, the study examines the sociocultural context and observes that the discourse strategies of the cookbooks were due to two sociocultural and economic factors: 1) the traditional role of women cooking for and feeding the family and 2) the celebrity chef role. While being a celebrity offers opportunity for influence and power, being a female is limiting because of societal gendered norms for women to carry out domestic duties. The emergence of a new

narrative of the feminine domestic seeking pleasure is circumscribed within the conventional femininity that is framed as the most valid and appropriate one as a marketing strategy to appeal and subsequently sell to the widest audience. Because of the influential and powerful role of the celebrity, it is expected that female celebrity cookbook authors will continue to preserve dominant gender ideologies.

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION

1.1 Overview

The present study examines the gendered discourse in cookbooks written by contemporary female celebrity chefs. Cookbooks, as manuals for cooking, present blueprints for eating and living, including ideals concerning gender identities and roles, thereby reinforcing or undermining dominant ideologies. In this way, power inequalities between men and women can be ideologically sustained and reproduced by cookbooks

(van Dijk, 1993), or contested. However, the underlying assumptions about gender in such texts, especially those by contemporary celebrities, have rarely been examined from a linguistics perspective. The persistence of gender inequality in the U.S. and around the globe warrants closer scrutiny of gender ideologies in everyday texts such as cookbooks.

The purpose of this study is to examine how cookbooks by contemporary celebrity chefs in the U.S. depict the identities of men and women. Critical Discourse

Analysis (CDA) (Blommaert, 2005; Fairclough, 1995, 2001; Gee, 2005), along with a social constructionist perspective of gender (Eckert & McConnell- Ginet, 2003; West &

Zimmerman, 1987) will be used to analyze how gender roles and identities are portrayed and described in the prose surrounding the recipes. Among the different types of discourse available in cookbook analysis (e.g. historical cookbooks, community cookbooks, food memoirs, food and travel, ethnic cookbooks), discourse in cookbooks by female celebrity chefs who have cooking shows on the American cooking channel

Food Network are of particular interest to this current study. This is partly because of the media’s contribution to ideology and the influential role held by Food Network on

food and cooking with over 1.1 million viewers reported in 2012 by Nielsen Media

Research (Scripps News Release, 2012). Contributing to their numerous spin-offs or

“textual meteorites” (Strange, 1998, p. 311), including DVDs, magazine features,

kitchenware, and food products, cookbooks by celebrity chefs stand to shape the

gender identities that thousands of adults and an increasing number of young viewers

envision for themselves and for others.

The aim of the present study is to unveil how discourse is employed in cookbooks by female celebrity chefs to negotiate power relations and gender hierarchies in society by investigating how they represent women and men and discourse related to food. In terms of this study’s selected authors being white, middle

upper to upper class, and heterosexual, it seeks to compare and contrast the

construction of ideal female and male identities in the text to traditional conceptions that

associate men with paid work and the public sphere and women with caretaking and the

private sphere. This study seeks to reveal how the authors negotiate and occupy these

dual spaces—the public and the private—and to give insight to the future of the media

landscape in American public media in light of the tremendous and recent increase of

interest in food.1 Accordingly, this study focuses in particular on the proliferation of

media discourses about cooking during the last twenty years.

1.2 Review of Literature

Studies on discourse in language and gender diverse, focusing on the varieties

of speech associated with a particular gender and the social norms and conventions

1 Most newspapers and lifestyle magazines offer recipes and articles about food, and cookbooks lead all other categories in book publishing. Entire television networks are devoted to food. The study does not go beyond that to investigate the implications of any other major political or social event that took place in U.S. food media previously as this is beyond its scope.

that (re)produce gendered language use. Various theoretical frameworks such as sociolinguistics and CDA are utilized to analyze texts, ranging from newspapers to textbooks to magazines to advertisements, and investigate ideological stances portrayed in gendered language. Contemporary scholarship understands gender as socially constructed, an enactment or performance of identity. These studies recognize that “women” and “men” are not universal nor inherent categories. Furthermore, speech

practices associated with gender are prescribed gender norms constructed and

recognized by society. Central among these are studies examining the construction of

femininity and masculinity, including male hegemony, the dominant ideology. CDA has

been promoted by Van Dijk (2001) as instrumental to language and gender issues in

analyzing the discursive construction of gendered language and identities (Gregorio-

Godeo, 2006).

A number of studies have investigated hegemony in gendered discourse.

Hegemony refers to the social domination, influence, or authority of certain groups

granted over another. According to Connell (1987), a notable scholar in gender studies,

there are multiple and diverse masculinities and femininities in contemporary culture.

The traditional type of masculinity and femininity reinforces a gendered ideology about

what the American society sees as the ideal man and woman. Connell (1995) defines

“hegemonic masculinity” as specific social practices that give men privilege, meaning

that there is a certain way of being masculine that is considered the ‘best’ way to be a

man (p. 77). The ideal man is strong, powerful (physically, mentally, and socially), active, ambitious, tough, competitive, assertive, and rational. He goes to the extremes, seeking success and experiencing pleasure. He dominates the public sphere, taking the

majority of the leadership positions. In contrast, there is no direct female equivalent of hegemonic masculinity; rather, Connell (1987) used the term “emphasized femininity” to

describe the most commonly endorsed femininity. The ideal woman is ‘naturally’ kind

and caring, fragile and weak in a social and physical sense, complacent, peaceful, non-

confrontive, and emotional. She practices moderation and self-denial, seeking

relationships and commitment rather than purely bodily pleasure, which correlates to the

representation of women in this study.

Extending Connell’s (1987, 1995) analysis to media and cultural studies,

Milestone and Meyer (2012) explained that “emphasized femininity” is not hegemonic in

the way that hegemonic masculinity is because of two reasons: 1) emphasized

femininity does not exercise institutional or structural power in the same way that

hegemonic masculinity does, and 2) emphasized femininity does not actively negate

other types of femininity in the same way as hegemonic masculinity (pp. 19-22).

Milestone and Meyer (2012) noted that patriarchy is not constructed by men alone;

emphasized femininity helps maintain patriarchy by encouraging women to take social

roles that are undervalued or unpaid (e.g. a stay-at-home wife or mother). Women may suffer in their careers and become financially dependent on men. Moreover, Milestone and Meyer (2012) cautioned that the characteristics associated with women, such as being caring and kind, position women as weaker, less intelligent and cognitive, less rational, and less competitive (p. 22).

Other studies have applied these concepts of hegemonic masculinity and emphasized femininity and analyzed them through Gee’s (1990; 2004) distinction between discourse/Discourse. The term discourse with little “d” means language in use

while Discourses with a capital “D” are “ways of being in the world” (Gee, 1990, p 142),

a sort of “identity kit” with instructions on how to talk, act, and write (Gee, 1990, p. 152).

One’s identity is an integration of certain attitudes and beliefs and certain lifestyle

practices, and ways of interacting. Discourse is more than just text and talk. This

research examines Discourses about language and gender, which represent and

reproduce stereotypes about ideal women and their gendered food and cooking

practices.

Further, CDA is shown to be an invaluable framework for analyzing a range of

texts, from popular material such as men’s and women’s magazines (Fuller et al., 2013;

Gregorio-Godeo, 2006) to institutional texts (Gungor & Prins, 2010; Pérez Sabater et

al., 2001). These CDA studies aimed to identify gendered stereotypes and uncover

potentially harmful limitations on women and men, such as women expected to be more

in control of their food consumption and body than men (Fuller et al., 2013).

Through a CDA approach, Fuller et al. (2013) examined discourses about food

and its construction of hegemonic masculinity and femininity in men’s and women’s

health magazines. The study identified a Discourse about controlled eating that signified

different meanings depending on the gender of the target audience. Most studies about

gender and food indicated that the perception of uncontrolled eating or lack of self-

discipline correlated to the immorality or social inferiority of the eater. Fuller et al. (2013)

identified a hegemonic femininity as “thin, well-groomed, and in control of your emotions” and a hegemonic masculinity as “fit, muscular, and self-disciplined” (p. 262).

Interestingly though, Fuller et al. (2013, p. 262) noted the presence of alternative

Discourses in certain contexts, such as giving in to excess consumption and finding non-thin people attractive.

Like Fuller et al. (2013), Gregorio-Godeo (2006) examined popular magazines through a CDA approach. The study illustrated the role of grammar in the discursive constitution of gender identities in contemporary British men’s magazines’ problem pages. Grammatical variables such as processes, agency, modality, use of pronouns, and cohesion were examined and related to discourse and society. The study confirmed the articulation of a so-called “new mannism” that has come to define a new image of masculinity in Britain. The “new man” is characterized by a more egalitarian treatment of women, is more in touch with his emotions, and fashion-conscious. The magazines act as ‘vehicles’ for the distribution and consumption of “new mannism” discourses.

Gungor and Prins (2010) added to CDA studies with their investigation of gender in a prominent Turkish adult literacy textbook. The paper highlighted how the text reproduces gender inequality in two main Discourses: 1) a normative parenting discourse that assigns mothers the responsibility of childrearing and caretaking, and fathers the responsibility of discipline; and 2) a Discourse of the sexual division of labor in which men were associated with the outside, public world, and women with the private, domestic world. Analyzing the visual images and reading passages, Gungor and Prins (2010) assessed how the textbook transmits gender ideologies and critiqued its naturalization of gender hierarchies. While these studies are of other cultures, their

CDA approach to gender and text provides insight to this study and situates it in the literature.

Other approaches, particularly from media and cultural scholars, confirmed the construction of specific types of masculinity and femininity, notably in cookbooks. Most studies from the U.K. analyzed British celebrity stars Jamie Oliver and Nigella Lawson, who are comparable in demographics to the American celebrity chefs of this study, and explicate how they present alternative Discourses of masculinity and femininity

(Brownlie & Hewer, 2007; Hollows, 2003a, 2003b; Moseley, 2001). Opening up debates about new masculinities, Hollows’ (2003b) study examined how a mode of domestic masculinity is negotiated in Jamie Oliver’s television shows and cookbooks and suggested that the construction of the masculine domestic cook provides a different discourse about cooking, turning domestic cooking from demanding and laborious that is usually linked with domestic femininity in the kitchen to a ‘fun’ leisure and lifestyle activity, a ‘special event,’ even a ‘gift’ to his guests and family (p. 239).

Hollows (2003a) examined the significance of Nigella Lawson in relation to debates about postfemininism and argued that her work presented a new image for women: a “domestic goddess,” as her cookbook of the same title indicates. The study argued that “her work negotiates a form of feminine identity between frequently polarized figures of ‘the feminist’ and ‘the housewife’” (Hollows, 2003a, p. 179). The study suggested that Nigella’s approach to cooking as pleasure goes in tandem with the idea of eating as pleasure. This is significant in that the emphasis on the pleasure of cooking and eating differs from the accounts of meaning women bring to cooking and eating in feminist sociology. These studies argued that women were positioned as providers of food for others, yet had a difficult relationship with eating itself; women

often cooked to offer pleasure to family members but rarely did they experience eating as pleasurable themselves (Charles & Kerr, 1988; Maartens, 1997; Murcott, 1995).

From the U.S. side, also looking at discourse in celebrity cookbooks, but from a literature perspective, Mitchell (2010) examined five cookbooks by stars on the Food

Network cooking channel. She questioned whether there is anything significant about cookbooks written by celebrities and whether they are instructional or merely promotional material for the stars. Examining the cookbooks front to back, from the title to the recipes to the images to the back endorsements, Mitchell (2010) found that her answer depended on the gender of the celebrity chef. She claimed that “men’s books do indeed promote them as celebrities” (Mitchell, 2010, p. 527) and that “female celebrity chefs are the ones who will provide a link with the past and be, as always, the teachers and nurturers for the future” (pp. 537-538). Instead of being about themselves—their personal likes/dislikes and restaurants, which was the main focus of the men’s cookbooks, the women focused on instructing the reader and enabling them in the kitchen.

From the linguistics field, Fischer (2013) emphasized how cookbooks are examples of instructional texts that are oriented to particular audiences. Utilizing the notion of “recipient design” by Sacks, Schegloff, and Jefferson (1974), Fischer (2013) compared several different cookbooks with respect to their linguistic strategies of including the addressee in the recipe. Recipient design involves aspects of language that “display an orientation and sensitivity to the particular other(s) who are the coparticipants” (Sacks et al, 1974, p. 42). Most interesting in Fischer’s study are her highlights of how Julia Child’s (1961) Mastering the Art of French Cooking succeeds in

relating to her readers through three central strategies: 1) involve the reader in the decision process, 2) allow for personal preferences, and 3) anticipate what the reader will encounter during the cooking process. This study also examines ways that the cookbook authors identify their audience and are responsive to them.

Other linguistic studies similarly focused on the instructional nature of cookbooks and considered their orientation to the reader. The structural aspects of the recipe are noted, such as the list of ingredients and procedural discourse, but most studies also observed that cookbooks are distinct from other manuals in that there are many context- dependent variables (Cotter, 1997; Norrick, 1983; Tomlinson, 1986). Recipe instructions

are often incomplete and dependent upon the recipient’s background knowledge in

interpreting the text. This suggests that cookbooks are not isolated texts but depend on

their historical context to be read as intended.

To address how people interpret instructions, Tomlinson (1986) examined the format of over three thousand recipes. Tomlinson assumed that instructions are incomplete, with movement between the instructions and cooking varying from person to person, depending on skill. As Tomlinson (1986) observes, “not only are instructions

incomplete, but people themselves come to instructions in various states of

incompleteness” (p. 205). Like Fischer (2013), Tomlinson (1986) claimed that written

instructions must build in “recipient design” if the instructions are to be successfully

followed. Yet, the difficulty in writing successful cookbooks lies in the fact that writers

often have only the vaguest notion of their readers. According to Tomlinson (1986), the

more unknown the reader, the more detailed the instructions need to be. However, I

would suggest that writers today know their readers better through use of social media,

which allows people to create, share, and exchange information in virtual communities.

Celebrities have an advantage over non-celebrities because they have more resources and public leverage to access their fans.

Like Tomlinson (1986), Norrick (1983) provides a structural analysis of recipes and also finds that recipes have presuppositions about what the recipient knows.

Norrick (1983) noted that lists of ingredients may be incomplete and inconsistent, with the omission of equipment tools and of basic supplies like water or oil. Recipes are intended to be skimmed over first, as the experienced cook will check the list and serving yield before cooking or shopping to develop a plan to follow. The technical vocabulary and special cooking operations further classify recipes as distinct technical texts that presuppose certain types of readers, ones with technical knowledge and skills, and as Norrick (1983) adds, a well-appointed and well-stocked kitchen. A CDA approach would critique these assumptions about an educated reader and a plentiful pantry as hiding social and economic inequalities.

Through a discourse analysis approach, Cotter (1997) also recognized recipes as more than a list of ingredients, measurements, and instructions in her analysis of community cookbooks. She first compared recipes to forms of narratives that parallel

Labov’s (1972) framework of a narrative and its composition. Most interesting is her comparison of the recipe’s descriptive language to Labov’s evaluation clause; both

require a shared knowledge between the reader and writer to be understood. Evaluation

clauses are how the narrator gets her point across and occur within the instructional

narrative sequence and relate to identity (e.g. looks like X or Y) or to action (e.g. beat

ingredient X in such and such a way). Additional comments such as suitable food

pairings, serving, and time of food preparation offer subjectivity and objectivity in experience in following the recipe. Thus, Cotter (1997) views recipes as a text form that is locally situated as a community practice, and as a text that implies a number of cultural assumptions and practices.

This brief overview of studies on discourse analysis, particularly those involving cookbooks, language, and gender, shows that CDA as well as other frameworks of discourse analysis, have been useful tools in understanding how critical social and political issues in social relations of power and domination have been portrayed by the media. Studies on gendered discourse, including hegemony and the expected gender roles of women and men, centered on the question of whether texts reproduced or countered existing ideological and hegemonic discourse in Western media. Although such studies have been insightful in that they revealed perspectives about the hegemonic masculinity and femininity and counter-ideological discourses, they have been written largely from a media and cultural studies perspective. There is a gap in the literature in linguistics on how multiple Discourses of gender are present in mainstream media, especially in influential cookbooks by female celebrity chefs in the Western context in general, and the U.S. in particular.

1.3 Purpose of the Study

Utilizing a Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) approach, this present study aims to examine the gendered Discourses in cookbooks by three female celebrity chefs: Giada

De Laurentiis, Ina Garten, and Ree Drummond to determine what messages are being sent to readers and in what ways are these messages gendered. In so doing, the study reveals the traditional ideology of a female in the kitchen. It also reveals the conflicting

Discourses of the female celebrity chefs: the traditional role of the female caring for and feeding others, and the celebrity chef who sets aesthetic, moral, and taste standards.

The study examines a corpus of best-selling cookbooks published within the last twenty years, 1995-2015, by Ina, Giada, and Ree. I refer to the three female celebrity chefs on a first-name basis, as they are most recognized by the American public as such. CDA differs from other frameworks of discourse analysis in that it is not only centered on textual, linguistic analysis, but goes further to incorporate the historical, political, social, and cultural context that surrounds text production and consumption.

Drawing on Fairclough’s (2001) critical approach to gendered discourse, the study addresses the micro-level of social action, which primarily deals with linguistic strategies, and the macro-level social structure, which draws on the sociopolitical and cultural context, to link discourse to society and text to context. A comprehensive multilayered analysis that links the textual to the social should yield a better understanding of the ideologies prominent in the examined texts and account for the potential difference among the data in representing women ‘doing gender;’ it gives insights into how unequal relations of power and hegemony are played out in the cookbooks’ narrative of food.

The study also draws on language and gender studies where language and gender contribute to the performance of identity. The study examines the gendered discourse of celebrity chefs in terms of their linguistic portrayal of ‘being female,’ especially how this role relates to food and cooking. It attempts to depict how the cookbooks represent different ways of participating in social groups, cultures, and institutions, such as ways of being a “good wife,” “hip mother,” or “Hollywood star.”

Moreover, the study endeavors to draw consistent themes in the cookbooks and explicate those themes by relating them to the wider social and cultural contemporary

American context. Critically evaluating the celebrity identity of the authors, the study investigates the construction of a mediated persona and the appeal for authenticity. The study concludes by considering the influence the celebrity chefs have and the discourses they circulate about gendered practices of cooking in the private domain of the kitchen. It thus highlights how cookbooks can be seen to function as coded instructions regarding acceptable forms of gender through culinary practices.

1.4 Research Questions

The study’s research questions aim to address how cookbooks written by three contemporary female celebrity chefs enact ‘doing gender’ by investigating how the women represent themselves and portray their relationship to food. Relying on

Fairclough’s three-dimensional framework, these representations are investigated both textually, by analyzing lexicalization, presupposition, and interpersonal function, and discursively, by analyzing intertextuality and topics. Further, the study explores the sociopolitical context to provide a nuanced explication of discourse, as it pertains to society and addresses the implications of the results for the future of media landscape for women in the U.S.

Specifically, the study aims at answering the following research questions:

1. What are the messages about food and cooking that are conveyed in contemporary celebrity chef cookbooks and in what ways are these messages gendered?

2. What are the implications for these Discourses coming from celebrity chefs, specifically, female celebrity chefs?

3. Given any differences or similarities among the cookbooks, what are the discursive and sociopolitical practices that can explain these differences or similarities?

4. What are the implications for the future of celebrity chef cookbooks and media food celebrities in the U.S.?

To answer the research questions, the following sub-questions are addressed to provide a textual and discursive analysis of the cookbooks:

• What kind of lexicalization and presupposition is utilized in the construction of femininity?

• Which interpersonal functions can be identified in the narrative of the cookbooks?

• How is intertextuality used and to what purpose?

• What topics do the cookbooks address in their Discourse of food and ‘doing gender’?

1.5 Significance of the Study

Celebrity chefs have gained tremendous cultural influence, and their cookbooks are an influential media outlet capable of changing ideologies of gender. Studies indicate that the general public understands and consumes celebrity chef brands in a more active and engaged way than traditional goods brands (Tonner, 2008). By 2005, celebrity chef cookbooks dominated sales in the cookbook subject category, with half accounting for ten of the top twenty-five general cookbooks sold at Amazon (Miller,

2007; Mitchell, 2010). The influence of the ideology of celebrity cookbooks derives its power partly by encouraging readers to consent to ideologies, and because cookbooks are light texts, their ideological nature is difficult for readers to recognize. Thus, cookbooks by celebrity chefs stand to profoundly shape the gender identities that thousands of adults envision for themselves and for others.

As a result of the growing interest in food, a body of literature on food and language is emerging, such as essays compiled by linguists Gerhardt et al. (2013) and

Szatrowski (2014). Nonetheless, cookbooks as a performance of gender have not been

studied extensively. In addition, a large amount of research has been done on women and cookbooks (Hollows, 2003a; Inness, 2001; Neuhaus, 2003; Shapiro, 1986, 2005;

Theopano, 2002) and a handful on men and cookbooks (Brownlie & Hewer, 2007;

Hollows, 2003b; Julier & Lindenfeld, 2005) but principally from the perspectives of

sociology, media, and cultural studies. These approaches are valuable in providing the

social context and relevance as well as the historical backdrop of cookbooks.

Additionally, a handful of media studies scholars have examined the rhetoric of celebrity

chef cookbooks (Brownlie & Hewer, 2007; Hollows, 2003a, 2003b; Johnston et al.,

2014; Lewis, 2008; Mitchell, 2010).

One of the distinguishing factors of CDA is its compatibility with other disciplines.

This study adds to the body of qualitative research on CDA that bridges the gap

between the linguistic, on the one hand, and the media, social, and cultural, on the other

hand, in studies on cookbooks and celebrities in the U.S. This study compares

hegemonic and counter-hegemonic discourse in the American context and addresses

the implications of the gendered ideologies for the future in regards to cooking, food,

and gender norms. It goes beyond a linguistic description of cookbooks to examine the

interrelation between gender norms, cooking and food practices, and celebrities in the

contemporary U.S.

Furthermore, this study fills a gap in research on language and gender in that it

addresses an area that, to the best of my knowledge, has not been addressed before in

celebrity chef cookbooks: gender (in)equality. Studies on language and gender

employing a CDA approach have addressed different critical issues that reveal relations

of power, struggle, and dominance in different types of texts (e.g. newspapers,

magazines, textbooks, etc.); yet, no study has investigated gendered language of celebrity chef cookbooks. Despite the prevalence of celebrity chef cookbooks, only a few studies have touched on the connection between cookbooks and discourse (see

Gerhardt et al., 2013), and where discourse was investigated, the focus was on genre

(Bubel & Spitz, 2013), grammar (Massam, 1988; Massam & Roberge, 1989; Norrick,

1983), or narrative (Cotter, 1997).

Additionally, this present study is the first, to the best of my knowledge, that focuses on celebrity chef cookbooks from a critical and language-driven perspective.

This is significant, in that on the one hand, it adds to the body of research on CDA and celebrities, and on the other hand, sheds light on one of the main sources of cooking and food practices, cookbooks.

Therefore, the present study is timely as it deals with the unprecedented rise of contemporary celebrity chefs. Coupled with the enduring presence of cookbooks, the study can contribute to a better understanding of how cookbooks by celebrity chefs are influential Discourses of gender norms.

1.6 Dissertation Layout

In Chapter 2, I discuss the theoretical framework for the study and the discursive practices that govern the production of discourse with particular focus on the American context. Drawing on Fairclough’s (1995, 2001) three-dimensional framework, which is adopted in the study, I discuss the analytical tools that are used to examine the data textually and discursively. Since the analysis is multilayered in that it goes beyond micro-textual analysis to explain organizational routines of discourse production and sociocultural practices, which constitute the larger-scale macro-analysis, I address three notions that are central in CDA studies: ideology, power, and hegemony. I also show

the relevance of these notions to gender studies by shedding light on the discursive production and contestation of gender norms in celebrity chef cookbooks.

In Chapter 3, I discuss the methodology for the study, including data selection and collection. I provide an overview of each celebrity chef to provide additional background information, including relevant details about their culinary and personal experiences.

In Chapter 4, I analyze the data at the textual level in three main areas:

Lexicalization, Presupposition, and Interpersonal Function. I explicate how linguistic concepts, such as lexicalization and presupposition, were used by the celebrity chefs to represent ideologies about food, cooking, and gender. In my discussion of lexicalization,

I describe two primary themes: 1) tradition vs modern, and 2) easy and delicious. I explain the variation in how the cookbooks use and frame certain terms, such as tradition, and how they referred to the cooking process. I add an analysis of foreign and culinary-specific lexical terms to show ways that authority is demonstrated. An analysis of personality-driven lexicon and phrases further illustrates ways that distinguish the cookbooks from one another and add to the persona projected by the celebrity. The lexical section finishes with a note about recipe titles and their contribution to the identity formation of the celebrity chef. The chapter proceeds with a complementary analysis about presupposition. The cookbooks shared similar presuppositions about food and cooking, three of which I highlight along with the various linguistic structures used.

Then, Chapter 4 shifts to an analysis of the interpersonal language used by the cookbook authors to establish a relationship with their readers. I demonstrate how modality, specifically hedges and boosters, and personal pronouns contribute to

politeness strategies. Alternatives and preferences are indicated through uses of first person pronouns and second person pronouns. Finally, I explain how personal pronouns build an affinity with the reader in my discussion of synthetic personalization.

In Chapter 5, I move to the second-level of Fairclough’s framework with a discursive practice analysis. I use two analytical tools: intertextuality and topics, to examine the underlying ideology of the cookbooks. Intertextuality refers to the relationship between texts and how texts are formed from other texts. Intertextuality also pertains to how and why different voices are included or excluded in cookbooks. I examine ways in which the cookbooks represent different voices. Specifically, I identify two main voices: the ‘expert’ voice and the ‘amateur’ voice.

Then, Chapter 5 has a thorough discussion on the topics included and excluded in the cookbooks, and how certain themes were portrayed positively and negatively.

The main topics that are addressed under topic selection are: 1) Discourse of Cooking for Men and the Self, 2) Discourse of Time, 3) Discourse of Expertise, 4) Discourse of

Authenticity, 5) Discourse of Control, and 6) Discourse of Food and Feeding.

In Chapter 6, I expand the insights of textual and discursive practice analysis from Chapter 4 and 5 to investigate the wider sociocultural context. I highlight the main findings from each section and contextualize them with research from gender and sociology studies. I describe the competing Discourses. On the one hand, the cookbooks support hegemonic Discourse by encouraging women to cook in the kitchen and care for others. On the other hand, the cookbooks challenge the traditional rhetoric of self-denial and deprivation and rather, encourage women to find pleasure in food, both in its eating and cooking.

In Chapter 7, I conclude the study by describing the implications of the study.

Cookbooks are manuals in cooking but also relay messages about gender norms and project ideologies about food and cooking. I propose that the female celebrity chefs have the power and media exposure to make changes in the way Americans eat, cook, and ultimately, live. Finally, I indicate the study’s limitations and offer suggestions for future research.

CHAPTER 2 THEORETICAL BACKGROUND AND FRAMEWORK

2.1 Overview

This chapter describes the theoretical framework for the study, Critical Discourse

Analysis (CDA), and its application to gender and language studies. I begin by

describing Fairclough’s three-dimensional framework: text analysis, discursive practice,

and sociocultural practice. Then, I introduce other CDA terminology to be used

throughout the study, namely Discourse/discourse (Gee, 1999), hegemony, and

ideology.

The second half of the theoretical background is a discussion of the analytic tools used in the first two dimensions of Fairclough’s framework. At the text analysis level, I discuss Lexicalization, Presupposition, and Interpersonal Function. Within the

Interpersonal Function, I describe Modality and Politeness, referring to Fairclough’s

(1992) account of modality and Brown and Levinson’s (1987) model of politeness. At the discursive practice level, I provide an overview on language and gender with a review of key contributions by Lakoff, Tannen, Cameron, and Holmes. Following that, I describe Intertextuality and Topics. Intertextuality is understood through the work of

Bakhtin (1986) and Fairclough (1992). In Topics, I indicate how topic selection leads to identification of Discourses and cultural models (Gee, 1999, 2004). I also suggest how text structures and their placement in the cookbooks affect the interpretation of the texts and the topics in Chapter 4: Textual Analysis. The third level, sociocultural practice, is applied in Chapter 5: Discursive Practice Analysis.

2.2 Theoretical Framework

In this section, I introduce the theoretical framework by first defining CDA. Then, I

present Fairclough’s framework more in depth as it provides the three-dimensional framework needed to analyze the discourse, from the linguistic features (Text analysis or Discourse-as-text) to its production (Discursive practice or Discourse-as-discursive practice) to its ideological effects (Sociocultural practice or Discourse-as-social

practice). I will also define CDA terminology used in the study, such as Gee’s (1999)

Discourse/discourse distinction, hegemony, and ideology.

2.2.1 What is CDA?

Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), previously also known as Critical Linguistics

(CL), can be credited to works by Teun Van Dijk, Ruth Wodak, and Norman Fairclough

(Blommaert, 2005). Fairclough’s Language and Power (1989) is considered the

landmark of CDA’s start (Blommaert, 2005). His work is based on a Hallidayian model

of grammatical and textual analysis (Halliday, 1994), a model more pervasive in

England and Australia than in the United States. Other versions of CDA exist, such as

that of James Gee (2004), who describes his version of CDA as based on American

non-Hallidayian models, such as that of Chafe (1979), and sociolinguistics (Gumperz,

1982; Hymes, 1974; Labov, 1972), with influences from literary criticism (e.g. Chatman,

1978). Both Fairclough’s and Gee’s approaches understand CDA to be a social semiotic

system (Halliday, 1978, 1985, 1994) that combines a model of grammatical and textual

analysis with an inclusion of social and cultural dimensions that are linked in the

process of creating meaning.

What makes Critical Discourse Analysis different from other Discourse Analysis

is its critical aspect. It is critical on how language produces and reproduces domination

and abuse of power, engendering, injustice, and inequality (Van Dijk, 2001, p. 96), or as

Fairclough and Wodak (1997) put it: “discursive practices may have major ideological effects: that is, they can help produce and reproduce unequal power relations between

(for instance) social classes, women and men, and ethnic/cultural majorities and minorities through the ways in which they represent things and position people” (p. 258).

This study frames cookbooks as sites of power and struggle, and focuses on the

ideological effects of the cookbooks’ portrayal of gender. Cookbooks may seem like

“harmless entertainment,” but as a cultural practice the cookbook is embedded with

values, beliefs, hopes, etc. Critical approaches treat social practices not just in terms of

social relationships but also in terms of their implications for things like status, solidarity,

distribution of goods, and power. Thus, the study joins CDA’s call to “make more visible

these opaque aspects of discourse” (Fairclough & Wodak, 1997, p. 258). That is, the

goal of this study is to raise awareness about how relevant Discourses that are

supposedly about cooking and food may be part of the construction of disparities

between genders from the perspective of women’s cookbooks.

2.2.2 Fairclough’s Three-Dimensional Framework

Fairclough’s framework draws upon systemic functional linguistics (Halliday,

1985), a methodology that offers clear linguistic categories for analyzing the relations

between discourse and social meaning. His analysis of text views grammar as units of

meaning and not as isolated linguistic units. Fairclough’s work focuses on language and

power relations, critical language awareness, and discourse and social change

(Fairclough, 1992, 1993, 1995, 2001). Fairclough constructs a social theory that joins

social context in its framework, viewing language use as a form of social practice in a

dialectical relationship with other social factors. Fairclough (1993) explains that “it is vital

that critical discourse analysis explore the tension between these two sides of language use, the socially shaped and socially constitutive” (p. 134). Being socially shaped,

language use is related to the perpetuation of social conventions.

As stated above, Fairclough’s framework concerns three dimensions: textual

analysis, discursive practices, and sociocultural practice. For Fairclough (1993), “each

discursive event has three dimensions or facets: it is a spoken or written text, it is an

instance of discourse practice involving the production and interpretation of text, and it is a piece of social practice” (p. 136). Fairclough believes that in order to conduct a critical discourse analysis of any discursive event, one needs to focus on these three facets.

2.2.2.1 Text analysis

Analysis of the first level, text, involves the examination of both linguistic form and meaning. Here Fairclough applies Halliday’s systemic-functional grammar and its

ideational, interpersonal, and textual functions. According to Fairclough (1993), the

ideational function is “the representation and signification of the world and experience”

(p. 136). It refers to language use to identify things, to think, or to record information.

This representation is examined in terms of the grammatical category of transitivity

indicated by verbs of action, feelings and thoughts, sayings, and relations (Halliday,

1994). The interpersonal function refers to the social relations established between the

speaker/writer and audience. Related to recipient design, an analysis of the

interpersonal function looks at the way the writer is interacting with his/her audience,

such as the mood, whether statements, questions, or commands are used, and

modality, or the degree of assertiveness in the exchange of language. The textual

function concerns, as Fairclough (1993) says, “the distribution of given versus new and

foregrounded versus backgrounded information” (p. 136), or the thematic structure of the text.

Fairclough’s text analysis takes into account the grammatical categories of the ideational, interpersonal, and textual functions, and organizes it under four main headings, from simple to most complex: vocabulary, grammar, cohesion, and text structure. Vocabulary, or what specific words are used, deals with words at the lowest level of analysis. Grammar considers vocabulary but also the relation of words to one another, looking at how words are combined to form phrases and clauses. Cohesion examines how clauses and sentences are linked together. Text structure is the most comprehensive level and analyzes the text at large.

I aim to carry out a CDA analysis by first describing the textual features of

cookbooks, including the text and grammatical features of the recipes. As a dialectical

relationship, text and grammatical features may contribute to constituting discourse as a

whole in the same way as discourse determines and shapes grammar features. My

analysis will then continue with an interpretation of the discursive practices that the

cookbook authors articulate. Finally, I will address the socio-cultural implications in

which these practices are embedded.

2.2.2.2 Discursive practice analysis

The second level of Fairclough’s framework, discursive practice, may take the

initial analysis of textual features and continue with an interpretation of the discursive

practices which they come to articulate. Linking analysis of text to its wider social

context, discursive practice focuses on how people produce, interpret, distribute, and

consume texts. At this level, ideological effects and hegemonic constructions become

evident.

CDA sees discourse as a form of “social practice,” which implies a “dialectical relationship between a particular discursive event and the situation(s), institution(s) and social structure(s) which frame it” (Fairclough & Wodak, 1997, p. 258). A dialectical relationship concerns how discourse is shaped by situations, institutions, and social structures, but also how such events are shaped by discourse. Analysis of texts, like celebrity chef cookbooks, comprehends the relationship between producer/author/celebrity chef and cookbook text, and conversely. To extend the example, social practice also considers the dialectical relationship between the cookbook and the reader, that is, the cookbook text and consumer/reader/home cook.

Language always comes from a perspective and occurs within a context (of society, culture, history, institutions, politics, power, and identity formation). Therefore, text is always analyzed in context, or part of larger activities in the social world. The

“situated” language, to use Gee’s (1999) terminology, helps us to create a language that is meaningful and capable of accomplishing certain purposes (e.g. “Cheers” signifies a celebration of an occasion and a clinking of glasses). There is no ‘neutral’ use of language. Rather, language in use is part of specific social practices, that always have implications for political things like status, power, solidarity, and distribution of social goods (e.g. language in a cookbook allows some people access while intimidating access to others; if people do not understand culinary jargon, then they will not be able to make the recipes). Discursive practices, thus, may have major ideological effects:

“they can help produce and reproduce unequal power relationships between (for instance) social classes, women and men, and ethnic/cultural majorities and minorities

through the ways in which they represent things and position people” (Fairclough &

Wodak, 1997, p. 258).

2.2.2.3 Sociocultural practices

The understanding gained from the textual and discursive analysis broadens to sociocultural practices, which include the wider society in which the text is produced and consumed. Sociocultural practice, as defined by Fairclough (1998), means “the social and cultural goings-on which the communicative event is part of” (p. 311). Sociocultural practice can refer to different levels of context, from the immediate situational context to the broader institutional context in which the event occurs, or the wider context of society and culture. The text may replicate or challenge social norms. This study provides an explanation of cookbook discourse as a socio-cultural action embedded in discursive practices, embodying a certain ideology about gender.

Compatible to Fairclough’s sociocultural level, Gee’s Discourse with an

uppercase “D” refers to the combination of language with other social practices (clothes,

food, customs, etc.). As mentioned earlier in Chapter 1 but expanded here, Discourse is

the “whole package,” or “the ways of combining and integrating language, actions,

interactions, ways of thinking, believing, valuing, and using various symbols, tools, and

objects to enact a particular socially recognizable identity” (Gee, 2005, p. 21), such as

“woman” or “man.” While Discourse is the study of language above the level of a

sentence, discourse with a lowercase “d” refers to language-in-use or the pattern of

grammatical devices and linguistic elements (e.g. narratives surrounding recipes)

associated with such Discourses. Individuals may be part of many different Discourses,

such as being a normal, ‘everyday’ person at the grocery store while at the same time a

celebrity chef and cookbook writer.

What is typical or normal from the perspective of a particular Discourse constitutes “cultural models” (Gee, 2004), the everyday ideas, such as stories, images, and models about the world that inform people on how to act in an ‘appropriate’ way.

Being able to function within a Discourse has its advantages in different situations. For

example, if a person is raised in a family of actors and film producers (e.g. Giada De

Laurentiis), the Discourses of politics and media may come very easily to that person.

Yet, another person raised in one Discourse community, such as Ree Drummond, might

find herself at a disadvantage when trying to move to another Discourse. Part of Ree’s

appeal is her ability to transition from the Discourse of growing up in a golfing

community and in a family with a father who is an orthopedic surgeon to a Discourse of cattle ranching when she married a rancher. Another part of her story is her ability to transition from being a vegetarian for several years to a carnivore again. As another example, a person who has worked in and owned her own business and product line

(e.g. Ina Garten) may find marketing and selling her brand to come easily. One

Discourse community is not inherently better than another; yet, power within a society may be unequally represented within different Discourses.

In order to understand discourse in relation to social inequalities, the relationship between discourse and ideology and hegemony must be addressed. The next section discusses hegemony and ideology and relates it to gender.

2.2.3 Gender, Hegemony, and Ideology

Gender is a flexible concept; thus, this present study considers “femininities” and

“masculinities”—in the plural—not as singular and unchangeable, but as culturally and historically constructed and as continuously changing within different discourses, practices, and representations (Connell, 1987, 1995, 2000, 2002; Connell &

Messerschmidt, 2005; Kimmel, Hearn & Connell, 2005; Parasecoli, 2013). Furthermore,

these concepts are not something inherent to women and men, but are “performed.”

That is, social practices become associated with women and men, and these social

practices then become seen as feminine and masculine, respectively (see social

constructionist and performative views of gender, such as Butler, 1990; Eckert &

McConnell-Ginet, 2003). When viewing gender not as a categorical dichotomy, the

focus shifts from finding differences between men and women to more of an

understanding of what difference gender makes in how people use language.

The relationships between women and men are influenced by certain ideologies.

This study understands the term to mean the social representations shared by members

of a group and used by them to accomplish social practices, including communication in

text (Fowler, 1991; Van Dijk, 1998). These representations are used by groups “in order

to make sense of, figure out, and render intelligible the way society works” (Hall, 1996,

p. 26). Van Dijk (1998) adds that ideologies are not limited to making sense of society

but that they also serve to “regulate” social practices (p. 9). Access to public discourse

is restricted to those who serve the interests and ideologies of mainstream media, such

as cookbook publishers. This ‘elite’ group have control over the text and talk made

accessible to the public discourse. Celebrity chefs participate in this restricted

discourse.

Dominant ideologies are referred to as hegemony, or “the establishment,

maintenance and contestation of the social dominance of particular social groups”

(Fairclough, 2003, p. 41). Gramsci (1971) argues that hegemony is not a permanent

ideology but is constantly changing and being challenged. As Fairclough (1993)

describes, hegemony is “a more or less partial and temporary achievement, an

‘unstable equilibrium’ which is a focus of struggle, open to disarticulation and rearticulation” (p. 137). For example, the discourse practices used by feminists in the

1970s and 1980s emerged in response against the male-dominated practices in the

1950s. The feminist Discourse was not the only one circulating during the 1970s. Gee

(1999) also identifies the emergence of a “new male” Discourse in the 1970s that

happened as a response to both the feminist Discourse and a class-based Discourse.

Some young men did not ‘fit’ in the baby-boom middle class and formed their own

Discourse as the “new male” (see Gee, 1999, p. 22). Hegemony and interdiscursivity, or

the relationship among various Discourses, are related to historical change.

Hegemony is not simple dominance over subordinate classes. Instead,

hegemony is about “constructing alliances” (which may become official ideological and

political movements such as Feminism), that exert social domination, influence, or

authority of certain groups, “through concessions or through ideological means to win

their consent” (Fairclough, 1995, p. 76). In order for a specific hegemony to have effect,

groups must be willing to recognize the Discourse as preferred. For example, Feminism

gained enough allies to implement monumental changes in gender equality in the West,

such as women’s suffrage, equal pay for women, and the right to own property.

Studying hegemony in relation to gender provides a way to identify which groups

of people or ways of being are granted social prestige (and thus power) because there

is a consensus that they are superior and desirable. Connell (1995) refers to

“hegemonic masculinity” as specific social practices that give men privilege, meaning

that there is a certain way of being masculine that is considered the ‘best’ way to be a

man (p. 77). Similarly, “hegemonic femininity” suggests a normative that is considered

desirable for women. As previously mentioned, Fuller et al. (2013) conducted a study of

men’s and women’s health magazines and identified hegemonic gendered Discourses

targeting readers aged 18-35 and heterosexual. The hegemonic gender constructions

for both women and men involve being white, middle class, and heterosexual. This does

not mean the absence of competing Discourses, though, as Fuller et al. (2013) find the

presence of alternative Discourses (e.g. giving in to the decadence of overeating,

considering non-thin people as attractive, etc.) in health magazines.

Ideologies work best when “naturalized” or seen to be a “common sense”

(Fairclough, 1993, pp. 87 and 92). In a study of Slovene celebrity chef cookbooks,

Tominc (2014) discusses the discursive construction of celebrity chefs’ authority, that is,

how they legitimize their call for a change in Slovene eating habits. She finds that their

authority seems contradictory in that, on the one hand, the chefs draw on tradition and

expert authority, and, on the other hand, they present themselves as being “ordinary”:

“this ordinariness is distinctly mediated, resulting in the celebrity at the same time being

presented as ordinary as well as special and different, allowing them to be admired by

audiences and therefore granting them legitimation in their eyes” (Tominc, 2014, p.

318). Even in everyday texts such as cookbooks, and by authors who appeal to

ordinariness, a critical discourse analysis must aim for constant vigilance about what

assumptions are believed to be natural, just, and right.

2.2.4 Summary

In the theoretical background of this study, two dimensions of CDA: Fairclough’s

three-dimensional framework (text analysis, discursive practice, and sociocultural

practice) and the Discourses of Gender, Ideology, and Hegemony, presented above

complement each other and are similar in many ways; they make visible ideologies that are constructed and naturalized, yet are often asymmetrical in relationships of dominance, power, and control in talk and text. In these cases, CDA has a social goal and seeks to question these inequalities.

Thus, the goal of this study’s model of analysis is to analyze how cookbook discourse is produced and its role in maintaining or breaking down gender inequalities.

Critical analysis involves a critique of discourse, such as Discourses that are supposedly about food and cooking that may be also part of the construction of normative (and narrow) gender roles.

2.3 Model of Analysis

This study draws on Fairclough’s (1992) theoretical framework: text, discursive practice, and sociocultural practice, and Gee’s Discourse/discourse distinction. First, the study examines textual and discursive practices, what Gee refers to as “discourse,” to

analyze the data textually and discursively. Then, the study addresses the sociocultural

practice, what Gee refers to as “Discourse.”

The linguistic features selected were based on the findings of an intensive and recursive reading of the data. Three textual strategies: lexicalization, presuppositions, interpersonal, and two discursive practice strategies: intertextuality and topics, provided the most interesting and relevant results. In the following, I define and describe each of these textual strategies: Lexicalization, Presuppositions, Interpersonal (modality, politeness strategies, and language and gender), and two discursive practice features:

Intertextuality and Topics.

2.3.1 Lexicalization

Lexicalization is one of the linguistic tool kits for analysis in CDA. Lexicalization, or word choice, is important because “words convey the imprint of society and of value judgments in particular” (Richardson, 2007, p. 47) and dialectically, “opinions may be conventionalized and codified in lexicon” (Van Dijk, 1998, p. 205). Lexical analysis distinguishes among the various ways to convey similar ideas. For instance, the sentence “She gobbled up the cookie” is different from “She nibbled the cookie.”

Gobbling implies eating hurriedly, noisily, and without control; nibbling implies eating slowly, bit by bit, with appreciation, and in control. How we describe what and how we eat says a great deal about ourselves and our place in society. As Counihan (1992) points out, “Eating is a behavior which constructs the self. It must be done in a proper and controlled manner lest we project an undesirable, immoral, or gender inappropriate self” (p. 59). Thus, the word ‘gobbling’ constitutes a more powerful indictment, because it connotes that the female eats the cookie improperly, even immorally. The verb

‘nibbled’ is more consistent with gendered ideological thinking that women need to be portrayed as in control of their eating and eating small portions (see Fuller et al., 2013).

Lexicalization is also a way to assert group membership through naming, or referential strategy. As Blommaert (2005) notes, referential meaning produces indexical meaning because, when taken into context, “it indexes a particular social status and the role relationships of deference and politeness entailed” (p. 11, italics in original). For instance, ‘celebrity’ refers to a well-known individual, but it indexes the individual as powerful, influential, and visible. In their study of celebrity, Evans and Hesmondhalgh

(2005) consider how the representations of celebrities, or famous people, are vehicles for the transmission of social meanings: “A celebrity always represents something more

than him- or herself. So celebrity conveys, directly or indirectly, particular social values, such as the meaning of work and achievement, and definitions of sexual and gendered identity” (p. 2). Through the active construction and transmission of a certain identity, in this case as an expert chef, people become celebrities.

In what Gee (1999) calls “recognition work,” people engage in certain activities,

(i.e. thought, talk, action, interaction with others) when they try to make visible to others

(and to themselves), who they are and what they are doing, whether consciously or not

(p. 20). For example, there is a way of being a celebrity chef cookbook writer with its associated activities and ways with words and things. Readers and home cooks recognize Bobby Flay, celebrity chef and cookbook author, as the leading barbecue griller in America. This recognition work creates a Discourse, or a coordinated pattern of words, actions, beliefs, tools, people, times, and places (Gee, 1999). The Discourse may change, its boundaries pushed and contested, as it influences and is influenced by other Discourses. In the end, in Gee’s (2005) metaphor of a dance, it is often what the

“masters of the dance” or in this case, the ‘masters of cooking,’ will allow to be recognized or will be forced to recognize as a possible instantiation of the performance

(2005, p.19).

2.3.2 Presupposition

According to Levinson (2001), presuppositions are the “common ground” embedded in an utterance that is understood implicitly by all participants i.e. writer and reader, or speaker and listener. Knowingly or not, cookbook writers can use presupposition to color their readers’ interpretation about food and cooking. Analyzing presuppositions is a way to uncover writers’ beliefs and what they want their readers to take for granted (van Dijk, 1998).

Fairclough (2003) identifies three types of presuppositions: existential, propositional, and value: 1) existential: assumptions about what exists, e.g. “your local store” (Drummond, 2010, p. 142) >> you have a store in your hometown, 2) propositional: assumptions about what is, can be, or will be the case, e.g. “Most bran muffins taste like a cardboard box” (Garten, 2014, p. 256) >> most muffins that are made with bran are not flavorful, and 3) value: assumptions about what is good or desirable, e.g. “We all have the same dilemma—we want to entertain with ease”

(Garten, 2014, p. 11) >> entertaining is enjoyable but typically difficult and stressful; easy recipes reduce stress and help the host be relaxed at a party.

Presuppositions can be difficult to identify (since they are unasserted), but specific linguistic constructions have been identified to trigger presuppositions. Verbs such as ‘forget,’ ‘regret,’ and ‘realize’ followed by the conjunction ‘that’ are linguistic constructions that trigger presuppositions (Fairclough, 1992, p. 120). For example, “I came across this blueberry pie recipe and I was surprised to see that even decades ago, I was using Cassis....” (Garten, 2014, p. 205) >> presupposes that the writer expected to find changes in her recipe over the years. Relative and adverbial clauses are also found to presuppose information, e.g. “[East Hampton] is a place where

Hollywood stars hang out with New York investment bankers” (Garten, 2006, p. 14) >> there is a place where celebrities and bankers gather (relative); e.g. “Finally, I realized that the batter wasn’t the problem, I needed a special waffle iron!” (Garten, 2014, p.

248) >> there was a specific time that the writer realized how to make successful waffles (adverbial). Interrogative forms also are tools of triggering presupposed information (Yule, 2010) such as in this example: “Homemade ice cream. Is there

anything better in the world?” (Drummond, 2012, p. 266) >> making ice cream at home

is either satisfying emotionally and/or has superior taste to store bought ice cream.

While these linguistic forms are helpful cues in identifying presuppositions, they should

be considered only as “potential presuppositions,” as Yule (2010, p. 27) advises.

Further, Zare et al. (2012) explain that statements themselves do not possess presuppositions; rather, it is the writers or speakers who presuppose intended meaning

(p. 738).

For cookbook writers, presuppositions can be a linguistic strategy to mold their

readers’ ideology about food and cooking. For instance, cookbook writers may assume

that readers have a shared knowledge not only about measurements and ingredients

but also about what dishes are appropriate or not and for whom. A cake titled as “Flag

Cake” suggests a large sheet cake frosted with the design of an American flag and conjures up scenes of July 4th parties. A chapter for kids features finger-friendly dishes and smaller portions such as chicken nuggets. A chapter on dinner features a main protein, typically meats, that is supported by vegetables and/or grains. Cookbooks written in other cultural contexts would have different assumptions about these same categories. Cookbooks written for and by Japanese cooks, for instance, may have in a breakfast chapter recipes for fish and rice, not necessarily pancakes and bacon like it more likely would for Americans.

The analysis of presuppositions, such as in cookbooks, unveils meanings hidden in utterances and connects it to larger political and social discourses and ideologies.

2.3.3 Interpersonal Function

Applying Halliday’s systemic-functional grammar, Fairclough takes the interpersonal function to refer to relations established between participants of the social

interaction. Analysis of interpersonal meaning concerns the way in which writers are interacting with their readers: modality (degrees of assertiveness being used in the exchange between people) and politeness (Brown & Levinson, 1978).

2.3.3.1 Modality

Modality is used to indicate degrees of definiteness, probability, or possibility (or not). Traditionally, modality in grammar is associated with modal verbs: can/could, may/might, shall/should, and will/would. Drawing on Halliday’s systemic approach,

Fairclough notes additional types of modality features: tense, modal adjectives, modal adverbs, hedges, intonation patterns, and hesitations (1992, p. 159). In the hypothetical claim that “the burger is juicy” or denying it (“the burger is not juicy”), for instance, the simple present tense (is) realizes a categorical modality. Modal adverbs and modal adjectives such as probably, possibly, obviously, and definitely are other types of modality. In examining another possible statement, “Obviously, chocolate is my favorite,” the modal adverb obviously indicates that the speaker’s flavor preference is easily perceived. Hedges such as a bit, sort of, kinda, and something like that also indicate degree of commitment to the proposition. The use of punctuation in writing, such as ellipses and question marks, can mark intonation patterns and hesitations that show degrees of affinity. Modality can be conveyed in words such as so, very, and quite, which indicate intonational emphasis.

Modality may also indicate degrees of affinity, whether as subjective or as objective (Fairclough, 1992, p. 159). Subjective modality is indicated by an explicit proposition, such as in this type of statement: “I think/suspect/doubt that the cake is delicious.” Or, modality may be objective, where the subjective basis is left implicit, such as in this typical construction: “The cake is delicious.” The speaker makes it clear in

subjective modality that it is her own perspective; in objective modality, the speaker leaves it unclear whether she is projecting her own perspective as an universal one or that of another individual or group (Fairclough, 1992). The speaker’s claim that “the cake is delicious” may be her own perspective, or a statement of what is taken to be considered as true. Fairclough (1992) notes that the use of objective modality implies some form of power (p. 159). What the speaker asserts is accepted as the general consensus for how something is or should be.

Modality may also be realized several ways in a single sentence. For instance, in

“I think that the cake was a bit dry, wasn’t it?”, low affinity is expressed in the subjective modality marker (I think), hedging (a bit), and the tag question (wasn’t it?). The individual forms must be considered in their context as the same form may be realized as another linguistic device. For instance, the preceding hypothetical example could be rephrased as “The cake was, I think, a bit dry, wasn’t it?”. Here, the original subjective modality marker I think acts as a ‘verbal filler’ and can be categorized as a pragmatic particle along with you know, I think, sort of, and of course (Brown, 1977). These forms serve as hedging devices and have been described in language and gender research as characteristic of “women’s language” (Lakoff, 1973, 1975), which will be discussed more fully in the Language and Gender section.

Modals are also used for interactional purposes. For example, these types of sentences: “isn’t the cake delicious!” or “the cake’s delicious, isn’t it?!” are ways of expressing high commitment with the statement “the cake is delicious,” but also are ways of expressing solidarity with whoever one is talking to (in that the latter’s answers are known in advance) (Coates, 2004; Holmes, 1995). If this is the case, the use of

modalities may be less about commitment to the proposition, but more about a desire to building relationships (Lakoff, 1975; Tannen, 1990), which leads us to politeness strategies.

2.3.3.2 Politeness

Closely related to modality, politeness is another analytical aspect of text that contributes to interpersonal communication. Brown and Levinson (1987) provide the most influential account of politeness that is based on the assumption that people work

to preserve their “face,” one’s sense of dignity or prestige in society. Face is something

that is emotionally invested and can be lost, maintained, or enhanced. In the Brown and

Levinson model, there are two types of face: negative and positive. Negative face is

essentially freedom from imposition, or as Meyerhoff (2011) explains: “don’t tread on

me” (p. 88). Positive face is the wish to be approved of; people want to be liked by

others.

This distinction between the two types of face lead to two types of politeness:

negative politeness and positive politeness, both sets of strategies that discourse

participants use to mitigate speech acts which are potentially threatening to their own

face or that of another. Negative politeness relates to social distancing, non-

encroachment, and deference. Using people’s titles, using apologetic language,

hedging, and being indirect, etc., are ways to practice negative politeness. Positive

politeness focuses on building solidarity with another such as using first names,

indicating common interest, and showing inclusivity.

Like solidarity and social distance, power is another important aspect in determining the appropriate degree of linguistic politeness. Power is the ability to influence another’s circumstances. Relative power, as Brown and Levinson (1987, p.

77) define, is the degree to which one can impose their goals at the expense of another, which relates to Goffman’s (1956) distinction between deference and demeanor.

Deference involves showing respect, but also it means placing others’ rights above one’s own and subordinating one’s own rights to those of others. Demeanor refers to how individuals convey themselves in their outwardly visible presentation such as manner, posture, and movement.

To acknowledge others’ rights leads to negative politeness of showing respect, which in turn, enters into gendered norms of language use. Showing respect and showing deference look very much the same, yet linguistic resources that mark explicitly relative social location—distance and hierarchy—of the speaker and addressee can directly show respect or familiarity. Positioning subjects can be carried out through forms of address such as formal titles that clearly emphasize power distinctions while at the same time express distance. Conversely, positive politeness emphasizes equality and expresses solidarity. Reciprocal politeness strategies may be required. To emphasize social distance, norms may require reciprocal negative politeness; to reduce social distance, reciprocal positive politeness may be practiced (see Holmes, 1995, pp.

16-19).

Studying politeness conventions of a certain genre, such as cookbooks, is one way of gaining insight into social relations within the practices and institutional domains associated with cookbooks. While Brown and Levinson’s work provides a structuralist account of politeness strategies, Fairclough (1992) adopts a dialectical position,

“recognizing the constraints of conventions, but also the possibility of creatively

rearticulating and so transforming them” (p. 163). This study will incorporate both positions in order to best describe and analyze the data.

2.3.4 Language and Gender

Lexicalization, presupposition, modality, and politeness not only facilitate communication but also build relationships. Speakers express commitment to their statements in interaction with others and work to create a sense of affinity of closeness or solidarity (Brown & Levinson, 1987). Such interpersonal language has been related to gender. Work by linguists such as Robin Lakoff, Deborah Tannen, Deborah

Cameron, and Janet Holmes, has influenced the field of gender and language studies.

In her fundamental study, Language and Woman’s Place (1975), Lakoff publishes a set of basic assumptions about what marks “women’s language,” including tag questions, hedges, intensive adverbs, empty adjectives, direct quotes, modal constructions, indirect speech, compound requests, the lack of expletives, and the lack of sense of humor. These linguistic devices, Lakoff (1975) argued, are used because women’s speech lacks authority; in order to become ‘feminine,’ women learn to adopt an unassertive style of communication. That is, women are taught to use weakened statements.

Lakoff’s work spurred on subsequent research on language and gender. Some studies confirmed females’ use of women’s language such as hedging (Carli, 1990;

Crosby & Nyquist, 1977) while others found inconsistencies or contradictions

(Baumann, 1976; O’Barr & Atkins, 1980). Still others found that contextual influences may be more influential than effects of gender. For instance, Dixon and Foster (1997) suggest that differences in social status may make more of a difference in the use of certain hedges, such as sort of, that they found to be used equally by males and

females to express tentativeness when talking to male addressees. It is now apparent that, if they do exist, gender differences in language are subtle and subject to marked variation across speakers and contexts of use. Still, the question of why women and men interact differently remains of concern as different social norms are expected of each and lead to social inequality.

A variety of explanations has been proposed for gender differences in language use. From an essentialist binary perspective, some argue for innate biological

differences, especially from the angle of language acquisition, while others attribute

differences to psychological differences. Others who take a sociolinguistic interactional

approach also note gender differences in interaction. As Holmes (1995) indicates,

women are more concerned with making connections; they seek involvement and focus

on the interdependencies between people (Chodorow, 1974; Boe, 1987); men are more

concerned with autonomy and detachment; they seek independence and focus on

hierarchical relationships. If accepting this view, such psychological differences can be

linked to differences in language use. A preference for connection relates to linguistic

devices that build relationships, while a focus on autonomy relates to linguistic

strategies that assert power and control (Holmes, 1995, chapter 1).

Socialization is another explanatory factor for differences in gender and language

use (Maltz & Borker, 1982; Tannen, 1987, 1994) and social class and ethnicity (Heath,

1983). Girls and boys, for instance, learn to use language differently based on their

upbringing in school and at home. Interacting in single-sex peer groups, boys and girls

acquire and develop different styles of communication. Boys tend to be more

competitive and control-oriented in their interaction while girls interact more

cooperatively. Also, community and home life effect the style of language learned and used by its members. In her ethnographic study of three communities in the Carolinas,

Heath (1983) identifies “the different ways children learned to use language were dependent on the ways in which each community structured their families, defined the roles that community members could assume, and played out their concepts of childhood that guided child socialization” (p. 11). Children learn to adjust their language and to interpret different meanings of language according to their situations.

The early linguistic differences developed between girls and boys appear to remain consistent as they become adults. In her study of the differences between women’s and men’s speaking styles, Tannen (1990) proposes that women use conversation to make connections and establish intimacy, what she refers to as “rapport

talk.” Conversation is more cooperative than competitive for women. Conversely, men’s

style of communication, according to Tannen (1990), is a language of status and

independence, or “report talk.” Men typically try to “report” during conversation and

emphasize their achievements in order to negotiate and maintain status.

In addition to biological and psychological differences and socialization, a third explanation of gender-based differences in linguistic behavior, is one particularly of interest to CDA: the differential distribution of power. Men’s greater social power allows them to control situations and conversations (Zimmerman & West, 1975). As Lakoff

(1975) suggested earlier, particular linguistic features used by women indicate uncertainty and lack of authority. Holmes’ work (1990; 1986; 1988; 1984) challenges the belief that women are insecure communicators. Rather, she interprets women’s language as sensitive and caring rather than deficient. It has also been suggested that

those who are powerless must be polite (Deuchar, 1988). So, in communities where women are powerless members of a subordinate group, they are more likely to be linguistically polite than the men who are in control. A feature of oppressed groups is an emphasis on in-group solidarity (Brown & Levinson, 1987); subordinate groups tend to

stress the values and attitudes which distinguish them from those who dominate them.

In the end, there are various conversational strategies available that both men

and women may avail themselves of; and as a result, such strategies are not indicative

of stereotypical gendered use per se.

2.3.5 Intertextuality

Intertextuality is the first tool utilized in the present study to analyze the second

dimension of Fairclough’s framework: discursive practice. Drawing on Bakhtin (1986),

Fairclough (1992) describes how texts relate to one another through a reinterpretation

of past utterances. Fairclough (1992) distinguishes between two types of intertextuality:

manifest intertextuality and constitutive intertextuality, or “interdiscursivity” which

Fairclough prefers for its focus on discourse conventions (see p. 104). Manifest

intertextuality is the explicit marking or cueing features of text on the surface, such as

quotation marks, that draw on previous texts. Note, however, that a text may not overtly

reference another text, such as paraphrasing. Interdiscursivity incorporates

heterogeneous elements of text: genre, discourses, styles, register, to compose text.

Analyzing how text is selected and included in texts is an important aspect of

intertextuality.

Texts are not meaningful in isolation but gain value when placed in context.

Leonardi (1989) describes the production of a cookbook as a layered and embedded

text; without a context, a cookbook is nothing more than rules of various dishes.

Leonardi (1989) states: “Like a story, a recipe needs a recommendation, a context, a point, a reason to be. A recipe is, then, an embedded discourse, and like other embedded discourses, it can have a variety of relationships with its frame, or its bed” (p.

340). There are many stages through which a cookbook is produced starting with a writer to editor to ending with a chief editor and publishing organization. In each stage of production, earlier versions are recontextualized across what Fairclough (1995) calls “a chain of communicative events which links source events in the public domain to the private domain consumption of media texts” (p. 49) and how Bakhtin (1986) defines

Discourse: “any utterance is a link in the chain of communication” (p. 84). As chains or strings of utterances, Discourse is historically positioned within a community, a history, and a place.

Further, Discourse is “dialogic” (vs. “monologic”) as it is informed by the past and informs the future (Bakhtin, 1986). This process of transformation and recontextualization is part of how a recipe—even from the same source—is reported in different ways, with different emphases on different events or evaluations. Fairclough

(1992) considers intertextuality as a means through which hegemony is achieved. He notes the limitations of intertextuality: “it is socially limited and constrained, and conditional upon relations of power” (pp. 102-103).

The combination of intertextuality and hegemony theory is particularly helpful in understanding why certain discourses have more power than others. The media uses we, us, and they to delineate authority and propagate a dominant discourse. By including and excluding voices reported (e.g. reporting a friend’s voice or that of an authority figure) and selecting what is to be reported (e.g. a recipe from another

cookbook: “Eli Zabar, the owner, was kind enough to share his recipe” (Garten, 2014, p.

230)), cookbook writers control the framing and ideologies expressed in recipes (e.g.

cooking, even if easy, is delicious), even if they are distancing themselves from the

content by downplaying their own voice.

In the present study, it is expected that an analysis of intertextuality will help

depict the ways celebrity chef authors produced their cookbooks in terms of selecting

what to cook and state who they considered worthy of mention. It would also reveal

which group they identified as the ingroup by referring to its members as authoritative

and which group they identified as the outgroup by means of delegitimization.

Forewords and back cover endorsements by well-known cookbook authors and chefs

designate the ingroup and lend authority to the cookbook author, for example. This

blending of multiple forms of discourse, or heteroglossia, of cookbooks, results in a

complex, at times ambivalent, unity (Bakhtin, 1986). However, even as texts appear

neutral in the sense that they include both groups, “it is often easy to divide voices into

protagonists and antagonists” (Fairclough, 2003, p. 82).

2.3.6 Topics

This section uses topic selection as a tool to analyze discursive practice.

Selecting certain topics and leaving out others, the media help to formulate, reproduce,

and reinforce existing ideologies (Van Dijk, 1998). Consequently, topic selection has an

important role in the creation of preferred ideologies and in the confirmation of certain

Discourses over others. The identification of repeating topics suggests salient

Discourses. These Discourses are recognized in relation to other Discourses that may

have triggered their formation and/or adaptation. Cookbooks by celebrities are part of

the media and have circulated as the top bestselling cookbooks continuously since the

1990s, the launch of Food Network channel and subsequent creation of celebrity chefs

(Collins, 2009).

Relevant to topic selection is the analysis of the way in which propositions are emphasized or deemphasized through the structure of the text. The organization of a cookbook and the content, or what is said (or not), are clues to uncovering Discourses.

Thus, one may look to the several classic components of a cookbook, including: title,

introduction, table of contents, recipes, and index, along with photos and illustrations, in

this regard. For instance, the table of contents may emphasize eating in season if the

recipes are grouped by season: spring, summer, fall, and winter. Or, a recipe that may

be regarded as either breakfast or dessert, such as a chocolate chip bread pudding, will

be framed differently depending on which chapter it is placed in. Or, photos may

encourage entertaining when images depict large gatherings of people centered around

a table of food.

The cookbook selection and groupings of recipes further influence its reading.

Leonardi (1989) notes how the inclusion or exclusion of recipes in each subsection

influences subsequent recipes. Comparing different editions of the Joy of Cooking,

Leonardi (1989) examines Irma Rombauer’s first version published in 1931 and a later,

much revised edition by her daughter Marion Rombauer Becker in 1963. Leonardi

proposes that the omission of a red devil’s food cake recipe changes its reading in the later edition; not so much for the recipe but because of the original remark by Irma about the cake: “Generally popular—but not with me.” The inclusion of a recipe that

Irma does not like personally enhances the value of the other recipes. Without the recipe and thus the evaluative remark, the later edition is altered and reduces reader

choice and participation. The original inclusion, as Leonardi (1989) notes, constructed

“an identifiable authorial persona with whom the reader not only can agree or argue but is encouraged to agree or argue” (p. 432). Topic selection, along with its placement, effects not only the reading of the content but also the constructed relationship between authors and their readers.

Thus, topics do much more than just provide information. Cookbook writers utilize topic selection and the structure of cookbooks to emphasize and deemphasize certain ideologies about gender, power, and control. Understanding how foregrounding and backgrounding, and positioning and framing, are used by cookbook writers provides insight on what media and Discourse about food highlight and omit in their news and texts related to food (e.g. cookbooks, recipes, food magazines). I incorporate the process of topic selection to explain how the structural organization of cookbooks is intended to achieve ideological purposes.

Finally, essential to every discourse analysis is grounding it in real practices. As

Gee (2004) describes about the complex production of discourse:

How people say (or write) things (i.e. form) helps constitute what they are doing (i.e. function). In turn, what they are saying (or writing) helps constitute who they are being at a given time and place within a given set of social practices (i.e., their socially situated identities). Finally, who they are being at a given time and place within a given set of social practices produces and reproduces, moment by moment, our social, political, cultural, and institutional worlds. (p. 48)

In using language, individuals give voice to Discourses in interaction, presently and throughout history, with each other. In these interactions, such as in cookbooks, power operates, and history is made.

2.4 Conclusion

In sum, the present study utilizes Fairclough’s three-dimensional framework to examine how and in what ways celebrity chef cookbooks enact ‘doing gender,’ and what linguistic practices (‘discourse’) are used in the construction of masculinity and femininity Discourses. There are at least three reasons for selecting this framework: first, it is a widely adopted framework in CDA studies; second, it emphasizes the discursive and social levels in addition to the textual; and third, CDA enables the study to address the celebrity status of the data and place the findings within its social structure.

Furthermore, CDA seeks to uncover ways in which social structure and

language/discourse are related. CDA assumes that these relations are problematic,

because social structure “impinges” on discourse patterns, relations, and models in the

form of power relations, ideological effects, etc. (Blommaert & Bulcaen 2000, p. 249).

As addressed in earlier sections, the view of men as hierarchical and competitive and

women as egalitarian and connection-seeking dominates a great deal of gender and

language studies (Tannen, 1990).

Linguistic devices, such as lexicalization, presupposition, modality, politeness,

intertextuality, and topics are points of intersection in discourse between the sense of

reality and meaning. They play a role in constituting social relations—or in the terms of

systemic function linguistics—between the ideational and interpersonal functions of

language. Also drawing on Gee’s Discourse/discourse, this study expands its analysis

of the representation of dominant ideologies about gender.

Through a CDA framework, this study aims to reveal how celebrity chef cookbook discourse is utilized textually and discursively to sustain unequal relations of gender and power in a society or to counter them.

CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY AND DATA

3.1 Overview

In this Chapter, I introduce the methodology, including the data selection method

and dataset. I describe and explain the selection for the primary data of cookbooks by

three female celebrity chefs. Then, I provide an overview of the three female celebrity

chefs including their demographics, culinary training, and relevant information about

their personal/professional lives. I conclude with an explanation about how I gathered

and organized the data findings.

3.2 Data Selection

The study conducts a close analysis of the cookbooks written by three

contemporary female celebrity chefs: Giada De Laurentiis, Ina Garten, and Ree

Drummond, that have been published within the last ten years, many of which have sold

as bestsellers. Reasons for selecting the works by the three celebrity chefs are several:

Giada, Ina, and Ree are among the most popular, contemporary female American chefs

and hosts of Food Network cooking shows, which contribute to their national and

international following and consequential success of their numerous spinoffs, including

cookbooks, cooking videos, kitchenware, and food products. The three chefs offer a

range of experiences in the food media: Giada first hosted a cooking show and then

wrote a cookbook, Ina first wrote a cookbook and then hosted a cooking show, and Ree

first wrote a food blog, then hosted a cooking show, and then published a cookbook.

Also, their backgrounds range professionally and personally: culinary-school trained to self-taught; restaurant owners to caterers to stay-at-home food blogger; married with

children and without, and newly divorced single mom. They come from different regions

in the United States: the West Coast, New England, and the Midwest. While there are other cooking shows on other television networks such as broadcast networks (ABC,

CBS, Fox, NBC) and cable networks (Bravo, A&E, PBS), I focus on chefs starring on

Food Network as it is the predominant and most influential 24/7 television cooking show in the U.S. (Collins, 2009).

It must be highlighted that these women represent types of women and do not necessarily reflect the practices or beliefs held by all women. That is, women of different sociocultural background and race may offer different discourses and participate in other communities of practice.

Further, cookbooks by women were selected for scrutiny as women have traditionally been recipe writers and bearers of food tradition. From a CDA perspective, women are part of a marginalized, subordinate group that merits attention. Studying female celebrity chef cookbooks is a way to investigate how media creates gender stereotypes and affects people’s lives by shaping their opinions, attitudes and beliefs.

Moreover, the study of celebrity, of public personalities, leads directly into the analysis of the media and its role in promoting and circulating celebrity through investing huge resources. As Evans and Hesmondhalgh (2005) argue, the celebrity persona is dependent on and created through the mediating role of the media. The celebrity is

‘known’ by many through the medium of dissemination. Here, the three women are known by their first names or brand naming: Giada De Laurentiis as “Giada,” Ree

Drummond as “The Pioneer Woman,” and Ina Garten as “Barefoot Contessa,” which is

indicated by the title of their cookbooks.2 Celebrity personas along with their products

are produced and circulated by the media and consumed by the audience.

The data consists of all the cookbooks written by the three female chefs for a

total of twenty-one cookbooks. This provides a comprehensive analysis and

identification of consistent themes and Discourses. The cookbooks are specifically

devoted to the family and to home cooking. To clarify about family cooking, the common

purpose to all the selected cookbooks is cooking for the family, not “family meals,”

which infers large dishes, like casseroles, with recipes that are easy and fast to prepare

and kid-friendly. While this may also be the case, the larger serving amount is not the

determining factor for the data selection. To clarify about “family,” the authors are writing

the recipes for families in the traditional context but also, as Ina writes, “for the dear

friends they consider close enough to be family” (Garten, 2002, p. 15).

3.3 Methodology

The study examines the celebrity chef cookbook components, specifically the

introduction, recipes and the narrative surrounding the recipes. The study focuses on

one specific recipe theme: Desserts. This is two-fold: 1) fewer recipes allow for more in-

depth analysis of the discourse, and 2) the themes are gender-marked foods. Dessert,

especially cake, is an archetypical feminine food, in contrast, for example, with meat,

especially red meat, which is an archetypical masculine food, according to studies

ranging from sociology and psychology to media and film to consumer research,

2 A future analysis of media combined with gender and language would be the disparities between first and last names among female and male chefs. That is, many female celebrity chefs are known by their first names (e.g. Giada, Rachael, Martha) while male celebrity chefs by their first and last names (e.g. Bobby Flay, Alton Brown).

economics, and marketing to women and gender studies (Bourdieu, 1984; Brownlie &

Hewer, 2007; Kerr & Charles, 1986; Inness, 2001; Lockie & Collie, 1999; Lupton, 1996;

Sobal, 2005; and Twigg, 1983). Traditionally, men often emphasized meat, and women

often minimized meat, in displaying gender as individuals (Sobal, 2005). Women have

long been equated with the conceptual metaphor of “woman as dessert” (Hines, 1999,

p. 145). Linguistic expressions such as cheesecake, cookie, cupcake, and tart describe

women-as-sex-objects (Hines, 1999, p. 145). By studying dessert recipes, this study

goes to the core of the matter and hopes to make evident this underlying meaning that

derogatorily describes women.

My analysis adds how cookbook language constructs specific performances of

gender. Through Fairclough’s three-tier framework (description, interpretation,

explanation), I examine the cookbooks’ textual and discursive language, i.e. what is

being talked about, how it (the topic/dish) is framed, and what words are used to

discuss it and instruct how to make it. Then, I analyze the discourse at the ideological

level (Gee’s Discourse) to connect the linguistic practices to gender construction.

Cookbooks can thus be seen to function as coded instructions regarding acceptable

forms of gender through culinary practices.

At the end of the chapter is Table 3-1: Female Celebrity Chef Cookbook Data

which lists the data analyzed for this study, including the celebrity chef and the

particular cookbook.

3.4 Overview of Female Celebrity Chefs

The following section provides a brief description about each celebrity chef

chosen for analysis. Pertinent biographical details are discussed, such as culinary

training, family, and professional life.

Ree Drummond is an award-winning food blogger, No. 1 New York Times bestselling author, food writer, photographer and television personality who lives on a working cattle ranch outside of Pawhuska, Oklahoma. Her blog The Pioneer Woman documents Drummond’s daily life as a ranch wife and mother of four. The recipes and photos on her blog are similar to the ones in her cookbooks with step-by-step photos of

the cooking instructions. Her visually descriptive recipes and humorous narrative prove

highly popular with readers. Ree grew up on a golf course in Bartlesville, Oklahoma,

with two brothers and a sister, and was raised by an orthopedic surgeon father and a

stay-at-home mother. She graduated from the University of Southern California and

intended to continue on to graduate school but changed plans when she unexpectedly

met and married her husband, Ladd Drummond, whom she affectionately calls

“Marlboro Man” (but only in the figurative sense). Ree has no professional training;

rather she gained experience and skill by cooking for her family and cowboys through

the years.

The data examines all four of Ree’s cookbooks. Her cookbooks are consistently

ranked as No. 1 bestsellers on Amazon and both The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Food

from My Frontier (2012) and The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Dinnertime (2015) were No. 1

bestsellers on The New York Times for months (The New York Times, 2012; The New

York Times, 2015). Her style is described as “funny, enthusiastic and self-deprecating”

(Moskin, 2009). The cookbooks have chapters with themes typical to cookbooks such

as Breakfast, Lunch, Soups, Starters/Party Food/Drinks, Pasta and Pizza, Supper,

Sides, Sweets, and Canning. Both The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Recipes from an

Accidental Country Girl (2010) and The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Food from My Frontier

(2012) have a follow-up spread called “Keepin’ It Real” with pictures of her kitchen piled high with dirty dishes. The cookbooks are colorful and have many photos, all taken by

Ree, of her family, her ranch life (cowboys, cows, horses, dogs, sunrises, etc.), and the food. Each recipe is literally and visually rich in narrative with humorous stories and photos for each step of the cooking process.

Giada De Laurentiis is an Italian-born American chef, cooking show host,

Daytime Emmy Award winner, recurring host on NBC’s Today Show, author of several

New York Times bestselling cookbooks, and television personality who lived in Los

Angeles, California with her husband and daughter until her recent divorce in summer

2015. While born in Rome, she grew up in California with her two brothers and sister when her parents divorced. She attended the University of California, Los Angeles, earning a bachelor’s degree in social anthropology. Having spent a great deal of time at

DDL Foodshow, the restaurant of her Italian maternal grandfather, Dino De Laurentiis, a famous film producer, she was drawn early on to cooking and attended the Cordon Bleu culinary school in Paris. She worked at several distinguished Los Angeles restaurants before starting her own catering business. A Food Network executive read an article about her and the De Laurentiis family in Food & Wine magazine and asked her to host a cooking show. A year later, her cooking show Everyday Italian premiered in 2003.

Since then, Giada has starred in several cooking shows and currently hosts Food

Network Star and Giada at Home. In 2010, she partnered with Target to launch an exclusive line of the Giada De Laurentiis (GDL) for Target collection of food products ranging from pasta sauces and flavored coffee to kitchen essentials, such as stainless steel cookware and ceramic bakeware. In 2014, De Laurentiis opened her first

restaurant, GIADA, the first female chef and owner to open a restaurant along the competitive Strip in Las Vegas.

The data consists of all eight of Giada’s cookbooks. Giada’s signature style is a

fusion of classic Italian and “fresh, clean” California cuisine. Giada at Home (2010) is

the only cookbook to explicitly distinguish between the two cuisines, and marks “old

world” Italian recipe titles with orange text and a symbol, and modern American recipes

titles with green text. All the cookbooks feature categories typical of a cookbook but with

an Italian twist: “bruschettas, sandwiches, & pizzas,” “pasta & grains,” for instance.

Everyday Pasta (2007) is an exception and features only savory pasta categories:

“Hearty Pastas,” “On the Lighter Side,” “Pasta Basics,” for example. Giada’s Feel Good

Food (2013) is different than most cookbooks as it offers beauty and lifestyle tips as well

as recipes. Sections such as “Tips for Eating Out” and “In My Bag” give readers an

intimate look at Giada’s personal life and eating habits. The cookbooks have close-ups

of most of the dishes of the recipes and also a few of Giada with her family, especially

intimate ones with her husband Todd and daughter Jade.

Ina Garten’s first book, The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook (1999), was one of the

best-selling cookbooks of the year. She has since gone on to write eight highly

successful cookbooks. In 2002 Food Network approached Ina to do a cooking show

based on her cookbooks and her love of entertaining. Today, her Emmy-winning

cooking show, Barefoot Contessa, is one of the highest rated shows on Food Network.

Ina is also a successful business owner of self-branded products (e.g. Barefoot

Contessa baking mixes, sauces, frozen entrees), and previous owner of a specialty deli,

Barefoot Contessa, in the Hamptons, New York, from 1978-1996. Before her career in

food, Ina worked as a staff member of the White House Office of Management and

Budget and spent the weekends entertaining. She taught herself to cook by studying

Julia Child’s (1961) Mastering the Art of French Cooking and New English cooking. Her style of cooking emphasizes fresh ingredients with time-saving tips and make-it-ahead techniques.

Ina was born in Brooklyn, New York, and raised in Stamford, Connecticut, with one brother. Her father was a surgeon who specialized in otolaryngology and her mother an intellectual who refused to let Ina help in the kitchen but instead encouraged her to focus on school work. Ina attended Syracuse University and later earned an MBA from George Washington University. She currently divides her time between the

Hamptons, Manhattan, and Paris, with her husband Jeffrey, who is a professor at the

Yale School of Management.

The data examines all nine of Ina’s cookbooks from The Barefoot Contessa

Cookbook (1999) to the most recent Make It Ahead: A Barefoot Contessa Cookbook

(2014), which are all published by Clarkson Potter. Ina’s cookbooks share a similar style with an initial section titled “thanks!” and “introduction” followed by six to twelve chapters. The cookbooks may have a longer narrative following the introduction with sections titled “Welcome Home” and “Planning the Meal” such as in Family Style (2002), or “easy shortcuts” and “easy techniques” in How Easy Is That? (2010), or narratives before each chapter, such as “Decorating” and “Cooking with Friends” in Barefoot

Contessa Parties! (2001). Ina’s favorite ingredients or kitchen tools may be highlighted in sections interspersed throughout the cookbooks. Chapters have typical themes such as Cocktails, Starters, Lunch, Dinner, Vegetables, Desserts, and Breakfast. The

cookbooks typically have a section titled “Menus” at the end which consists of recipes grouped by occasion (e.g. Summer Breakfast, Ladies Who Lunch, July 4th Celebration,

Autumn Parties) that draw from the particular cookbook and also from recipes in Ina’s

other cookbooks. A final section titled as Resources indicates where Ina’s favorite

ingredients and kitchen equipment can be purchased. Barefoot in Paris (2004) includes

a list of Ina’s favorite places to visit in Paris, while Barefoot Contessa at Home (2006)

has a chapter title: “If You’re Visiting the Hamptons,” that feature some of Ina’s favorite

places to visit in the historic villages of Long Island.

The cookbooks have colorful close-up photos of almost every recipe, but also

include some casual shots of Ina with friends and family and photographs of her home,

garden, and “barn,” or country-style building that is complete with a professional-grade

kitchen. Photographs of her most recent cookbooks are by top food photographer

Quentin Bacon whose work has appeared in magazines such as Food & Wine and Real

Simple as well as countless cookbooks. Ina’s cookbooks have been praised as “offering

sophisticated but easy recipes” and providing “reasonable solutions to the eternal

problem set of practicality, flavor and time” (Editorial reviews from Amazon).

3.5 Data Methods Analysis

I initially read through the cookbooks to get a sense of the overall idea of each

chef’s style and approach. Then, I created twenty-one documents, one per cookbook,

with columns for the textual strategies (Lexicalization, Presupposition, Interpersonal

Functions), and with rows for the narratives and side/end quotes for each recipe in the

Desserts section. Prevalent Discourses, such as tradition versus modern, ease versus

difficulty, and entertaining and serving were noted in a column for each recipe. I referred

to these notes for the Textual Analysis and Discursive Analysis sections.

Table 3-1 Female celebrity chef cookbook data Celebrity Cookbooks Chef Giada De (2005). Everyday Italian: 125 Simple and Delicious Recipes. Clarkson Potter. Laurentiis (2006). Giada’s Family Dinners. Clarkson Potter. (2007). Everyday Pasta. Clarkson Potter. (2008). Giada’s Kitchen: New Italian Favorites. Clarkson Potter. (2010). Giada at Home: Family Recipes from Italy and California. Clarkson Potter. (2012). Weeknights with Giada: Quick and Simple Recipes to Revamp Dinner. Clarkson Potter. (2013). Giada’s Feel Good Food. Clarkson Potter. (2015). Happy Cooking: Make Every Meal Count ... Without Stressing Out. Pam Krauss Books. Ree (2009). The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Recipes from an Accidental Country Girl. Drummond William Morrow Cookbooks. (2012). The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Food from My Frontier. William Morrow Cookbooks. (2013). The Pioneer Woman Cooks: A Year of Holidays: 140 Step-by-Step Recipes for Simple, Scrumptious Celebrations. William Morrow Cookbooks. (2015). The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Dinnertime: Comfort Classics, Freezer Food, 16-Minute Meals, and Other Delicious Ways to Solve Supper! William Morrow Cookbooks. Ina Garten (1999). The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook. Clarkson Potter. (2001). Barefoot Contessa Parties! Ideas and Recipes For Easy Parties That Are Really Fun. Clarkson Potter. (2002). Barefoot Contessa Family Style: Easy Ideas and Recipes That Make Everyone Feel Like Family. Clarkson Potter. (2004). Barefoot Contessa in Paris: Easy French Food You Can Make at Home. Clarkson Potter. (2006). Barefoot Contessa at Home: Everyday Recipes You’ll Make Over and Over Again. Clarkson Potter. (2008). Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics: Fabulous Flavor from Simple Ingredients. Clarkson Potter. (2010). Barefoot Contessa: How Easy Is That? Clarkson Potter. (2012). Barefoot Contessa: Foolproof: Recipes You Can Trust. Clarkson Potter. (2014). Make It Ahead: A Barefoot Contessa Cookbook. Clarkson Potter.

CHAPTER 4 TEXTUAL ANALYSIS

4.1 Overview

In this Chapter, I introduce the first dimension of analysis within Fairclough’s three-dimensional framework, textual analysis. Under this dimension, I analyze three textual features: lexicalization, presupposition, and interpersonal functions. I explain how each feature was used by the three celebrity chefs in their cookbooks by describing them and how they compare and contrast with relevant excerpts presented in the analysis. I conclude with the main findings of textual analysis.

First, I discuss how lexicalization was used in the cookbook narrative; depicting such strategies gives insights into how the cookbooks described food and cooking, either positively or negatively with tradition and modern, and as easy and delicious. The use of culinary jargon and foreign terms unique to cooking is examined in order to see the extent to which they are described, how so, and what purpose they serve. Then, the lexicalization section describes what is unique to the discourse of each celebrity chef and how the words help create a distinctive voice and personality of each female. A study of recipe titles finishes the lexicalization section and relates the findings to the identity of each author.

Second, I discuss how presuppositions were used to advance the ideology of the cookbooks; particularly, I show how assumed propositions of home cooking as difficult, boring, and taxing were challenged and rectified with the message that home cooking can be rewarding both for the cook and for those for whom she cooks. This aspect is expected to show consistency and variation among the three outlets in terms of the kind of presuppositions and subsequent proposals they make.

Finally, I discuss how interpersonal functions—hedges, boosters, and personal pronouns—were used in the cookbooks; the aim is to shed light on how the social relations between the authors and readers were constructed.

4.2 Lexicalization

Lexicalization is a main feature of textual analysis, because it comprises of words used to convey meanings. To address this aspect, I divide this section into four sub- sections relating to different aspects and dealing with different themes. These sub- sections are: 1) description of food, 2) culinary terms and foreign ingredients, 3) personality-driven words, and 4) recipe titles. In the section of description of food, I further divide the analysis into two parts: tradition versus modern, and easy and delicious.

4.2.1 Description of the Food

In this section, I discuss how the cookbook authors describe the food and ingredients and the adjectives they employ in referring to the cooking procedure. I divide the analysis of the lexicalization based on two primary themes: 1) tradition vs modern and 2) easy and delicious.

4.2.1.1 Tradition vs modern

Ina assigns negative lexicalization to traditional recipes, casting doubts on their taste. She constantly highlights the updated “lighter” recipes to the “done, done, and overdone” recipes of the past: a pumpkin banana mousse tart is “lighter and much more flavorful than that cloying old pumpkin pie” (Garten, 2002, p. 151); cooking rice pudding becomes exciting and a novelty: “rice pudding can be really boring. For this recipe, don’t think rice pudding, think rum raisin ice cream” (Garten, 2002, p. 147). Adjectives such as “really boring” or negative comparisons such as “angel food cake usually tastes like

cotton candy” polarize the source of her inspiration at the lower end with her own creation at the higher end (Garten, 2002, p. 164). Evaluative verbs further contrast old recipes that are tired and overused to Ina’s recipes that are inspiring: “I dragged out my

old recipe and rediscovered a delicious dessert” (Garten, 2002, p. 170); “Everyone’s

mother had a recipe for date nut bread, but I thought it would be fun to turn up the

volume and make the best one you ever ate” (Garten, 2008, p. 246). Another example,

summer pudding, “an old-fashioned English dessert” and “a bit bland” that traditionally

uses leftover bread, is upgraded with (fresh) brioche, a high-quality, and more

expensive bread. Further, the French lexicon indexes sophistication and good taste.

Ree, on the other hand, describes tradition positively. Ree celebrates old-

fashioned recipes such as Iny’s Prune Cake: “I was fortunate enough to happen upon my great-grandmother Iny’s prune cake recipe a couple of years ago. It was written by her frail, small hands, and I rushed out to buy the ingredients the same day”

(Drummond, 2010, p. 40). Words choices such as “fortunate,” “frail,” “small,” and

“rushed out” convey respect and tenderness for tradition and the elderly and an eagerness to continue tradition. The subtitle of Ree’s latest cookbook further positions traditional food positively with “comfort classics”: The Pioneer Woman Cooks:

Dinnertime: Comfort Classics, Freezer Food, 16-Minute Meals, and Other Delicious

Ways to Solve Supper! (Drummond, 2015).

Giada ascribes both positive and negative attributes to tradition and modern. As she writes in the introduction of the dessert chapter of Giada at Home (2010): “Because

I love dessert so much, however, I couldn’t resist tinkering with some of these old standbys, jazzing them up with the addition of unexpected flavors” (De Laurentiis, 2010,

p. 169). And, she continues, “If I do say so myself, I think many of these are even better than the originals” (p. 169). Or, in Everyday Italian (2005), rice pudding with rum is

Giada’s infusion of “a little New World twist into an Old World classic” (De Laurentiis,

2005, p. 237). Like Ina, Giada finds great satisfaction and pride in her new, improved recipes.

The juxtaposition between tradition and modern is visually cued by the color of the titles of the recipes in Giada at Home (2010); orange signals Italian tradition and green as American modern. However, even in the traditional recipes, Giada offers her own version, such as the White Chocolate-Dipped Almond and Lemon Biscotti. Instead of hazelnuts and chocolate, “much as I love those,” Giada writes, the recipe is a combination of almond and lemon, her “new fave” (De Laurentiis, 2010, p. 184). Another example that indicates the author’s expertise on Italian and American traditions is

Panettone Bread Pudding: “In Italy and in America, a panettone is a traditional hostess gift during the holidays” (De Laurentiis, 2006, p. 210). She indicates her knowledge of giving baked desserts during the holidays for both cultures.

4.2.1.2 Easy and delicious

In this second section of lexicalization, I identify how all three cookbook authors refer to cooking as “easy” and “delicious.” The titles of the cookbooks present salient examples: five of Ina’s cookbooks: Barefoot Contessa Parties! Ideas and Recipes for

Easy Parties That are Really Fun (Garten, 2001); Barefoot Contessa Family Style: Easy

Ideas and Recipes That Make Everyone Feel Like Family (Garten, 2002); Barefoot in

Paris: Easy French Food You Can Make at Home (Garten, 2004); Barefoot Contessa:

How Easy is That? (Garten, 2010); Make It Ahead: A Barefoot Contessa Cookbook,

(Garten, 2014), and two of Ree’s cookbooks: The Pioneer Woman Cooks: A Year of

Holidays: 140 Step-by-Step Recipes for Simple, Scrumptious Celebrations (Drummond,

2013); The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Dinnertime: Comfort Classics, Freezer Foods, 16-

Minute Meals, and Other Delicious Ways to Solve Supper! (Drummond, 2015); and

three of Giada’s cookbooks: Everyday Italian: 125 Simple and Delicious Recipes (De

Laurentiis, 2005); Weeknights with Giada: Quick and Simple Recipes to Revamp Dinner

(De Laurentiis, 2012); Happy Cooking: Make Every Meal Count...Without Stressing Out

(De Laurentiis, 2015). The cookbook titles promise easy and quick recipes, conveying values of convenience, efficiency, and planning. Pleasure and enjoyment in food and cooking are promised and promoted in the cookbooks.

Recipe narratives further the Discourse of easy and delicious with intensifiers and variations. Easy is emphasized with adverbs such as “incredibly easy” and

“ridiculously easy,” or phrases such as stewed berries being “a great last-minute dessert” (Garten, 2010, p. 148); “doubling or tripling these recipes is a piece of cake (so to speak)” (De Laurentiis, 2005, p. 232); an “easy cake” is titled accordingly: Easy

Cranberry and Apple Cake (Garten, 2010, p. 205); and an updated icebox cake is

“WOW- and talk about easy!” (Garten, 2010, p. 206).

Buying dessert is acceptable for ultimate ease and delicious flavor as long as it is modified in some way: “just buy plain pound cake from the store and add raspberry jam, raspberries, and whipped cream. Who would hate that?” (Garten, 2002, p. 144); “I’m not asking you to bake a pound cake” (De Laurentiis, 2005, p. 246). The goal is to provide readers with a great dessert instead of struggling in the kitchen for hours:

If you don’t even have ten minutes to make the crème brûlée or coeur a la crème (and I do mean ten minutes!), just remember how French it is to serve a big bowl of fresh strawberries in season with just a dollop of crème fraiche and a cookie from the bakery. (Garten, 2004, p. 14)

Here, Ina brings to attention the little time it takes to make dessert with the parenthetical remark (“and I do mean ten minutes!”), yet she still offers readers a simpler, sophisticated French approach to dessert; strawberries are so simple and

delicious that they do not need a twist; “they’re wonderful just as they are.” The reference to the French approach to cooking transports readers to a French bistro, savoring the simple and delicious dessert, instead of laboring over the stove. Likewise,

Giada’s strawberries with store-bought pound cake is “One word: easy. Make that two:

delicious” (De Laurentiis, 2005, p. 228). Similarly, Ree acknowledges that store-bought

desserts can be hard to beat in consistency and taste: “For homemade sugar cookies, I

don’t attempt to compete with those incredibly consistent, pre-fab wonders”

(Drummond, 2009, p. 236). Instead of trying to replicate the sweet and chewy cookies,

Ree goes a different direction and makes her sugar cookies light and crispy.

If one has to forgo the ease of making the dessert, then the delicious flavor

compensates for the effort. Giada considers most of her desserts as “low-maintenance

to assemble,” so she “hesitated” to include Espresso Caramel Bars, but they are “so

incredibly irresistible and delicious” that they are worth the effort (De Laurentiis, 2010, p.

181). The layering of adjectives emphasizes her approval of and enthusiasm for the

bars. Ina also advises home cooks to make the extra step and sacrifice the ease of

preparation if the result is a more delicious dessert: an île flottante involves three steps,

but “everything except the meringue can be made a day or two ahead....I promise you

it’s worth every minute it takes to make” (Garten, 2004, p. 180); a lemon meringue tart

“requires a few steps, but you can make most of it a day ahead” (Garten, 2004, p. 183);

fresh lemon mousse is “easy to make in advance” (Garten, 2008, p. 194). Desserts that

require more effort are presented as memorable and impressive people-pleasers:

“believe me, your friends will go crazy,” “people really go nuts for it,” “your friends will be licking their plates,” and “a big Wow! from my friends” (Garten, 2004). Promises such as these are a persuasion strategy that taps into the audience’s desire to be publicly recognized.

Serving suggestions are also offered if they enhance the flavor of the desserts despite the additional effort of assembly: “Serve flutes of chilled Moscato” (De

Laurentiis, 2010, p. 173); “Serve with a side of maple syrup” (De Laurentiis, 2008, p.

193); “It’s great on its own with a cup of tea” (Garten, 2002, p. 142), and “(Psst: This is particularly delicious with coffee...)” (Drummond, 2012, p. 41). The enhanced pleasure of eating the dessert compensates for the extra effort to prepare an accompanying beverage or topping. Likewise, the more time-consuming pleasures of baking are presented positively with reference to the tantalizing aroma and impressed friends: apricot and nut cookies baked when unexpected guests drop by “will fill the whole house with an alluring fragrance and make you look like a super star” (De Laurentiis,

2010, p. 178); poached pear dessert “fills the whole house with holiday fragrance” (De

Laurentiis, 2010, p. 173); cook these recipes, so that “your house is filled with wonderful smells, and that your friends think you’re brilliant, too” (Garten, 2008, p. 12). Both sight and smell are activated in cooking at home and offer double the pleasure to the senses.

This sense of cooking as easy goes in tandem with the idea of eating as

delicious. Throughout the cookbooks, Giada, Ree, and Ina are depicted in their kitchens

cooking with smiles and composure, conveying a sense of effortless and expert know-

how. They are eating with family and friends, such as Giada raising noodles to her

mouth with her hand (cover of Giada’s Family Dinners, 2006), Ina holding a glass of white wine and laughing with her husband and friends (Garten, 2002), Ree cracking an egg, pouring lemonade, holding a margarita, etc. (Drummond, 2012). These images reinforce the narrative that cooking is easy and delicious. Further, images of family and friends eating and laughing suggest their pleasure in the food and being nurtured; Jade,

Giada’s daughter, eats blueberries, an oat bar, a chocolate cupcake, etc. (De Laurentiis,

2012), Ina’s friend’s daughter bites into fruit; children blow out candles on a birthday cake (Garten, 2002); a young girl helps Ina top Pavlova with berries (Garten, 2006).

Ree’s pictures show family, friends, and cowboys working on the ranch and eating with pleasure her dishes. These images validate the discourse that cooking is easy and delicious and a way to please both loved ones and oneself.

This emphasis on make-ahead meals and quick recipes is a response to the

Discourse of Time of contemporary lifestyle. With people working multiple jobs and struggling to balance work, home, and play, there is a constant complaint about the lack of time. Women particularly feel the pressure of time as they are still regarded as the primary caretakers. Consequently, home cooks want and need recipes that are compatible with their busy and stressful lifestyles. In an effort to make home cooking viable, these celebrity chefs provide many make-ahead meals and offer quick, simple recipes.

4.2.2 Culinary Terms and Loanwords

In this second section of the Lexicalization analysis, I identify the ways that culinary terms and foreign ingredients, such as loanwords, are described and used.

Recipes are a type of “special language” or “language for specific (special) purposes” or

“technical language” (Hullen, 1981, p. 188), and the presence of foreign words further

distinguishes recipes as special. I describe how culinary jargon indicates expertise and how loan words lend authenticity and authority. Further, I suggest how culinary terms and loan words can represent (dis)alignment with the associated class or culture.

At the lexical level, recipes have special terminology and semantic meaning, such as measurements (pinch; handful), cooking verbs (swirl; toss; puree), cooking nouns (béchamel), ingredients (aged balsamic vinegar), equipment (food processor; cast iron skillet), and adjectives (ripe plums). Abbreviations are also part of a recipe’s

language, notably in the list of ingredients for measurements: tsp. (teaspoon), Tbsp.

(tablespoon), oz. (ounce), lb. (pound), etc. Punctuation also affects the reading, such as

a comma placed after the specified ingredient (1 cup parsley, chopped) or its absence

(1 cup parsley chopped).

Cooking and food terminology have also incorporated foreign loan words:

semifreddo, a semifrozen dessert that is often compared to what the French call

“parfait” (De Laurentiis, 2006, p. 223), zabaglione, a classic Italian dessert sauce that is

“sabayon” in French (De Laurentiis, 2005, p. 234); Moscata is a “sweet, fizzy wine”;

Nutella is a “chocolate-hazelnut spread” (De Laurentiis, 2005, p. 224) “tiramisu means

‘pick-me-up’” (De Laurentiis, 2005, p. 229); affogato is the “Italian version of a hot fudge

sundae” (De Laurentiis, 2005, p. 226); “île flottante (floating island) is an old-fashioned

French nursery dessert” (Garten, 2004, p. 180); Framboise is a “raspberry liqueur”

(Garten, 2006, p. 165); “A Latin American dessert, Tres Leches is a moist, spongy cake

that’s doused in three different milk products” (Drummond, 2012, p. 238). As interest

increases in a particular special language, the special words become more widespread

and recognizable (Hullen, 1981), which explains the absence of explanation for certain

terms such as dulce de leche (Drummond, 2012, p. 238) and mascarpone (De

Laurentiis, 2012, p. 197, p. 206).

Further, the use of foreign words is also a way to gain authority and trust.

Nectarine and Blueberry Crisp with Amaretti Cookie Topping (De Laurentiis, 2006, p.

228) appears more credible and authentic with the use of Italian cookies. Names for foods may also denote origin by use of geographical indications, such as Parmigiano-

Reggiano cheese (a compound with a toponym), and as Gerhardt (2013) notes, may be protected under trade laws, so that for instance cheese labeled as such must come from certain regions in Italy. On the other hand, the naming of the original ingredient may be to transport authenticity more than to suggest the actual use of it. For instance,

Ina names her recipe Frozen Key Lime Pie which indicates its origin in Florida, but does not use “those small tart Key limes” (Garten, 2002, p. 138). Instead, Ina uses regular fresh limes, since Key limes “are hard to find anywhere else,” and to give the pie a less tart taste (Garten, 2002, p. 138). Ina’s strategy for retaining the original name may be an example of what Mϋhleisen (2003) points out: it is not necessarily the original ingredients or original taste that transports authenticity, but the name Key lime itself.

I extend the analysis to suggest that foreign terms carry symbolic meaning and reference a certain class and/or culture. French is often considered the language of the finest cooking and can be used to index quality and skill through the names of dishes.

Here, the celebrity chefs differ in how they use French, and by extension, embrace or reject the elitist upper class associated with the French language and culture. While Ina and Giada both incorporate French and Italian loanwords as ways to name their

recipes, e.g. pain perdu (Garten, 2004, p. 208); caprese (De Laurentiis, 2015, p. 77),

Ree’s discourse is contradictory in that she both respects and mocks the foreign terms.

In a recipe for Pots de Crème, Ree uses the French loanword to credit the

original recipe but offsets the strangeness of the term and dish by comparing it to similar

American desserts and exaggerating the pronunciation for a humorous effect:

Pots de crème are a cross between chocolate pudding and chocolate mousse and chocolate custard and... oh, never mind. They’re chocolate. And they’re creamy and dreamy and wonderful. One important thing you need to know about pots de crème is how to pronounce it.

First of all, here’s how you do not pronounce pots de crème: ‘pawts day creem.’

Here’s how you do pronounce pots de crème: ‘po duh krehm.’

Or, if you want to get really technical, ‘po duh k(insert phlegmy, back-of- the-throat crackly French sound)ehm.’

But you really don’t need to pronounce it. You just need to eat it.

(italics original, Drummond, 2012, p. 244)

On the one hand, Ree takes into account that her readers may neither understand nor be able to pronounce correctly the dessert. She provides instructions on how to pronounce the French word by first describing how not to say it, i.e. not the way pots de crème is spelled or using an American accent. She contrasts this colloquial articulation with the more accurate French pronunciation. At first this seems to elevate the dish, as one strategy to upgrade food is the use of original denominations (Serwe et al., 2013). On the other hand, Ree negatively labels someone who wants to say it correctly: “for those who want to get ‘technical’” (with “technical” meaning picky) and rejects this association by concluding that saying the foreign term correctly does not

matter as much as making and eating the dish. I suggest that this Discourse challenges the formality and exclusivity of the upper-class the French terminology represents.

In another example, Ree uses both Italian and French loanwords that indicate her expertise, yet minimizes her knowledge in order to not sound pretentious to her readers. In an abstract for her Frittata recipe, Ree writes: “A frittata, my friends, is basically a crustless quiche...” (Drummond, 2015, p. 10), with the Italian omelet defined with the French loan word. Addressing readers as “my friends” balances Ree’s superior knowledge on equal level to her readers. The loan words in this context are made less intimidating through minimizations such as “basically” and intimate address, “my friends.”

This leads the analysis to the third section of Lexicalization with the identification and analysis of personality-driven lexicon. Cookbook authors use distinctive words and phrases that distinguish their discursive style.

4.2.3 Unique lexemes and distinctive phrases

The use of idiosyncratic terms in cooking instructions has been noted as a way for celebrity chefs to entertain as much as instruct. Chiaro (2013) analyzes the language of two British celebrity chefs, Jamie Oliver and Nigella Lawson, and finds their verbal style as highly distinctive and a “performance of food-talk.” While she analyzes their spoken language on their cooking shows, cookbooks similarly need to differentiate from one another in the crowded cookbook market. This study contributes by showing that the celebrity chefs give their cookbooks a distinctive lexical style that indicates the authors’ linguistic variety, background, and importantly—their values.

Giada uses certain lexemes that indicate her specific location and trendiness besides her personal preferences. For instance, a lemon hazelnut tiramisu has a

“California spin” (De Laurentiis, 2008, p. 191); “this recipe is pretty cool” (De Laurentiis,

2008, p. 180); almond lemon biscotti is “my [her] new fave” (De Laurentiis, 2010, p.

184). “Fave” is short for ‘favorite’ and a popular expression used in the West Coast

(Urban Dictionary). California is home to Hollywood, and Giada is no stranger to film and media. Her grandfather was a well-known Italian film producer, mother an actress, father an actor-producer, step-father a producer, sister a makeup artist, and brothers film editors. Her lexemes suggest the media and film industry such as: superstar, show- stopping, starring rather than supporting role, a very sexy couple, and flashiest, which literally connects food and cooking to a performance. The dish metonymically portrays the home cook, the star, and the success of her performance depends on her cooking.

Drawing on a much different lexicon, Ree uses lexemes that are more relaxed and innovative. She writes a popular blog (The Pioneer Woman), and has written a memoir, children’s books (Giada too has written a children’s series), and several bestselling cookbooks (like Giada and Ina). Her mastery and enjoyment of writing is evident in her play of words, such as: magical metamorphosis; gloriously; spongy; a little

fancier; all sorts of citrus love; my limes and oranges staged a protest; just icing on the

cake; me likey; Knock You Naked Brownies; rock your world; banana fana; purty;

covers a multitude of weirdness; weird and bizarre; peachy and herby; bad means

awesome; hate, abhor, loathe, and recoil at the sight of bananas; taste-like-a-malt;

weirdness; and these are absolutely killer. The phrases and expressions add

distinctiveness and humor to the recipe narrative. The lexicon is at once vague, such as

a little fancier (how much fancier?) or all sorts of (what kinds?), but also more

descriptive and metaphorical (taste-like-a-malt). Ree also uses exaggerated terms: a

whole mess of deliciousness; the flavor: to die for!; and Bad. Very bad. Where bad

means awesome. The diverse register and lexical innovations are playful and

experimental and comparable to slang, which Sornig (1981) suggests is born as a

protest against standard speech.

Ree’s countryfied language reflects her frontier lifestyle and cooking style. Her

role as a mother and cattle rancher wife is evident in the youthful expressions she uses

(e.g. Me likey!; Peace, Bro!) and the vernacular language that is closely associated with

her locally-based community, the town of Pawhuska, Oklahoma. Vernacular language such as purty (pretty), pop (soda), darn delicious (very good), ‘till I croak (until death),

Ma (mother), Pa-Pa (father-in-law), rock your world (the best thing) emphasizes her membership to a local community. Further, words like freak; hot mess; oops; and slap together describe her cooking as being imprecise and unscientific (Drummond, 2015, ix), but for every home cook who seeks to “whip up something simple, scrumptious, and absolutely satisfying” and be humored at the same time with Ree’s “tongue-in-cheek

(and delicious-in-mouth)” meals (Drummond, 2015, viii).

Ina’s style and lexicon are straightforward, clear, and elegant, much like her recipes. She shares her knowledge in an approachable manner by often adding humor, such as: “Tiramisù was to the 1990s what Pasta Pesto was to the ‘80s—it was done, done, and overdone” (Garten, 2002, p. 170); “Making crème anglaise, a French vanilla sauce, is a delicate process because you can overcook it and end up with vanilla scrambled eggs” (Garten, 2004, p. 217). While Ina’s observations about changes in

food trends throughout the decades indicate her mature age, a few tokens of slang

convey her as hip and youthful, such as “OMG” and “How fab!”.

Ina has recognizable syntactic phrases formed in the wh + X construction, such as “why not make the whole thing?”, “who would hate that?”, and “who wouldn’t love that?”. Another distinctive rhetorical pattern is “How fabulous!” or “How easy is that!”

(Garten, 2004). These syntactically marked formulas involve exclamatory word order and intonation, which can be considered as increasing the force of the expression. In her study on compliments, Holmes (1995) identifies different rhetorical patterns used by women versus men: women used the rhetorical pattern What (a) (ADJ) NP! (e.g. “What

a great cake!”) significantly more often than men (p. 127). Men, by contrast, used the

minimal pattern (INT) ADJ (NP) (e.g. “Great cake”) significantly more often than women

(Holmes, 1995, p. 127). Similarly, the female celebrity chefs use rhetorical patterns that

are more commonly associated with women, rather than men. The interrogatives that

introduce Ina’s suggestion or evaluation of the recipe reduce the imposition in addition

to addressing readers.

The use of distinctive words and phrases are ways that the cookbook authors express themselves and create their own identity. Giada emphasizes the importance of appearance and performance; Ree uses both dramatic and everyday language that give

a narrative-like quality to the recipes; Ina uses syntactic patterns that reduce the

directive quality inherent to recipes.

4.2.4 Recipe Titles

Recipe titles contribute to the identity formation of the authors. Ree did not attend

culinary school, and the sources of her recipes are frequently from her community,

friends, and family. Her recipe titles suggest food from the frontier: Apple Dumplings,

Apple Brown Betty, Angel Sugar Cookies, Pineapple Upside-Down Cake (In an Iron

Skillet), etc. Using people’s names in the title: Billie’s Italian Cream Cake, Patsy’s

Blackberry Cobbler, Edna Mae’s Sour Cream Pancakes, etc. suggests that “the reader should trust the author” (Tomlinson, 1986, p. 206). The individual supposedly has a highly-regarded reputation as a baker that transfers similar respect for one of her recipes. Putting a name on the recipe is a way to continue a person’s legacy. Yet, as

Ree jokes, the dessert may be more famous than the person, “And it’s [Soul Sweet

‘Taters] every bit as decadent as Aunt Bessie’s pecan pie. Wait. Who’s Aunt Bessie again?” (Drummond, 2013, p. 272).

Similar to Ree, Ina is not professionally trained but has a clear and straightforward manner of communication, perhaps a reflection of her professional work experience as a former staff member of the White House Office of Management and

Budget. Her recipe titles are classic and simple: Strawberry Tarts, Lemon Poppy Seed

Cake, Chocolate Chunk Brownies, etc. Some titles are rather uninformative, but strongly evaluative (Tomlinson, 1986, p. 206), like Perfect Pie Crust and Ultimate Pumpkin Pie.

Giada is a professionally trained chef and restaurant owner and writes restaurant-style recipe titles with multiple adjectives and complex sentence structure:

Poached Pears in Honey, Ginger, and Cinnamon Syrup; Mini Pumpkin Cupcakes with

Chocolate Frosting, Spiced Apple Walnut Cupcakes, Double Chocolate and Espresso

Cookies. The food names both inform and advertise, similar to the findings of Zwicky and Zwicky (1980) on menus in American restaurants. Perhaps attractive names are used to catch readers’ eye and persuade them to make the dish and to buy the book.

Additionally, some titles are informative in regards to preparational details (Tomlinson,

1986, p. 206), as in Giada’s White Chocolate-Dipped Almond and Lemon Biscotti.

Distinctive language both in the recipe narrative and in the recipe titles encodes the cookbook author’s background and personality. Even though the recipe structure is a “group-shared, socially transmitted pattern” (Goode et al., 1984, p. 147), it features phrases and descriptions particular to the three authors.

In conclusion, this Lexicalization section analyzed four main aspects of the

cookbook language: the description of food, culinary terms and foreign ingredients,

personality-driven lexemes, and recipe titles. In the description of food, I further divided

the analysis into two parts: tradition versus modern, and easy and delicious. Culinary

terms and foreign ingredients, e.g. Moscata wine, Armagnac, and Tres Leches, are

explained and often commented on by the cookbook authors. While food names and

dishes are among the most prolific loanwords from other languages in English

(Mϋhleisen, 2003), how such borrowings were used by the cookbook authors are telling

of their class and culture identification. The third aspect of the cookbook language,

characteristic lexemes are ways for writers to express themselves. Recipe titles

contribute to what distinguishes the authors and their cooking from one another. The

lexicalization of cookbooks provides insight to each cook’s background, personality, and

most critically, ideology.

4.3 Presuppositions

Presuppositions were made in the recipes that revealed what the celebrity chefs

assumed about their audience, specifically their culinary knowledge, socioeconomic

background, and values about home cooking and eating. The cookbook discourse may

manifest certain social and economic inequality in that not every reader has knowledge

of such flavors nor access to such ingredients.

At the technical level, there was the presupposition that the home cook would have basic knowledge of cooking. Not every technique or culinary jargon is explained, such as fold, zest, whisk, simmer, etc., which made the recipe more efficient and precise. On the other hand, the reader is not expected to be a professional chef either, so additional explanations and information are provided on certain occasions, such as

“It’s easier to separate cold eggs, but egg whites at room temperature whip better”

(Garten, 2004, p. 204).

Presuppositions were also made about the accessibility of ingredients and kitchen equipment. The pantry, refrigerator, and freezer of the home cooks were expected be filled with fresh produce (e.g. fruit and vegetables), dairy (e.g. milk and cheese products), dry and canned goods (e.g. pasta, grains, and vegetables), liquors and wines (e.g. rum, brandy, Kahlua, red wine), and meats and seafood ranging from ground beef and bacon to prime rib and lobster. Kitchen equipment included stand-up mixers, ovens, skillets, and an assortment of baking sheets and bowls. The average middle-class American home cook has access to these ingredients and tools, yet the cookbooks overlook those who do not have these ‘essentials.’

Knowledge about certain ingredients are also presupposed, such as specific brands. For instance, the flavor of Rum Raisin Rice Pudding is compared to Ina’s

“favorite Häagen-Dazs ice cream” (Garten, 2002, p. 147). The text assumes readers know what Häagen-Dazs tastes like and have access to it, positioning the ideal reader as belonging to a class of distinction and taste. Ina is consistent in her standards of what she considers to be excellent as she references the same ice cream brand in other recipes (e.g. Ice Cream Bombe in Barefoot in Paris, Skillet Brownies in Make It Ahead).

Häagen-Dazs is a premium ice cream and American brand, and like the findings in the

Lexicalization section, is foreign sounding with its adoption of Danish-sounding words.

In referring to both the flavor and the brand, Ina aligns herself as an expert of European, high-brow taste and as part of the middle-upper class with access to more costly products and ingredients. While the reference to Häagen-Dazs may be elite, at the same time, the celebrity chef tries to make the recipe more accessible to a broad range of home cooks by writing a recipe for affordable, unassuming pudding that simulates the flavor of a premium ice cream.

Presuppositions were also made in the cookbooks about the problems in home cooking and the values of their readers. While there are many presuppositions in the discourse, three presuppositions emerged as the most important for this study in regards to illustrating the celebrity chefs’ assumptions about their target audience and their values. Tables 4-1, 4-2, and 4-3 at the end of the Chapter show the following:

1. Readers are (female) home cooks 2. Home cooking and entertaining are stressful, difficult, and problematic 3. Desserts are indulgent and pleasurable

All three celebrity chefs presuppose that their audiences are home cooks, principally women. Examples (k)-(t) in Table 4-1 show that the celebrity chefs utilized presupposition strategy to appeal to other female home cooks. Referring to their own relationships with others such as “my father-in-law,” “my husband,” “my children,” and female specific identities such as “as a mother” and “mama” and occasions “for girl get- togethers” indicate that recipes may serve the reader in the same way as they did for the celebrity chef. Pronouns such as we in “we care for our young” suggest inclusivity and a collective subject that presupposes a female readership (Table 4-1, (p)).

Employing “especially” in (m) suggests that others may enjoy the dessert, such as

women and children, but not as much as men.

Examples from Table 4-1 further show presuppositions that were used to attract readers who are presumed to be responsible for the cooking at home. Cookbook titles with references to “home” and “family style” imply that the recipes are appropriate for

readers to make at home. Presuppositions positively present cooking to be shared with

family or friends. Definite phrases such as “your guests will be very happy!” (i) and

“cooking for my friends and family make me happy” (s) presuppose that the home cook

shares her cooking and that good food makes people happy. Possessive determiners

(your) presupposes the audience’s activities of having non-family over (guests) and their

aspirations to make their friends happy.

There is a presupposition that home cooks are not the most skilled and that

cooking can be difficult, revealing the historical shift. Americans used to cook more and

had the skills to do so, but changes in lifestyle, including convenience foods and fast

food, have changed society’s knowledge about cooking. Examples from Table 4-2

indicate the presuppositions about cooking being “stressful” (r), “hard work” (m), “not always easy” (m), or a “dilemma” (j). Inclusive terminology such as “We all know that

feeling!” (l) presupposes a shared feeling among the celebrity and her readers; in this

case, the presupposition is that the home cook has offered to cook for a gathering and

is in a “full-blown” (l) panic as a result. Conditional statements such as “If you’re

intimidated...” (o), “if you thought you couldn’t make a roast chicken ahead...” (p), and “if

you know which kinds of recipes to choose” (q) presuppose that people may fear

cooking and lack knowledge about cooking.

The initial presuppositions about the arduous nature of home cooking are a marketing tool that positions the celebrities as experts and sympathetic friends. The celebrity chefs contend that cooking does not have to be difficult, especially cooking with their recipes, which encourages the purchase of their cookbooks. The celebrities offer solutions and have “figured out” (h) ways to make cooking “more fun” (r).

Comparatives, for instance, in “I hope...that entertaining is less stressful and more fun”

(r) presuppose that entertaining is not stress-free and not always fun. This sets up the

celebrity’s proposition that “after all, isn’t that what dinner parties are supposed to be all

about?!” (r). The question-statement and other Wh-questions (e.g. “why go to all that

trouble…?” (m)) take for granted that everyone would agree. The celebrities provide

recipes that they assume the home cook wants and needs: easy and fast cooking,

make ahead dishes, and appetizing food.

Table 4-3 demonstrates presuppositions about desserts that are “feminine” preoccupations: desserts offer emotional satisfaction and are an indulgence, yet are difficult to eat in moderation because of how delicious they are. Collective pronouns such as “we” (e.g. “Sugar fixes. We all get them” (c)) and rhetorical questions (e.g.

“Who doesn’t love chocolate chunk cookies?” (a) presuppose agreement from the

audience about the celebrity’s claims. Negations such as “I don’t have to feel guilty

about eating these” (e) presuppose that eating dessert entails feelings of guilt.

Conditionals such as “serve it for breakfast if you are feeling decadent” (j) presuppose

that an emotional need triggers the desire for dessert.

In sum, various linguistic strategies were used to trigger presuppositions:

1. Wh-questions (e.g. “Who wouldn’t want that?”)

2. Factive expressions (e.g. “This is the best”; “It is very likely that...”)

3. Comparative constructions (e.g. “nothing is easier than this”; “make them a little more special”)

4. Definite phrases (e.g. “I love this”)

5. Lexical items (e.g. “best;” “enough;” “new”)

6. Conditionals (e.g. “If you are...”)

7. Possessive determiners (e.g. your in “your friends”)

8. Pronouns (e.g. “you”; “we”)

9. Negations (e.g. “don’t”; “doesn’t”)

Presuppositions promote the celebrities’ ideology by strategically appealing to home cooks’ needs, aspirations, and values. The main themes reported through presupposition and challenged are: cooking is difficult, boring, and a problem; rather, cooking is the opposite: easy, fun, and pleasurable. Further the premise that dessert is an indulgence is replaced by an emphasis on pleasure. In order to be influential, the celebrity chefs must successfully identify their audience’s needs and wants and relay how their particular recipes are the best, most unique, fastest, or easiest.

4.4 Interpersonal Function

This next section identifies how cookbook authors use language to establish a relationship with their readers. Two central ways for writers to interact with their readers are through modality (degrees of assertiveness being used in the exchange between people) and politeness (Brown and Levinson’s 1978 model). In the following I discuss ways that the writers use modality, specifically hedges and boosters (Holmes, 1995), as a way to soften their instructions and convey their enthusiasm. Hedges and boosters have also been called “downgraders/up-graders” (House & Kasper, 1981),

“weakeners/strengtheners” (Brown & Levinson, 1987), and “downtoners/intensifiers”

(Quirk et al., 1985). The terminology used to define expressions of politeness all have an effect on the utterances in which they occur.

In addition to hedges and boosters, I examine personal pronouns as they contribute to politeness strategies. Being polite involves taking into account other people’s feelings. There are a great variety of ways linguistically this can be done. The following sub-sections of modality include hedges, boosters, and personal pronouns and illustrate alternative polite ways of expressing directives.

4.4.1 Hedges: Mitigate Imposition

As a rule, hedges in the form of non-specific adverbs and indeterminate noun phrases like some, a bit, or kind of, do not occur in the recipe ingredient list in relation to quantity. Vague language in the procedural narrative is viewed negatively and discouraged (Fisher, 1983).

Of interest here are the hedges that occurred in the narrative section of the recipes. Usually a feature of spoken language, hedges weaken or reduce the force of an utterance. Phrases such as a bit, kinda, perhaps, verbs such as seemed, appeared to be, modal verbs such as can, could, may, might, pragmatic particles such as sort of

and I think, and tags such as didn’t you function as hedges. Other constructions such as

superlatives (-er, -est), qualifying statements (for me), and determiners also serve the

same effect in minimizing the force of the author’s opinion or suggestion. The following

are a sampling of examples where hedges occur in the cookbooks:

1. For me, a meal isn’t complete without a bite of something sweet (Peanut Butter Cookies with Blackberry Jam, De Laurentiis, 2012, p. 215).

2. A bit of mascarpone in the batter gives this cake just the slightest tang and keeps it moist, making it a good candidate for freezing (Chocolate Chip Pound Cake, De Laurentiis, 2008, p. 224).

3. Most of my desserts are fairly low-maintenance to assemble, so I hesitated to include the recipe for these in this book (Espresso Caramel Bars, De Laurentiis, 2010, p. 181)

4. Just use the cookies to express your true feelings...whatever they may be (Chocolate Valentine Cookies, Drummond, 2013, p. 65).

5. Okay, let’s start this whole thing over (Krispy Eggs, Drummond, 2013, p. 96).

6. I feel as though I’ve been on a lifelong quest for the perfect ginger cookie but I’m often disappointed (Ultimate Ginger Cookie, Garten, 2006, p. 192).

7. Of course, you can use any kind of fresh or dried fruit that you like, but I think this is the perfect balance (Homemade Muesli with Red Berries, Garten, 2008, p. 234).

Examples 1-7 are a small representation of the variety of hedges used in the cookbooks that illustrate how hedges mitigate the force of the propositions. Minimizers such as a bit, I think, fairly, hesitated, diminutives such as a little, a bite, a bit, modal adverbs such as probably, possibly, evidently, modal verbs such as can, and adverbs such as just are several linguistic devices that exemplify negative politeness strategies.

They address the hearer’s “want to have his freedom of action unhindered and his [sic] attention unimpeded” (Brown & Levinson, 1987, p. 129). The cookbook writers use such hedging devices that are typical of women’s language to reduce the imposition experienced by the reader.

Hedges attenuate the strength of the utterance. Directives become more like suggestions through the use of minimizing adverbs e,g. just (4) and weak modal verbs e.g. can (7). Prefaces, such as for me (1), most (3), okay (5), I think (7), I feel (6), and I hesitated (3), attenuate the force of the statement and allow for disagreement or for exceptions. The cookbook authors use a variety of hedges to mitigate face-threatening acts and to avoid imposing on their readers. The genre of cookbooks as manuals

makes the discourse inherently instructional and necessitate directives, yet the authors use politeness strategies to persuade, not force, home cooks to follow their instructions.

4.4.2 Boosters: Convey Enthusiasm

While hedging devices reduce the strength or force of an utterance, boosting

devices intensify or emphasize the force. Boosters exemplify positive face, or the need

to be accepted, or crucially for celebrities—to be approved of and followed by others.

The celebrity chefs build solidarity with others in their display of enthusiasm and passion

for cooking.

Here is a sampling of boosters identified in the cookbooks.

1. Imagine the best corn muffin you’ve ever tasted, but richer and sweeter (Cornmeal and Rosemary Cake with Balsamic Syrup, De Laurentiis, 2008, p. 194).

2. Parfaits can be so many variations of flavors and textures and are always so beautiful with their colorful layers (Raspberry-Balsamic Parfaits, De Laurentiis, 2012, p. 229).

3. My father-in-law likes pie. He likes pie a lot (Caramel Apple Pie, Drummond, 2013, p. 279).

4. My dad’s weakness has always, always been chocolate. Always. And I do mean always (Chocolate Strawberry Cake, Drummond, 2013, p. 191).

5. I particularly like when you’re not aware of the trick; it just tastes better than you expect (Fruit Salad with Lemoncello, Garten, 2008, p. 248).

6. These are really dangerous; no one can stop eating them! (Salted Caramel Brownies, Garten, 2012, p. 216).

Intensifying devices, such as always (4), a lot (3), so (2), really (6), and very and

superlatives (richer, sweeter (1)) express positive politeness; they address the author’s

own enthusiasm and their readers’ wants for good recipes. In describing different

politeness strategies, Brown and Levinson (1987) describe a case of positive politeness

that is directed to the addressee’s positive face: “His perennial desire that his wants (or

the actions/acquisitions/values resulting from them) should be thought of as desirable”

(p. 101). Modal adverbs such as absolutely, definitely, certainly, particularly and incredibly add emphasis to the proclamation, suggestion, or description, and implies that the author especially wants their readers’ positive face to be enhanced.

Hedges and boosters in themselves do not expressive positive or negative politeness. The same form can be used for both, such as superlatives exemplified in both sets of the examples above. Rather, boosters intensify the illocutionary force of the utterance, and in the case of the cookbooks, they contribute mainly to the expression of positive politeness in utterances such as agreements, compliments, and greetings.

Hedges may resemble boosters in that they may attenuate the force both of negatively affective or face-threatening utterances such as directives, and of positively affective utterances, such as compliments (see Holmes 1995, ch 3). Using modality is a way to inform, persuade, and ultimately build a relationship with the reader.

4.4.3 Personal Pronouns

Cookbook authors traditionally are self-effacing in the narrative of recipes with procedural discourse that is agency neutral and time neutral (Wharton, 2010). The procedural portion typically uses imperative forms without subjects such as take (Fisher,

1983). However, I find that the cookbook authors frequently referred to themselves with the self-reference of I and directly addressed their readers with the second person you.

The personal pronouns are most prevalent in the narrative, or abstract, of the recipes.

The imperative form is still predominantly used in the procedural discourse, yet the first and second person are increasingly being used, such as: “when you’re ready to bake the cookies, preheat the oven to 375...” (Drummond, 2015, p. 359). This intermixing of

overt and null pronouns indicates that cookbooks are becoming a hybrid text with both spoken and written features.

Also personal pronouns, along with hedges and boosters, are linguistic devices that can be used to establish an interpersonal relationship with the audience. They signal different ingredients or procedures, marking them as optional and a matter of personal preference of readers, e.g. “Chop the chocolate into small chunks (and the pecans, if you’re using them)…” (Drummond, 2015, p. 359). Using personal pronouns are ways to inform, justify decisions, and build rapport with the reader/home cook.

Chapter 5 discusses more in depth the use of personal pronouns and the

construction of synthetic personalization, specifically how they contribute to the

Discourse of Expertise.

4.5 Summary

This section of Textual Analysis analyzed the cookbooks in three main areas:

Lexicalization, Presupposition, and Interpersonal Function. Lexicalization is the words that are used, and the data illustrated ways that the cookbook authors juxtaposed tradition versus modern as ways to position their own cooking within the contemporary lifestyle. The dishes most praised were ones that are “easy,” “fast,” and “delicious,” recognizing the time scarcity perceived by women today and the values of convenience and taste. The use of culinary jargon marked the cookbooks as technical manuals

(Norrick, 1983) but also demonstrated the authority and expertise of the celebrity chefs.

Further, the study found that the use of loanwords, most frequently French and

Italian in this case, symbolized class and cultural alignment or disalignment. Ina and

Giada both borrowed from Italian and French terms, recipes, and ingredients, indicating

their association with cuisines highly respected by Americans; Ree, on the other hand,

rejected the foreign terms in order to not sound pretentious, staying true to her country persona. The cookbook authors add their own personality through lexemes that are unique to them and reflect their individual backgrounds. The recipe titles further demonstrate the individual style of each cookbook author, from homey and humorous

(Ree) to straightforward and brief (Ina) to composed and contemporary (Giada).

Presuppositions are implicit assumptions that are taken for granted by the text producer as already established. Presuppositions about cooking, eating, and entertaining are assumed by the cookbook authors to be shared by the readers.

Presuppositions about what readers and home cooks know or do not know about cooking called for explanations of certain ingredients, terms, and techniques. Linguistic structures such as wh-questions, comparatives, and lexical items contribute to the persuasive discourse by tapping into the presumed values of readers/home cooks. The celebrity chef’s narrative is made more appealing and convincing through presuppositions.

Interpersonal function deals with the ways in which social relations are exercised and the ways in which social identities are both manifested and constructed (Fairclough,

1992). Discourse, such as hedges, boosters, and personal pronouns contribute to accepted ways of behavior or politeness. The cookbook authors use hedges as ways to avoid giving a precise propositional content and to leave an option to the addressee to decide. Hedges typically weaken the force of the utterance while boosters strengthen it, which the cookbook authors use to convey their enthusiasm for the recipe. Personal pronouns further provide ways for the cookbook authors to relate to readers. The

Interpersonal Function characterizes much of what has been found to be typical of

woman’s language through an overall objective of seeking approval from readers and developing a relationship.

Within the highly conventionalized nature of recipes, the cookbook authors manage to create a relationship with their audience through specific linguistic strategies, including lexemes, presupposition, modality, politeness, and personal pronouns.

The next chapter, Chapter 5: Discursive Practices, moves to Fairclough’s second tier and addresses the interaction or discursive practice shaped by textual features.

Topics are the main consideration of the chapter.

Table 4-1 Presuppositions about readers Reference Example from texts a. Barefoot Contessa Family Style: Easy Ideas and Recipes That Make Everyone Feel Like Family (Garten, 2002) b. Barefoot Contessa in Paris: Easy French Food You Can Make at Home (Garten, 2004) c. Barefoot Contessa at Home: Everyday Recipes You’ll Make Over and Over Again (Garten, 2006) d. Giada’s Family Dinners (De Laurentiis, 2006) e. Giada’s Kitchen (De Laurentiis, 2008) f. Giada at Home: Family Recipes from Italy and California (De Laurentiis, 2010). g. I hope these recipes inspire you and your family go gather around the table (or picnic blanket!) for some fantastic dinners—and, most important, a whole lot of fun (De Laurentiis, 2012, p. 18). h. This is my absolute, all-time favorite dessert. I’ve made it is so often that I’m sure my friends are saying behind my back, “No, not the apple crostata again,” but there’s never a crumb left (Apple Crostata, Garten, 2001, p. 176). i. The original purpose for icing a cake was to keep it moist for days, which is a good make-ahead tip. You can make this rich chocolate cake in advance or bake the cake, freeze it, and then make the frosting the day you want to serve it. Either way, your guests will be very happy! (Chocolate Cake with Mocha Frosting, Garten, 2014, p. 199). j. I’ve never forgotten that cooking and eating are a shared experience, and my goal as a chef is to ensure that each “everyday” experience is a memorable one for you and your family (De Laurentiis, 2008, p. 11). k. Crème brûlée is the ultimate ‘guy’ dessert. Make it and he’ll follow you anywhere (Garten, 2004, p. 222). l. This one of my father-in-law’s three favorite desserts. He likes to eat it for breakfast (Strawberry Short Cake, Drummond, 2012)

Table 4-1. Continued. Reference Example from texts m. Men, especially, love nursery desserts, but rice pudding can be really boring (Rum Raisin Rice Pudding, Garten, 2002) n. I dreamed this up for my husband, who is particularly fond of raspberries in his desserts, but now it’s become a year-round favorite with us both (Raspberry Pound Cake, De Laurentiis, 2010). o. This is a real treat for girl get-togethers. The manic giggling always stops long enough for everyone to let out a few ooohs and aaahs. And as a middle child, I just love it when that happens (Red Velvet Cake, Drummond, 2010, p. 233). p. One of the hardest things about becoming a mother for the first time was the stark realization that I was absolutely, wholly responsible for another human being’s survival....I eventually accepted the fact that as mothers, we care for our young (On Being Responsible for Others, Drummond, 2010, p. 123-124). q. I’m thankful that I get to be their ma-ma (Text overlays a photo of Ree and her four children, Caramel Apple Pie, Drummond, 2013, p. 281). r. When I became pregnant with Jade, however, everything changed. I was responsible for this little life inside of me and I took the saying ‘eating for two’ to heart. My body needed—and my baby deserved—better (De Laurentiis, 2013, p. 10). s. It’s no secret that cooking for my friends and family makes me happy. When I can, I like to make lunch for Todd and surprise him at his office (Things that make me happy, De Laurentiis, 2013, p. 249). t. And then there’s my once-a-month girls’ night, which I hold close to my heart (Things that make me happy, De Laurentiis, 2013, p. 249).

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Table 4-2 Presuppositions about cooking Reference Example from texts a. Weeknights with Giada: Quick and Simple Recipes to Revamp Dinner (De Laurentiis, 2012). b. Happy Cooking: Make Every Meal Count ... Without Stressing Out (De Laurentiis, 2015). c. The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Dinnertime: Comfort Classics, Freezer Food, 16- Minute Meals, and Other Delicious Ways to Solve Supper! (Drummond, 2015) d. Barefoot Contessa Parties! Ideas and Recipes For Easy Parties That Are Really Fun (Garten, 2001) e. Barefoot Contessa: How Easy Is That? (Garten, 2010). f. Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics: Fabulous Flavor from Simple Ingredients. (Garten, 2008) g. Barefoot Contessa: How Easy Is That? (Garten, 2010) h. Since I don’t have a Graeter’s [ice cream store] anywhere near my little house on the prairie, I figured out how to whip up a similar version myself (Blackberry Chip Ice Cream, Drummond, 2012, p. 263). i. Pumpkin pie can be boring and dense so I set out to make a better pumpkin pie (Ultimate Pumpkin Pie with Rum Whipped Cream, Garten, 2012, p. 241). j. We all have the same dilemma—we want to entertain with ease. One of my great pleasures is cooking a wonderful meal for Jeffrey and my friends; but like everyone else, I have so much going on that it’s hard to find a whole day to cook just for the fun of it (Garten, 2014, p. 11). k. Nothing reduces stress for me more than a good game plan! (Garten, 2012, p. 16). l. My wonderful assistant Barbara’s son Jason got married this year and Barbara offered to host the rehearsal dinner. As the date got closer, she admitted to me that she was in a full-blown panic. We all know that feeling! (Garten, 2012, p. 16).

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Table 4-2. Continued. Reference Example from texts m. I love to cook—I find it really satisfying-but between you and me, it’s not always easy. Between the shopping, the cooking, and cleaning up it can be hard work to actually get dinner on the table. Why go to all the trouble only to find that the result is ho-hum or, worse, that the recipe doesn’t work at all?...I want these all to be the recipes that you love so much that you make them over and over again (Introduction, Garten, 2012, p. 11). n. But I really do try to plan ahead so weeknights are stress-free. I always make sure I have my go-to ingredients on hand—the ones that help me speed up prep work but don’t sacrifice any flavor (De Laurentiis, 2012, p. 17). o. If you’re intimidated by the prospect of making a mousse, this recipe is pretty cool. Once you’ve warmed up the milk, just combine everything in the blender, then pop it in the fridge to chill. Desserts don’t get any easier than that (Espresso Chocolate Mousse with Orange Mascarpone Whipped Cream, De Laurentiis, 2008, p. 180). p. If you thought you couldn’t make a roast chicken ahead, you’ll love my Roast Chicken with Bread & Arugula Salad (Garten, 2014, p. 16). q. Contrary to people’s expectations, if you know which kinds of recipes to choose, baking ahead doesn’t have to result in gooey messes and weeping frosting (Garten, 2014, p. 13) r. I hope you’ll find not only that the recipes are foolproof and delicious, but also that entertaining is less stressful and more fun. After all, isn’t that what dinner parties are supposed to be all about?! (Using This Book, Garten, 2014, p. 16).

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Table 4-3 Presuppositions about dessert Reference Example from texts a. Who doesn’t love chocolate chunk cookies? (Chocolate Chunk Blondies, Garten, 2012, p. 233). a. There is something wonderful about having your own dessert, so I made these crumbles in the small dishes that I usually use for crèmes brûlée (Tri-Berry Crumbles, Garten, 2014, p. 202). b. This is my favorite go-to dessert—it’s like a bonbon, but better! These bites are chewy, decadent, and sweet because of the figs. And, who doesn’t like something dipped in chocolate? (Chocolate Fig Bites, De Laurentiis, 2013, p. 231). c. Sugar fixes. We all get them, whether at 4 p.m. or before bed. I’ve found that the best way to deal with a sugar craving is with something frozen that takes a while to melt in your mouth. That way you can savor the sweetness longer (De Laurentiis, 2013, p. 228). d. These were inspired by my trip to St. Jude Children’s Research hospital. The chef there made some super-yummy brownies—with blueberries and spinach! I came up with my own version using agave. These are moist, chocolaty, and just sweet enough. No one will ever know your healthy little secret (Chocolate Blueberry Brownie, De Laurentiis, 2013, p. 246). e. These are nice and moist and chocolaty and studded with chocolate chips—just like a good chocolate muffin should be—but I don’t have to feel guilty about eating these before bed (Chocolate Muffins, De Laurentiis, 2013, p. 238). f. I still love chocolate—that’ll never change, and I don’t want it to! I still eat it often, only now I do so in moderation. It’s one of my pleasures, a little treat that makes me smile (De Laurentiis, 2013, p. 11). g. This is my husband’s favorite way to eat apple pie, because he can cut it like a pizza and grab a slice on his way out the door. Aside from that, because it’s thinner than a typical slice of pie, it makes it easier to somehow convince yourself that you’re eating less! I love that quality in a dessert (Flat Apple Pie, Drummond, 2010, p. 216). h. Admittedly, my whole family has a sweet tooth—I just have the biggest! (Chocolate Mascarpone Pound Cake, De Laurentiis, 2012, p. 220). i. When we tested this recipe, we all couldn’t stop eating it! The combination of banana, chocolate, and streusel is irresistible (Chocolate Banana Crumb Cake, Garten, 2014, p. 261). j. Serve it for breakfast if you are feeling decadent (Ricotta with Vanilla-Sugar Croutons and Berry Syrup, De Laurentiis, 2010, p. 175).

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CHAPTER 5 DISCURSIVE PRACTICE ANALYSIS

5.1 Overview

Discursive practice addresses the processes involved in text production and consumption. In their production of texts, cookbook writers take into account the recipe genre conventions and their targeted audience. Cookbooks act as a revelation to the public about one aspect of family and community life as mediated by the sharing of recipes. The text of recipes, while recognizably standard, is a reflection of one’s own cooking styles and preferences. The selected cookbooks compare in purpose and audience: to provide recipes for people to express love for family and friends through home cooking. As explained in Chapter 2, two analytic tools are utilized to analyze discursive practice and depict the underlying ideology of the cookbooks by three female celebrity chefs: Ree Drummond, Ina Garten, and Giada De Laurentiis. These analytic tools are intertextuality and topics.

Intertextuality refers to the relationship between texts and how texts are formed from other texts. As Fairclough (1992) notes, the concept of intertextuality points to the productivity and texts, to how texts can transform prior texts and restructure existing conventions to generate new ones (p. 102). Intertextuality pertains to how and why different voices are included or excluded in cookbooks. I illustrate ways that each cookbook represents different voices. I find the presence of two main voices: 1) the

‘expert’ voice, which I identify with a voice of confidence and authority, and 2) the

‘amateur’ voice, which I consider a voice of uncertainty and of home cooks and non- professional cooks. How the voices are represented may lead to ambivalence, as there is always the overriding voice of the author that interprets the discourse and influences

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the reader’s understanding. Intertextuality is thus of interest as certain voices are given more precedence and importance, and accordingly, more power and influence. These

‘voices’ or texts may not be explicitly cued, as in the use of quotation marks or discourse markers; a text may incorporate another text by responding in the way one words one’s own text (see Fairclough, 1992, pp. 101-105). Here, most of the voices are unmarked and integrated structurally and stylistically through a reinterpretation of the original.

This chapter examines topics that were emphasized and topics that were deemphasized by the three cookbook authors. The analysis of topics gives insight into what constituted content-value for the celebrity cookbooks. I discuss how the text constructs ideal female identities, and whether it reinforces or challenges prevailing conceptions of gender in the U.S. I also discuss whether certain eating practices and foods are more or less appropriate for women’s and men’s diets and what it suggests about our culture. In doing so, I find that the works offer an alternative way for women to understand food based on the pleasures of cooking and eating for themselves alongside the traditional female role of pleasing and cooking for others. I also consider that celebrity chefs and their cookbooks are part of a hegemonic discourse with access to media discourse and public influence.

The analysis of topics is framed within CDA to analyze how concepts of gender, hegemony, and ideology are addressed in the texts. As manuals for cooking, and by extension, for living, cookbooks manifest in the language use asymmetrical social structures between different social groups, sometimes explicitly referenced and other times indirectly manifested in language use; through CDA, this study aims to point out

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how these relationships between different social groups are not natural but socially constructed. To do so, the study draws on CDA and on Gee’s (2005) concept of discourse/Discourse and shows how the Discourses that are supposedly about cooking and food are also part of the construction of identity.

Next, I utilize Intertextuality and conduct a close analysis of each chef: Ina, Ree, and Giada. I find that the female celebrity chef cookbooks empower home cooks with a profound respect for home cooking and demonstrate how they too can cook and eat delicious meals and thus enjoy life more fully. Then, I use Topics to focus on six main

Discourses: 1) Discourse of Cooking for Men and the Self, 2) Discourse of Time, 3)

Discourse of Expertise, 4) Discourse of Authenticity, 5) Discourse of Control, and 6)

Discourse of Food and Feeding. These topics emerged from the data as the most salient and interesting for a CDA analysis.

5.2 Intertextuality

The three collections display two main voices, the expert voice and the amateur voice, to varying degrees. This section analyzes how each celebrity chef uses both voices and to what extent. I present Ina’s practice, then Ree’s, followed by Giada’s.

These voices contribute to the intertextuality of the cookbooks and position the cookbook authors as authorities (experts) of cooking among their readers who are

(amateur) home cooks.

5.2.1 The Expert Voice and the Amateur Voice: Ina Garten

Ina Garten’s cookbooks tended to include and exclude voices representing different sides of culinary expertise depending on power balances in the recipe inspiration. That is, the narrative was characterized by the presence of both the expert voice: the experienced cook, specialty food store owner, and frequent contributor to

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national food media discourse, and by the amateur voice: the home cook who divulges her trial-and-error learning process in the home kitchen. The amateur voice narrates the culinary accidents and is ultimately superseded by the expert voice who claims perfection in the recipe.

The transition of voices from amateur to expert can be seen in a study of a pair of recipes: Deep-Dish Apple Pie and Perfect Pie Crust (Garten, 2002, pp. 158-161). The amateur voice starts the narrative of the apple pie recipe, claiming that “Apple pie has always been a problem for me.” Through trial-and-error, the recipe is perfected, as announced by the expert voice: “I think this is the quintessential apple pie.” A degree of uncertainty remains with the appeal: “I hope you agree.” Following the apple pie recipe is the Perfect Pie Crust. The expert voice is prominent, this time reporting the voice of home bakers: “Most people find making pie crust daunting,” and then relaying expert baking knowledge: “There are a few secrets that will change all that....” This is distinct from the previous recipe as this time the author does not assume the voice of the home cook; rather, the text creates a separation from home cooks through the use of the third- person (“most people”). The perspective of the principal author blends the voice of the home cook into its own voice as the expert. The next two sub-sections demonstrate how the celebrity presents herself as an expert, specifically through her French references and engagement with food media.

5.2.1.1 Expert makes French cooking accessible

The expert voice is made known by references to previous experiences, framing

Ina as a specialty food store owner, connoisseur of fine restaurants and foods, and writer for well-known food and lifestyle magazines. Ina’s fourth cookbook, Barefoot in

Paris: Easy French Food You Can Make at Home (2004), illustrates her love of the city

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and desire to make French food accessible to Americans, reminiscent of Julia Child.

Ina’s association with French food frames her as sophisticated, and perhaps elitist, but

at the same time, she aligns herself with French country cooking.

(1) Profiteroles

One of my favorite restaurants in Paris, Benoit, offers a few little profiteroles at the table to snack on while you’re deciding about dessert! French puff pastry, or pâte à choux, seems complicated, but once you get the hang of it, it’s pretty fast to make. Then you also can make cheese puffs, cream puffs, and éclairs, all with the same basic recipe. Personally, I love the combination of pastry, ice cream, and chocolate, so profiteroles are my first choice. (Garten, 2004, p. 219)

The anecdote appeals to the romance and enduring appeal of French food. This

mix of information about the French restaurant, eating experience, and recipe creation

testifies to the author’s professional experience. The narrative manifests Ina’s

confidence in baking, e.g. “once you get the hang of it, it’s pretty fast to make.” The expert voice encourages the home cook, acknowledging the initial difficulty and intimidation factor of the recipe. While Ina indicates the versatility of the recipe and gives readers other options in how to use the dough, she gives her personal preferences, enabling others to emulate her.

The expert voice is further manifested in reference to French food in Ina’s other cookbooks, such as Barefoot Contessa Family Style (2002). Again, Ina proclaims intimate knowledge about French food while also working to align herself with her

American readers.

(2) Chocolate Mousse

I have a weakness for French food. Not the fancy, ‘pinkies up’ kind of French food with rich sauces; rather, I love basic bistro-style food you can find in so many neighborhood restaurants that still exist in Paris. Chicken in wine with a crusty French bread and chocolate mousse for dessert is

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my idea for a great meal. But I find this mousse goes equally well with very American oven-fried chicken. (Garten, 2002, p. 81)

Like the narrative for Profiteroles, the expert voice in Chocolate Mousse represents authority of French food and intimacy of Parisian neighborhood restaurants

(“I have a weakness for French food”). The expert voice knows enough about French food to critique the “pinkies up” kind of French food and prefer the “basic bistro-style” food. The familiarity with French food itself is highbrow. That is, chicken in wine with

French bread and chocolate mousse may be an everyday meal for the author, but exotic and romantic for readers. Ina recognizes that her readers are American, many of whom have a fascination of French food, so she makes French food attainable to home cooks. The cookbook recipes and suggested pairings of chocolate mousse and “very”

American oven-fried chicken enable home cooks to eat like Ina and vicariously experience France.

The pairing of luxurious, high-brow foods with low-brow foods matches Ina’s cooking ideology of ‘earthy sophistication’ for Barefoot Contessa, her brand. Also, the fact that the recipe of fried chicken is in the same cookbook, as indicated with “(page

81)” in the Chocolate Mousse narrative, demonstrates Ina’s cooking style as both casual and elegant. Another example of making a familiar dish with a bit of French elegance is baking a brownie tart, a “very American pie in a French pan” (Garten, 2004, p. 206). Recipes beyond the cookbooks’ desserts chapters are also a blend of high and low foods, such as Potato Pancakes with Caviar: “There’s something wonderfully extravagant about putting caviar on an earthy potato pancake” (Garten, 2001, p. 169), and as Ina writes for Tuna and Hummus Sandwiches, “I love Belgium—their style in food and design are the perfect balance of country and elegance” (Garten, 2010, p. 98).

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Ina’s style of cooking is tastefully refined yet comfortable and further situates the author as a balance of the knowledgeable expert and approachable home cook.

5.2.1.2 Expert aligns with professionals

The expert voice is further manifested through alignment with professional chefs.

Ina credits her recipes to professional chefs and respected restaurants. For instance,

Lemon Angel Food Cake recipe is inspired by a pastry chef of a highly acclaimed restaurant and established family: “It comes from my friend Laura Donnelly, whose extraordinary family has been in East Hampton since the 1920s. She is now the wonderful pastry chef at the Laundry Restaurant in East Hampton, where I’ve enjoyed many delicious dinners” (Garten, 2002, p. 164). Ina translates her recipe into the terms of her assessment of her friend, who comes from an “extraordinary family,” is a

“wonderful pastry chef,” and prepares “many delicious dinners.”

Intertextuality also occurs when the recipe narrative makes explicit references to other texts, such as women’s lifestyle magazines. Ina contributes narrative and recipes to magazines such as O (Oprah’s magazine) and Martha Stewart Living Magazine

(Garten, 2002), both respected magazines with a female-dominant readership. The intertextuality suggests that consumers of those magazines are similar readers of Ina’s cookbooks. Several recipes are published a second time in Ina’s cookbooks, this time including the audience feedback from its original publication in the magazines. For instance, “This was definitely the most-requested recipe [Flag Cake] from my column in

Martha Stewart Living magazine” (Garten, 2002). The reference works to display the author’s popularity (“most-requested”), and aligns Ina with another famed expert

(Martha Stewart). This use of intertextuality adds a “horizontal” dimension in that it is

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“dialogical”; the text incorporates and responds to previous texts and anticipates those

which follow (see Fairclough, 1992, p. 103).

Ina’s cookbooks also indicate texts by other authors as a source of inspiration,

such as James Beard, “the icon of American cooking” (2008, p. 202), Sarah Leah

Chase, “who wrote one of my favorite cookbooks, Nantucket Open-House Cookbook”

(2008, p. 205), Cook’s Illustrated magazine (2008, p. 208), and the “wonderful

magazine Real Simple” (2012, p. 247). Including voices representing expertise indicates

that Ina had access to the ingroup and drives interpretations that are favorable to the

ingroup ideology, as represented in Ina’s cookbooks. The voices are presented

positively with “the icon of American cooking” and “wonderful,” for instance, that position

them positively and contextualize Ina’s recipes favorably. At the same time, external

references may be a strategy of objectivity by minimizing the author’s voice.

5.2.2 The Expert Voice and the Amateur Voice: Ree Drummond

Like Ina’s cookbooks, Ree’s cookbooks are characterized by both an expert and amateur voice. Different from Ina is Ree’s stronger presence of the amateur cook with the representation of frontier home cooking and the voices of other home cooks. Voices from family, church friends, and the local community are frequently reported. This foregrounding of home cooking may be due to her primary identity as mother and wife of a cattle rancher in a small Oklahoma town.

Ree’s expert voice occurs in reference to her blog and writing, but it is downplayed with minimizations. The introduction of her first cookbook narrates the beginnings of her cooking and recipe writing with the creation of her blog, The Pioneer

Woman. In a self-deprecating tone, typical to women, Ree’s “silly little stories” and

“homespun” recipes gained a following by “folks” who “came and read, continuing to

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thank me [Ree] for showing them the step-by-step instructions” (Drummond, 2009, pp.

4-5). Like Ina, she includes some recipes previously published on her website (“those that have received the most raves”) and includes new ones. Discourse about the positive feedback on her recipes adds credibility and constructs Ree’s expert voice as a successful recipe writer, cook, and blogger.

Throughout the text, the voice of the amateur cook is reported the most, supporting home cooking and sharing among church, family, and the community. The narrative continues emphasizing recipes done on “a whim” or “a lark” and includes non- professional voices such as Ree’s grandma Helen, her mother-in-law, Nan, a church friend Billie, her “BFF” Hyacinth (Best Friends Forever), friends including Ryan and

Sybil, and a “very kind soul” who gifted her a tin of brownies. In this discussion of how social practices are transformed in recontextualizations, Van Leeuwen (1996) suggests that social actors can be included (or excluded), personalized (or impersonalized), and when determined, social actors can be classified in terms of their identity and also identified by their function in society. Here the social actors are evaluated positively with affectionate terms (e.g. “friend”; “very kind soul”), transmitting ideological values of the home as a place of community and friendship. Furthermore, the texts constitute social identities of the author as a daughter, cowgirl, church attendee, and friend, suggesting that Ree’s audience is very different from Ina’s.

Secondary voices, such as those of Ree’s children, and fictional ones from the animals on her ranch also emerge. The primary voice from Ree gives them voice by writing text superimposed over the photos of her children and the animals. For instance, there is a caption beside a photo of her son Todd on horseback who is giving Ree a

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peace sign: “Peace, Bro. I mean Ma” (Drummond, 2012, p. 245). Another is of two cowboys (one of which is her husband) standing in a layer of snow out on the prairie.

The men are facing each other, mid-speech, as indicated by the text: “Cowboy

Consultation!” (Drummond, 2012, p. 240). These voices are backgrounded and given less prominence in the recipe narrative by their placement over photos and homely, informal typography. The words may be part of the representing discourse, but most likely are the voice of the author embedded in reported speech for ideological purposes.

By employing indirect reporting, the author is able to transform the actual words to serve group interests and fit her home cook voice (Fairclough, 1995). These secondary voices mark the social and familial role of the primary voice as a mother and cattle-rancher wife.

An examination of a particular recipe, Apple Dumplings, reveals a complex commingling of voices that illustrate social and class hierarchy.

(3) Apple Dumplings

This dessert came from my mom’s friend Donna, and when I made it for the first time, I did so on a lark. The ingredients were so out there...so crazy...I thought it had to be a joke. When I took my first bite, I couldn’t believe what I was experiencing. Some magical metamorphosis had occurred when the refrigerated crescent roll dough combined with the butter and the pop...it all turned into something that tasted like it came from a French bakery. I can hear you laughing. Stop that! Just try it. Just once. You’ll see what I mean. Oh, and one more thing: Do you say pop? Or soda? Or Coke? Inquiring minds want to know. Notes: You won’t believe how good these are. No, really. You seriously won’t believe it. (Drummond, 2012, p. 234, ellipses in original)

The narrative positions together five voices: the amateur cook (Ree), the home cook (Donna), the reader (who is reportedly laughing), “inquiring minds” (which could be

Ree and/or her children), and the expert voice (as represented by the French bakery).

Assuming the voice of a curious amateur cook, Ree narrates her surprise in the success

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of her recipes: “when I made it [apple dumplings] for the first time, I did so on a lark. The ingredients were so out there...so crazy...I thought it had to be a joke.” Ree’s doubtfulness of the recipe is preceded by report of a second voice that minimizes potential responsibility for culinary disaster: “This dessert came from my mom’s friend

Donna....” In that same recipe, the official voice, the highest standards of cooking-

French cooking- is also reported: “it [Apple Dumplings] all turned into something that tasted like it came from a French bakery,” and the reader is reported as being doubtful of the recipe: “I can hear you laughing. Stop that! Just try it. Just once.” It is unclear who the fifth voice, “inquiring minds,” is; nonetheless, it is likely to be Ree describing herself in the third-person. The voice could also represent her children as suggested by the plurality of “minds.”

These five voices form a heteroglossia, suggesting the coexistence of multiple points of view. The narrative puts the voices into dialogue, especially evident in the direct question posed by Ree to readers: “Do you say pop? Or soda? Or Coke?” The casual and apparent spontaneity of the question, along with its interactive element, is like a blog post. It is not uncommon for Ree to end her blog posts with a question to the reader and encourage a response. A social and class hierarchy is established with home cooking at the lower end with humble cooking techniques and cheap ingredients that contrast with French culture and cooking at the higher end, indicating that Ree addresses a middle to lower-class audience.

5.2.3 The Expert Voice and the Amateur Voice: Giada De Laurentiis

On the other hand, Giada De Laurentiis’ cookbooks have a dominant expert voice, which is the authority of Italian cooking. The voice is neutral in its description of

Italian ingredients and culinary traditions but also is indicative of Giada’s expertise and

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tastes. Italian cooking also indexes quality and skill, similar to Ina’s and Ree’s representation of French food. Her reminiscing of time spent in Italy validates her knowledge as an insider: limoncello cheese squares that are described as “ethereal squares” and “everyone’s favorite lemon bars” “remind me [Giada] of summers in Capri where they make the best limoncello” (De Laurentiis, 2006, p. 237).

In her few stories about growing up, Giada recalls certain recipes that her mother would make. Giada features the amateur voice through her mother who is portrayed as a resourceful home cook, not expert: “My mom was always very creative, coming up with desserts and ways to use the ingredients we had in the house” (De Laurentiis,

2012, p. 220), or “there was no way my mom was going to make four separate dishes...”

(De Laurentiis, 2012, p. 10). These references are part of Giada’s Weeknights with

Giada (2012) cookbook and contribute to Giada’s new role “as a busy working mother.”

Giada is aligned with home cooks through her mother and her own motherhood identity.

Other than references to Italian tradition, there are few other intertextual references in Giada’s cookbooks. Rarely are professional chefs, cookbooks, or mentors from her culinary training mentioned. Perhaps most interesting is the lack of narratives about Giada’s own previous cooking mistakes, framing her as ‘perfect’ and an expert in cooking. In this way, Giada’s voice is unchallenged and established as the most important.

Intertextuality can be manifested in Forewords, sections of text placed at the beginning of a book. Forewords are typically written by other well-known figures in the field who write an endorsement of the main author. Interestingly, only two cookbooks have Forewords, one each by Ina and Giada. Ina’s first cookbook (1999) has a foreword

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by Martha Stewart, and Giada’s first cookbook as well has a foreword by Mario Batali.

Both figures are considered to be leaders in their particular fields: Martha of stylish home entertaining and domestic arts, and Mario of Italian-American cooking and Food

Network celebrity chef. The forewords tell of their interaction with the primary authors, praising them and highlighting their unique styles. Unlike a preface, a foreword is always signed, validating the positive endorsement of the female celebrity chefs and their cookbook debut.

In sum, intertextuality is evident in cookbooks in the various ways that previous texts or voices are assimilated, contradicted, echoed, hidden, rephrased, etc. The overriding voice of the author acknowledges certain voices more over others; the official expert voice and the home amateur voice compete for representation. The expert voice takes precedence in Ina’s and Giada’s cookbooks, and the amateur voice in Ree’s cookbooks. The mixing and overlapping of voices add to the inherent ambivalence of intertextuality. Together the voices form hegemony, since “hegemony is about constructing alliances, and integrating rather than simply dominating subordinate classes, through concessions or through ideological means, to win their consent”

(Fairclough, 1992, p. 92). Although there is a consensus of a shared ideology, the voices range across levels of expertise and class. The divide between expert/amateur and high-brow/low-brow takes place on the pages of a cookbook, with unevenness between different levels.

5.3 Topics

All twenty-one cookbooks’ topics are characterized with a Discourse of fast and easy recipes directed to the home cook. The amount of effort and skill required of cooking is downplayed. The topics of cookbooks and the ways in which the authors link

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topics together can give insight into the preoccupations of ordinary life and the common

sense structuring of the lifeworld. In the selection of recipes, the cookbook authors

presume that readers a) have a busy lifestyle of work and family, b) demand recipes

that require minimal cooking and food preparation time, and c) want recipes that are

delicious and satisfying both to family and friends and to the home cooks themselves.

As the dominant participant, the author chooses which topics to introduce, often

according to an agenda agreed upon with the publisher and marketing agents.

Food is an important expression of identity, and the making and giving of food

seem to be closely related to gender-identity, specifically to femininity, and the experience of being a woman. The three cookbook authors express satisfaction in providing for others something they will enjoy and equate homemade food as fulfilling their identities as wife, mother, and friend. In this way, they support tradition, but at the same time, I find that there is an emphasis on the female home cook to enjoy cooking and eating for themselves. Thus, the celebrity chef cookbooks offer an alternative

Discourse to tradition by empowering women in the kitchen and in life to take care of

themselves.

Topic selection is utilized to carry out the cookbooks’ ideological purposes of

supporting traditional gender roles where everyday cooking in the home is still women’s

work. As to the topics included, the Discourse of the celebrity chef cookbooks revolved

around six themes: 1) Discourse of Cooking for Men and the Self, 2) Discourse of Time,

3) Discourse of Expertise, 4) Discourse of Authenticity, 5) Discourse of Control, and 6)

Discourse of Food and Feeding. In the following I discuss how the cookbooks

addressed each of these main Discourses. The second theme, Discourse of Time, is

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divided into two sections: Nostalgia for the Past and How to Live in Reality: Make it

Ahead or Faster.

5.3.1 Discourse of Cooking for Men and the Self

The three female celebrity chefs position the home cook as cooking food equally for others as much as for themselves. These cookbooks are written for how to cook for family and friends; thus, they transmit messages on who cooks for the family and guests, how and what food to prepare and serve to others, and why it is important.

Surprisingly, the data has frequent narrative about cooking for men, which at first seems to backtrack the advances done by feminism but in a historical context, echoes the adage “a way to a man’s heart is through his stomach.”

Consider for example, the narrative in the recipes written for the men of the house, as shown in (4), (5), (6) and (7). These recipes indicate the women’s affection for their husbands, but notably different from the past, they also convey women’s pleasure for desserts as well. Considering these examples in the larger context of a patriarchal and heterosexual society, the message encourages women to cook as an expression of love for others, especially men, yet also advances the feminist position by telling women that cooking is a source of enjoyment for oneself.

(4) Raspberry Pound Cake with Vin Santo Cream

Pound cakes may not be the flashiest cakes in the baker’s arsenal, but when you are craving something rich and satisfying, few things can beat them. Raspberries make this one special, with a tart tang and lovely flecks of fuchsia when you slice into the loaf. I dreamed this up for my husband, who is particularly fond of raspberries in his desserts, but now it’s become a year-round favorite with us both. Try the vin santo cream on poached fruit or even in a cup of strong coffee. It’s unusual but delicious. (De Laurentiis, 2010, pp. 187-188)

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The cookbook author presents men’s favorite dishes as more than just masculine favorites. Now, the dish takes on sentimental importance. Similar to Neuhaus’ (2003) analysis of cookbooks in the 1920s and 1930s, serving masculine favorites symbolizes a woman’s commitment to her marriage and to fulfilling her own domestic duties. This also symbolizes a woman’s commitment to supporting and nurturing the man of the house. In (4), by adding her husband’s favorite berries to the cake, Giada reinforces the same kind of gender and domestic ideology that had been shaping cookbooks since

1920s: the ideal of a wife and mother who provided all the daily meals for her family and enjoyed doing so (see Neuhaus, 2003). The idealized woman gladly cooks, and in this case, provides expert cookery advice to others to do likewise.

Giada also depicts food preparation as both a means to please men and oneself.

Indeed, the rhetoric shifts from pleasing others to finding pleasure in food and appreciating its aesthetics. In (4), “it’s become a year-round favorite with us both,” suggests that the pound cake is just as much a favorite dessert for the author as it is for her husband. The raspberries that please her husband also make the cake tasty and pretty. The recipe itself supports the cookbook author in every way: baked goods convey the ideal devoted wife, the extra care in flavor and presentation indicate the expert chef, and her pleasure of the dessert demonstrates that readers should enjoy the eating too.

Similarly, cookbooks by Ina describe cooking for men that is in line with traditional Discourse but also in contention. The narrative stresses the importance of the

(female) home cook to cook for themselves. Ina describes men as being partial to

“nursery desserts,” or comfort foods from childhood. Nursery desserts—custards,

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puddings, bread and butter puddings, tapioca—with origins in 19th century England, conjure childhood affection for warm, comforting, and creamy desserts (Claiborne,

1977). In her essay on Food and Emotion, Lupton (1996) explores the relationship between memory and the emotional dimension of food. She explains the recent popularity of nursery food such as cottage pie and steamed puddings at expensive and sophisticated restaurants is linked to the longing of childhood (p. 320).

By making the recipe, the home cook stirs up nostalgic memories for men and women and pleasant times from their upbringing. These cookbooks reinforce the notion that men enjoy eating particular kinds of food, rhetoric not so unlike the wartime cookbooks when men appeared in cookery instruction as soldiers far from home, dreaming about the apple pie their mothers used to make (Neuhaus, 2003).

(5) Rum Raisin Rice Pudding

Men, especially, love nursery desserts, but rice pudding can be really boring. For this recipe, don’t think rice pudding, think rum raisin ice cream, because it borrows its flavor from my favorite Häagen-Dazs ice cream. (Garten, 2002, p. 147)

What is interesting about this particular narrative is that it exemplifies an overarching ideology that values men’s opinions and tastes but also gives the female home cook power by adapting the recipe to her own preferences. The cookbook author encourages readers to update “really boring” dishes with their favorite flavors (“it borrows its flavors from my favorite Häagen-Dazs ice cream”). The attitude of the cook is important (“don’t think rice pudding, think rum raisin ice cream”); home cooks are shown how to keep from being bored in the kitchen and gain a sense of culinary competence and creativity by creating a new dish.

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Cooking for men may subvert roles by giving women power, which contrasts with traditional Discourse. In a study of dinner roles of American women, Inness (2001) finds that in the first half of the 1900s, cookbooks indicated to women that good cooking directly translated into material rewards for women, whether that meant matrimony or a mink coat (p. 34). Cooking food to please men will presumably lead to rewards for their endeavors. In contrast, the Discourse in (6) emphasizes the advantage that women can have by making the recipe.

(6) Knock You Naked Brownies

I was once gifted with a tin of brownies by a very kind soul. It was a tin of Killer Brownies from Dorothy Lane Market in Dayton, Ohio. And these weren’t just any brownies: They were multilayered wonders with gorgeous caramel oozing out of the center layer. And the flavor: to die for! I ate them over a period of several days, more despondent with each bite that I was one step closer to being without them. They were one of the best things I’d ever tasted. While an official recipe for the Dorothy Lane Killer Brownie is not available, this classic old layered brownie recipe is rumored to be a very close match. (For the record, I have no clue as to the origin of this recipe name. But that’s probably just as well.) Notes: These are absolutely killer, my friends. Make them for someone you really, really love...or someone you want to love you back. It’ll work. I guarantee it. Um! You said ‘naked’! [Text over a picture of horse] (Drummond, 2012, p. 260)

The text indicates a way for readers to gain power in a relationship. The narrative instructs readers to “Make them for someone you really, really love...or someone you want to love you back.” This is similar to the narrative Ina gives for Crème Brûlée as the ultimate ‘guy’ dessert: “Make it and he’ll follow you anywhere” (Garten, 2004, p. 222), or for Challah French Toast: “And your family will love you” (Garten, 2002, p. 187). The promise of power and persuasion of the cook is reinforced twice in the excerpt with the two statements of assurance: “It’ll work. I guarantee it.” The cookbook depicts cooking as rewarding emotionally to women by providing decadence in “multilayered wonders” of flavor, by nourishing the ones they love, and ultimately by empowering them in the

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kitchen. The title “Knock You Naked Brownies” further frames the intended recipient as

at the mercy of the cook. Being naked is to be in a state of vulnerability, giving the home

cook leverage.

This power play though is not questioned because the author offers a less

aggressive name for the recipe. Ree claims ignorance about the origin of the recipe

name, Killer Brownies: “(For the record, I have no clue as to the origin of this recipe

name. But that’s probably just as well).” Ree’s coined term “Knock You Naked

Brownies” instead offers a less violent image as a metaphor for how the recipient’s

willpower is weakened when eating the brownies. Added humor also deflects possible criticism of the celebrity chef: “Um! You said ‘naked!’” is placed next to a picture of a

horse. By explicitly calling out the contentious word “naked” but from the voice of an

animal, the writer paradoxically hides the shift in power between men, the targeted

recipients, and women, the imagined reader and home cook. Through denial and

humor, the writer subverts traditional roles by giving women the upper hand in a

relationship with others.

Following traditional discourse, cooking is framed as a tool of power for women

to lure men as suggested further in other recipe narratives: “Warning: If you make this

for a dude, he will love you forever. So make sure the dude is someone you don’t mind

loving you forever. Otherwise it could be a little inconvenient” writes Ree humorously in

Steakhouse Pizza (Drummond, 2012, p. 142) and in Chicken-Fried Steak: “when I make this for the cowboys for lunch, they moan and groan as if they’ve finally come home.

When I make it for Marlboro Man for dinner, he moans and groans...because he is home. Then he proposes to me seventeen times. And we’re already married!”

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(Drummond, 2010, p. 142, italics in original). Food plays an important role in relationships and can be used strategically by women to gain affection, admiration, and loyalty from their man.

The sexual entendres found in the narrative of recipes recall historical connections between food and sex. Both food and sex provide bodily pleasures with food potentially substituting for sex, as Andrews (2003) observes in an analysis of contemporary British cooking shows: “The sexual connotations of eating, now included in many cookery programs, enable eating to serve as a substitute for sex. An acknowledgement of the bodily pleasures that food offers carries with it an implication of the bodily pleasures of sexuality” (pp. 192-193). Cookbooks also articulate connections between food and sex, as illustrated in (7).

(7) Pomegranate and Mint Sorbet

Like raspberries and chocolate, pomegranate and chocolate make a very sexy couple, and they give this sorbet a little more body and interest than your basic fruit flavors. Its sweet-tart flavor is refreshing on a hot day, and the mint syrup has a real cooling effect. (De Laurentiis, 2010, p. 197)

Food is anthropomorphized as a “very sexy couple” with pomegranate and chocolate symbolically representing a woman and a man. Together they give a “little more body and interest” compared to a single person, or “your basic fruit flavors.” The union of the two flavors—sweet and tart—is celebrated for its “refreshing” effect on a

“hot day.” The added fluid and stimulating taste of the mint syrup have a “real cooling effect.” The contrasting of foods, colors, tastes, and temperatures suggest the dichotomous (and steamy) relationship between men and women.

These contemporary female celebrity chef cookbooks offer a new Discourse about women, cooking, and sexual pleasure. Other female celebrity chef cookbooks

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have been noted to embed food and cooking in a lifestyle of sensual pleasures, perhaps

most famously cookbooks by British celebrity cookbook author and cooking show host

Nigella Lawson (Hewer & Brownlie, 2009; Johnston, Rodney, & Chong, 2014). This self-

gratifying approach to food differs from traditional ways of “doing gender” by serving

others (West & Zimmerman, 1987).

In the past, traditional domestic ideology conveyed messages to women that only

by cooking can a woman achieve true feminine completion. In a study of domestic

ideology and cookbooks in modern America, Neuhaus (2003) makes a comparison of the messages sent to women in both cookbooks and marital sex manuals:

In the 1950s psychiatrists and cultural commentators spent considerable energy attempting to convince women that only by being a wife and mother—and nothing else—could a woman achieve true feminine completion. Marital sex manuals insisted that only by embracing the notion of motherhood could a woman enjoy real orgasmic fulfillment.... Cookbooks added their own kind of domestic prescriptions to the popular literature that urged women to focus entirely on their family’s welfare, for the good of their families and for the nation. (Neuhaus, 2003, p. 223)

In contrast to the past, the discourse of contemporary cookbooks encourages

women to take pleasure in domestic duties and to take care of themselves. Giada’s

latest cookbooks most dramatically illustrate the Discourse of women prioritizing

themselves. In Giada’s Feel Good Food (2013), the narrative is not purely a cookbook

but also a lifestyle guide, as Giada shares personal information like her exercise and

daily skin routine that her fans can add to their lifestyle too. Giada writes: “Above all,

give your body a bit more attention; plan your meals a little better, and your body will

reward you tenfold. I promise you will smile more and you will enjoy life more because

you will feel better!” (De Laurentiis, 2013, p. 17). The whole body-mind concept

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continues to be an important discourse in her recent cookbook, Happy Cooking: Making

Every Meal Count...Without Stressing Out (De Laurentiis, 2015).

5.3.2 Discourse of Time

The cookbooks illustrate Discourse of Time and provide examples of how the media defines women’s experience of time, especially women’s lack of it. There is a

sense of nostalgia for the past when times were simpler and slower, but also a plan for

today’s busier lifestyle with preparation and make-ahead meals. The added

expectations that women still have to conduct the majority of the domestic

responsibilities even as they are pursuing careers are linked to sociocultural practices

and reveals historical changes with increased societal pressures. This next section discusses the Discourse surrounding the past as well as the present and future:

Nostalgia for the past and How to live in reality: Make it ahead or faster.

5.3.2.1 Nostalgia for the past

There is a strong relationship between memory and the emotional dimension of food. The taste, smell, and texture of food serve to trigger memories of previous food events and experiences around food. There is a famous and oft-quoted scene in Marcel

Proust’s work Remembrance of Things Past (1913-1927) in which the protagonist dips madeleine biscuits in tea and is transported back to his childhood. The intertextual reference is made explicit in Ina’s Coconut Madeleines: “They’re [the coconut madeleines] rich little pound cakes in the form of a shell, and Marcel Proust famously reminisced about dipping them into his tea as a child” (Garten, 2004, p. 212). Food and memories are highly individual; as for Ina, the madeleines do not evoke any sentimentalism, only a problem: “Unfortunately, these taste best right out of the oven; but if they dry out, you can always dip them in your tea” (Garten, 2004, p. 212).

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Cooking in the kitchen provides an escape from the constraints of time and

retreat into the past of memory and nostalgia. The celebrity chef cookbooks add to the

Discourse of nostalgia being circulated by other cookbooks, such as The Back in the

Day Bakery Cookbook (Day & Day, 2012), Back in the Day Bakery Made with Love

(Day & Day, 2015), Vintage Cakes (Richardson, 2012), and The Beekman 1802

Heirloom Dessert Cookbook (Ridge & Kilmer-Purcell, 2013). The cookbooks offer a

vicarious experience of America’s past with charming and homey desserts, such as one

narrated in a recipe by Ree (8).

(8) Apple Brown Betty

Apple Brown Betty is a very old, ridiculously easy throw-together dessert that must have been invented once upon a time in order to use up day-old bread. I love its simplicity, and I absolutely love how comforting and down- home it is. I’ve learned Apple Brown Betty is best if you use grainy wheat bread—but use whatever extra bread you might have lying around. Every time I make it, I can’t help but feel like I’m living in a simpler time. Then I hear my cell phone ringing and I am violently thrust back into reality. Notes: Dish up a generous portion of Apple Brown Betty onto a plate…And drizzle on the cream. Warm, sweet, comfort food. Life doesn’t get much better than this. (ellipses in original, Drummond, 2012, p. 250)

The Discourse of Time in the celebrity chef cookbooks suggests that the act of

cooking itself also conjures up emotions felt at times when a meal was prepared and

eaten. Preparing food causes the cook to look forward to the results in anticipation of an

emotional outcome. For instance, when baking the dessert (“every time I make it”), Ree

is transported to the past (“once upon a time”) and becomes nostalgic for a “simpler time.” Ree loves the dessert for its “simplicity” and for “how comforting and down-home

it is.” Similarly, when eating the dessert, Ree has feelings of “warmth” and “comfort,”

showing that women should enjoy eating. This pleasant portrayal of the past is

contrasted with a negative one of the present: “Then I hear my cell phone ringing and I

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am violently thrust back into reality.” The past does not have the (aggressive) demands

of the present, nor of technology (e.g. represented by the cell phone) that ironically has

made life more time-efficient but also more complex.

A second example that further contrasts the Discourse of Time between the present and past is the distinction between fast and time-intensive recipes. Quick and

easy dishes are equated with a modern way of life versus the more relaxed, leisurely

days of the past. The introduction of Giada at Home narrates:

Some nights (or mornings in the case of brunch) allow for a bit more time, and more relaxed approach to cooking and eating. That’s when I think back to the recipes I still remember fondly from my childhood, or have since discovered on my travels throughout Italy. (De Laurentiis, 2010, p. 10)

This contrasts to the description of the author’s present lifestyle when

“sometimes, after a long day, a flavorful pasta or a substantial salad is all any of us needs or wants” (De Laurentiis, 2010, p. 10). Childhood and the past are portrayed positively and “fondly,” as having “more time” and being “more relaxed” while the

present is demanding of one’s time and energy with “long” days. Even with busy

schedules, the discourse suggests that women should take care of themselves by

cooking a “flavorful pasta” or a “substantial salad” to meet their emotional and physical

well-being.

The Discourse of Time reflects contemporary women’s anxieties of time with

nostalgia for an imagined past when there seemed to be ample time to conduct daily

activities. Giada imagines such a time when “I could happily wile away hours shopping

at a local market and then cooking a three-course meal for dinner” (De Laurentiis, 2012,

p. 9). This nostalgia is heightened with today’s scarcity of time, whether perceived or real. Giada exclaims that “I definitely don’t have time anymore to cook for hours every

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day” (De Laurentiis, 2012, p. 9). Ina too recognizes that “like everyone else, I have so

much going on that it’s hard to find a whole day to cook just for the fun of it” (Garten,

2014, p. 11); but, rather than dwelling on the past and the ‘good old days’ like Ree and

Giada, Ina solves the dilemma by learning what to cook in advance and what to do last

minute. This topic of make ahead recipes will be explored in the next section.

The Discourse of Nostalgia offers a retreat from the complexities of time

management and scarcity and from juggling roles (wife, mother, celebrity) and the potential for feelings of comfort and security while connected with scenarios that maintain a sense of tradition. Cooking, like the consumption of food itself, has the power to generate emotions and memories from the past. The yearning for another time in which things seem simpler and less contradictory contrasts with the present that is constituted by a complex lifestyle. Despite the lack of time, the cookbooks represented the counter-hegemonic discourse by reporting to cook for the self and enjoy eating. The discourse recognizes the pressure that women feel to do things faster and their need for fast, easy recipes, as the following section discusses.

5.3.2.2 How to live in reality: Make it ahead or faster

Although there is a Discourse that yearns for the past, there is an

acknowledgement about the demands of contemporary living. The Discourse of Time

values preparation and time management, as evidenced with the number of make-

ahead dishes and quick dishes and the recurring themes of fast, delicious, and easy

recipes, noted earlier in the Chapter 4 Textual Analysis.

Joining the popular genre of make-ahead cookbooks—Better Homes and

Gardens Make-Ahead Meals (2015), America’s Test Kitchen: The Make-Ahead Cook

(2014), Cook’s Illustrated The Best Make-Ahead Recipe (2007), and Fix-it and Forget-it

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Cookbook slow-cooker cookbook series (Good, 2007-2015)—is Ina’s Make It Ahead: A

Barefoot Contessa Cookbook (Garten, 2014). Ina writes that the cookbook is a response to the demands of home cooks for recipes that can be made ahead.

Subsequently, Ina states her intent: “I didn’t just want to write recipes that were okay when they’re made ahead, I wanted to write recipes that were actually better if they’re made ahead” (Garten, 2014, p. 12, italics original). Here, Ina frames other cookbooks’ make-ahead recipes as “okay” and promotes her own cookbooks with recipes that are

“actually better.” Besides the marketing content, the recipes provide practical directions of what to make in advance and what to do at the last minute, such as: “You can make this rich chocolate cake in advance or bake the cake, freeze it, and then make the frosting the day you want to serve it” (Garten, 2014, p. 199). Recognizing the reality of time constraints, the cookbooks offer solutions to the home cook living a modern, fast- paced lifestyle.

Time is particularly pressing for women who start to have children. The celebrity chef cookbooks offer solutions in how to manage the demands of raising a family but also the work of cooking. The cookbooks by Giada exemplify the experience felt by many new mothers:

In just the past year or two, my daughter, Jade, who turns four this year, started eating real dinners. Those first couple years were such a whirlwind of baby food, different meal times, naps, and early bedtimes that I couldn’t have imagined the day my husband, Todd, Jade, and I would all sit down together to eat a real dinner! (De Laurentiis, 2012, pp. 9-10)

Continuing, Giada emphasizes that “I look forward to our dinners and to spending as much time together at the table as possible” and in order to do so, she changes her cooking: “So I’ve really shaken up my weeknight repertoire to include only dishes that I can pull together after a full day” (De Laurentiis, 2012, p. 10). Even as a celebrity who

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has resources to off-load domestic duties, Giada appears to bear the same

responsibilities of the home life typical to other women. She expresses time and energy

constraints, appealing to other women, especially working mothers. Women without

children are also busy, as Ina writes: “One of my great pleasures is cooking a wonderful

meal for Jeffrey and my friends; but, like everyone else, I have so much going on that

it’s hard to find a whole day to cook just for the fun of it” (Garten, 2014, p. 11). The

female celebrity chefs show that they, like home cooks, do not always have the luxury of

cooking for fun but out of necessity, and they have to change their cooking to meet the

demands of life.

The cookbooks add to the Discourse of Time articulated in other female celebrity

chef cookbooks, such as cookbooks written by Rachael Ray who is known for her time-

sensitive cooking style with themes such as 30 Minute Meals (1999), Rachael Ray’s

Express Lane Meals (2006), and Rachael Ray: Just in Time (2007). Another Food

Network star, Sandra Lee, is also a prolific cookbook writer with cookbooks designed for

“super-quick” meals: Semi-Homemade 20-Minute Meals (2006), Semi-Homemade 20-

Minute Meals 2 (2007), and Semi-Homemade Fast-Fix Family Favorites (2008). Ree’s latest book, The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Dinnertime! (Drummond, 2015), includes a section of 16-minute meals and freezer-friendly food. In contrast, there are significantly fewer cookbooks written by men that emphasize time, especially those by male celebrity chefs, suggesting that their (male) audience cook for leisure and as a hobby.

In sum, the female celebrity chef cookbooks expose anxieties about and offer solutions for how women (and men) should manage time. Contemporary representations of domesticity in cookbooks present the home as affected by the

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temporal logic of the working world. By interrogating the Discourse of Time in the

cookbooks from this study, the analysis shows that the present is portrayed as anxiety-

ridden with limited time, energy, and patience for cooking. Easy, fast and make-ahead

recipes are regarded highly, and in particular demand by working moms. In contrast, the

past is described with nostalgia and is portrayed as simple and comforting. Cooking is

part of this food/memory/emotion link in that the act itself is a reenactment of past times; cooking becomes a means of self-fortification and restoration.

5.3.3 Discourse of Expertise

As a manual, cookbooks utilize a discourse that instructs readers on how to prepare and cook food. But more than that, cookbooks by celebrity chefs encourage readers to learn and adopt a particular ideology and way of life. To gain their readers’ trust, linguistic strategies are used to construct the cookbook authors’ role as culinary expert with readers. These strategies include narratives about cooking experiences, the promise of perfect recipes, the relaying of personal preferences, and instructive anecdotes.

The Discourse of Expertise emphasizes recipes as tested and credible to build readers’ trust in the cookbook author’s knowledge and skill. Recipes are perfected through trial-and-error: “At Barefoot Contessa, we [Ina and staff] made what seemed like millions of brownie pies over twenty-five years” (Garten, 2004, p. 208); “at Barefoot

Contessa,...we would bake 2,000 muffins on a Saturday morning and they would all be gone by 9:30 am” (Garten, 2002, p. 174); “I’ve [Ina] made all of these recipes dozens of times before” (Garten, 2012, p. 12); “I [Ina] made pies for a week...until I arrived at what

I think is the quintessential apple pie” (Garten, 2002, p. 158). Perfection and success in following the recipes are promised in if/then clauses: “Follow these tips and you’ll have

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delicious, flaky pie crust every time” (Garten, 2002, p. 161); recipes are tested, so “that

you can get the recipes right not just the first time but every time you make them”

(Garten, 2012, p. 12). The appeal for readers to “trust” the celebrity chefs is also evident

in cookbook titles, such as Ina’s cookbooks: Barefoot Contessa Foolproof: Recipes You

Can Trust (Garten, 2012) and Barefoot Contessa at Home: Everyday Recipes You’ll

Make Over and Over Again (Garten, 2006), six years prior. The cookbook discourse is

convincing with proof of the celebrity’s experience and expertise and discourse of

“foolproof” recipes that readers will want to make “over and over again.”

The Discourse of Expertise also indicates recipes as credible by referencing tradition. Recipes that are passed down the family suggest tested and valuable recipes, a discourse particularly evident in Giada’s cookbooks: “I come from a long line of great cooks and eaters” (De Laurentiis, 2012); “I’m carrying on a family tradition” (De

Laurentiis, 2005); “I try not to alter these [childhood] recipes too much, preferring to prepare the dishes much as Italian mothers have been doing for hundreds of years, and

sharing a little bit of my family history with Jade” (De Laurentiis, 2010, p. 10); a recipe is

inspired from family trips to Italy: “When my family and I made trips back to Italy to visit

my grandfather’s family in Naples, his sisters often made one of these impressive timbales” (De Laurentiis, 2008, p. 92). Aligning herself with her Italian family, Giada constructs a Discourse of Expertise in Italian cooking. Learning how to cook family recipes and cooking for one’s family are considered ways of continuing family traditions and are regarded as a particularly “womanly responsibility” (DeVault, 1991, p. 108) as they are passed down through the women (e.g. “Italian mothers”; “his sisters”).

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Once winning readers’ trust with consistently successful recipes, the discourse works to construct the celebrity’s expertise in taste. The three authors’ use of I seems to assume the role of the person actually producing the talk and is responsible for the words. Specifically, references to personal preferences are foregrounded to emphasize the expert voice: “I love the espresso beans that are covered in chocolate” (Garten,

2002, p. 141); “I have a weakness for French food” (Garten, 2002, p. 166); “I love desserts...” (De Laurentiis, 2010, p. 194); “Without a doubt, coffee is my favorite flavor of ice cream” (Drummond, 2012, p. 270). Women’s use of the first person pronoun and first person possessive pronoun gives the impression of their maturity, decisiveness, and refined palate that establishes culinary authority in the narration of achievements:

“If I do say so myself, this is the ultimate chocolate chip cookie. I made five hundred of them for my wedding” (De Laurentiis, 2006, p. 220); “For me, this is the quintessential cheesecake” (Garten, 2002, p. 134).

Pronouns used to index the self, such as I, myself, and me, show alignments with achievements, e.g. expert baker and caterer. The use of first person is more characteristic of men’s language, especially in the stress on achievement (Coates,

2003, p. 35). Nonetheless, linguistic expressions such as “if I do say so myself” and “for me” function as hedges and soften the declarations, a strategy of negative politeness.

The personal pronouns anchor the recipe in the moment and offer subjectivity, constructing a personal, private view of the celebrity. This contrasts with a third-person voice that distances itself from the author’s personal voice to a more understood general statement, such as: “Pound cakes are perennially popular because they are such good keepers” (De Laurentiis, 2008, p. 188). By making the desserts that they like,

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the celebrity cookbook writers influence others to share similar tastes. At a critical level, this is potentially manipulative if readers are not aware of the celebrity’s influence on their own tastes and buying patterns.

The use of rhetorical questions also characterizes the discourse of expertise. For instance, readers are asked, “What more could you ask for?” (Drummond, 2012, p.

269); “Is there anything better in the world?” (Drummond, 2010, p. 266); “Why would you want to?” (Garten, 2002, p. 134); “Who would hate that?” (Garten, 2002, p. 144);

“It’s sweet and always leaves a smile on my face, which as far as I’m concerned is really the whole point of any good dessert, isn’t it?” (De Laurentiis, 2010, p. 170); “I have nothing against store-bought desserts, but if you take the trouble to serve a delicious homemade meal, why leave your guests with a memory of dessert from a box?” (De Laurentiis, 2006, p. 214). These questions appear to offer readers an opportunity to agree or disagree, yet there is an expectation of a shared response.

Hedges and tags, such as isn’t it, are typical of women’s language and ways to create connection and establish intimacy (Holmes, 1995; Lakoff, 1975). The implicit assumption is that the individual is missing out on the best part of the eating experience, and that unless an experienced chef provides advice on what to eat, one would have difficulty in making a good food choice.

The Discourse of Expertise is further demonstrated through stories about cooking mistakes made by others.

Several years ago, a friend of mine decided to impress her new husband by making him Thanksgiving dinner. She prepared the turkey, put it in the oven, and said, ‘Let’s take a walk while the turkey cooks.’ When she came back to baste the turkey an hour later she found that she couldn’t open the oven door; apparently, instead of setting the oven on ‘bake,’ she had set it on ‘clean’! ‘Patti! What did you do?’ I asked her. ‘Well,’ she replied, ‘I

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served the turkey with lots of gravy. It was very clean!’ (When Disaster Strikes, Garten, 2002, p. 25, italics original)

Anecdotes of others’ cooking “disasters” construct the expertise of the celebrity

chef. The retelling of another’s cooking mishaps, in this case Patti’s “very clean” turkey,

and not Ina’s, offsets potential critique of the celebrity’s own cooking, retaining her reputation as an excellent cook. The cookbook authors have already worked out the problems in the recipes or solved “disaster” dinner parties and through the cookbooks, offer solutions for the home cook to follow.

The Discourse of Expertise constructs celebrity chefs as authorities in cooking and taste. The celebrity chef discourse is characterized by men’s language with assertive claims and displays of experience, yet at the same time uses politeness strategies typical of women, such as hedges and tag questions, to appeal to women readers and minimize imposition (Tannen, 1990). Anecdotes illustrate indirectly how readers can handle difficult situations in cooking and entertaining.

This study suggests that tags and hedges, while found to be weakeners in research, are potentially power plays. Celebrities are the most powerful persons in the communication mediated through the cookbook text with their readers; using tag questions can make them more approachable and influential in a covert way. The powerful position precedes the effect of the language; that is, the form itself is not inherently characteristic of women’s language, rather to what purpose it is used for that empowers or weakens one’s discourse.

5.3.4 Discourse of Authenticity

A Discourse of Authenticity is particularly relevant for this study on celebrity chef cookbooks since celebrities are viewed as carefully crafted personas by the media. This

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could lead to mistrust and cynicism from their readers. However, the celebrities try to dispel this illusion and emphasize that their cookbooks represent who they really are and what they really cook and eat. A CDA approach combined with a social semiotics approach (Kress and Van Leeuwen, 2006) suggests that the images also disseminate ideological values.

To stress her realness, Ree provides several images of her kitchen as a total mess in the final pages in The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Recipes from an Accidental

Country Girl (2009) and The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Food from My Frontier (2012).

Dirty dishes are stacked precariously, a counter is laden with used measuring cups and cooking utensils, and a sink is overflowing. The text “Keepin’ it real” illustrates the purpose of the image; she is not perfect and has dirty dishes like every other home cook. Additional narrative further denies presuppositions held by readers: “Not everything in my kitchen is smooth sailing. Never has been...never will be. And I’ve got the pictures to prove it” (Drummond, 2009, p. 238).

The subtitle of Ree’s first cookbook—”Accidental”—suggests unplanning or mishap. These signs of imperfection close the distance between Ree the celebrity and

Ree the home cook, suggesting that the cookbook is of the real Ree. The transparency that Ree tries to portray is a way to gain trust from readers and relay authenticity.

While professing to love cooking, Ina admits that it is not always easy or fun.

Constructing an intimate exchange between readers and herself, Ina writes: “I love to cook—I find it really satisfying—but between you and me, it’s not always easy. Between the shopping, the cooking, and cleaning up it can be hard work to actually get dinner on the table” (Garten, 2012, p. 11). She treats readers like confidants, asking that the

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information remains “between you and me.” While the first person pronoun is apparent in the Discourse of Expertise, here it is also used along with the second person pronoun in the Discourse of Authenticity and contributes to the construction of “synthetic personalization,” which Fairclough (1989) defines as “a compensatory tendency to give the impression of treating each of the people ‘handled’ en masse as an individual” (p.

52). Readers are privileged to Ina’s feelings and feel like they ‘know’ her.

Yet, as Fairclough (1989) points out, the dialogue is fictitious since the communication is one way. While addressed directly, readers are unable to answer back. Potentially, this use of second person pronoun is manipulative in the sense that it induces readers to believe that there is a form of dialogic equality between the celebrity and themselves. Like the findings about tag questions above, the use of the second person pronoun minimizes the asymmetric power relation. However, the celebrity’s power is not necessarily weakened. In admitting that cooking can be hard, especially from their prominent position, the celebrity chefs enhance their appeal to readers with a

Discourse of Authenticity.

The simulated friendship between celebrity and fans continues with self- disclosures that add to the Discourse of Authenticity. The subtitle of Giada’s cookbook

Giada’s Feel Good Food: My Healthy Recipes and Secrets (De Laurentiis, 2013) suggests that Giada is revealing at last what fan desire most to know of her. “The number one question I’m asked by fans of my television shows and cookbooks is,”

Giada writes in the introduction, “‘How do you stay so trim?’ This book is my answer. It’s a personal look into how I keep my body and my mind in a happy and healthy balance!”

(De Laurentiis, 2013, p. 9). Keeping a “balanced” life takes a traditional view of women.

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In her cookbook, Giada shares her secrets for staying fit and feeling great, highly

requested information by her readers. Presenting the self-revealing information as a

“secret,” the celebrity increases the value of the content. While self-disclosure typically places the speaker in a vulnerable position, here Giada exercises control over what information and to whom she shares the information. In this way, secrets are an interactional resource, what Goffman (1971) describes is part of an “information

preserve” from whom other individuals are excluded (pp. 38-40). Giada constructs

herself as a position of power; as Simmel (1950, p. 332, reprinted in Schiffrin, 1984, p.

332) observes:

The secret gives one a position of exception: it operates as a purely socially determined attraction. It is basically independent of the content it guards but, of course is increasingly effective in the measures in which the exclusive possession is vast and significant.

But, as Schiffrin notes: “The value of the secrets lies in their betrayal: ‘The

moment of dissipation lets one enjoy with extreme intensity the value of the object’”

(Simmel, 1950, p. 333, reprinted in Schiffrin, 1984, p. 332). Privy to her “secrets,”

readers are drawn in, eager to know what contributes to Giada’s glamour and beauty. A

new level of intimacy is suggested between Giada and her fans.

The Discourse of Authenticity is repeated also throughout Ree’s narrative.

Statements such as “in the interest of full disclosure, I should tell you that...”

(Drummond, 2013, p. 221), “trust me, chocoholics” (Drummond, 2013, p. 374), and “I’m

so glad we had this talk” (Drummond, 2013, p. 312) indicate honesty and transparency.

The confessional-nature of her narrative suggests that Ree is revealing personal facts

that she would ostensibly prefer to keep hidden. For instance, in Gingerbread House

Cookies, she writes:

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I have a confession to make. A Christmas confession. But I’m not going to tell you what it is unless you promise to love me no matter what. Do you promise? Okay. Here goes: I am not the sort of mother who constructs three-dimensional gingerbread houses with her children. Are you still there? Oh, whew. Good! I feel so much better having finally come clean. (And I love you, too, by the way.) (Drummond, 2013, p. 318, italics original)

In this pseudo-dialogue, the celebrity chef bargains with readers. She will indulge only if readers promise to “love” her unconditionally, a love that she later returns to readers. Ree confesses that she is not the “sort of” mother who excels at traditionally female and domestic activities, such as decorating and crafting. Many female readers would be able to identify with Ree as not meeting this ideal construction of a stay-at- home mom and align themselves even more strongly with the celebrity.

The Discourse of Authenticity illustrates several characteristics of women’s language in the celebrity chef cookbooks. The relaying of secrets and confessions suggest that the celebrity is revealing her “real” self and takes off the “mask” in

Goffman’s term. Readers feel connected with the author and are more likely to trust someone they feel like they know. By privileging the reader to supposedly unknown and perhaps unpopular information, the celebrity increases her influence and power. The

Discourse of Authenticity is actually the Discourse of “false” Authenticity.

5.3.5 Discourse of Control

This section addresses the Discourse of Control and how it contributes to the construction of hegemonic gender roles that indicates an ideal way of being feminine and how it relates to one’s food and eating practices. In the U.S., control is not just about one’s consumption. It is about gendered eating in terms of what and how much is consumed and in what way.

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Eating practices become a prime site of debate about what constitutes individual control and what constitutes moral behavior, turning into judgements about a ‘good’ or

‘bad’ person and a ‘good’ or ‘bad’ food. Certain foods are labeled negatively or positively, with a strong correlation of gender and the consumption of ‘bad food’ (e.g. soft drinks, fast food, confections). Men tend to be given permission to eat ‘bad’ foods while women are to monitor their food consumption and are more conscious of the consequences on their weight and appearance (Fuller et al., 2013). The cookbooks also suggest different dishes for each gender, such as Pasta with Tomato Cream Sauce which “is equally delicious on its own (for me) or next to a juicy steak (for my husband)”

(Drummond, 2012, p. 139) and His/Her Burgers which are equated to “Boys= bacon, cheese, and spice” and “Girl=anything, because we women are, like, soooo adaptable”

(Drummond, 2012, p. 160). Men are characterized as meat-eaters while women are shown to eat lighter and open to more diverse dishes.

The female celebrity chef cookbooks respond to the gendered hegemonic construction of Control in their narratives about desserts. The cookbooks were consistent in their ideology that desserts can be enjoyed and are a source of pleasure.

However, there was variation in their views on Control by also encouraging the opposite of control: indulgence. Barefoot Contessa cookbooks emphasized the pleasures of eating, such as the rewards of baking smells or perfect combination of ingredients and rarely had narrative about guilt or control; Giada cookbooks approved of “daily treats,” but emphasized constraint with small servings; The Pioneer Woman Cooks cookbooks represented the counter-hegemonic discourse in the Discourse of Control by encouraging regular indulgence despite acknowledged feelings of guilt.

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5.3.5.1 Discourse of Control: When to eat desserts

Consistent across all three cookbook authors was the legitimacy of desserts for

special occasions. Inclement weather for instance allowed the practice of indulgence: “I

whipped up this one bitterly cold afternoon a couple of years ago when we couldn’t

leave our home because of the snowdrifts. I don’t always add the booze...but it’s extra

good when I do” (Drummond, 2012, p. 232, ellipses in original). For a “Snow Day”

themed party, Ina has a menu with three different types of cookies (unlike one cookie or

dessert for other types of parties) (Garten, 2001). Another occasion worthy of

indulgence is entertaining, such as a dinner party, as suggested in a recipe Giada gives

for biscotti: “For a dinner party I dip them in melted white chocolate to make them a little

more special” (De Laurentiis, 2010, p. 184). Holidays always feature desserts. Ree’s A

Year of Holidays (Drummond, 2013) cookbook includes Valentine’s Day, Easter,

Halloween, and Christmas, and each has sub-sections for “treats” and “delights.”

Unusual circumstances, entertaining guests, and special times of the year seem to provide valid reasons to indulge, an otherwise negative behavior.

If desserts occur at a different time than typical, such as breakfast, then the

Discourse casts these moments as rare indulgences. In a recipe narrative about a fond childhood memory, Giada writes:

When I was little my grandfather used to spread fresh ricotta on a slice of bread for me and top it with a thick layer of sugar. I loved it then and I still love these flavors together. This is a somewhat healthier version of that childhood treat. The bread now plays a starring rather than supporting role in the form of sweet, crunchy croutons paired with ripe berries and creamy cheese—sooo good. Serve it for breakfast if you are feeling decadent. (Ricotta with Vanilla-Sugar Croutons and Berry Syrup, De Laurentiis, 2010, p. 175)

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The structure of the cookbook helps understand how recipes are situated and ideologies framed. While it is unclear in the story when the “childhood treat” is served, whether for breakfast or dessert, it is clear that this recipe is intended for dessert as it is part of the Desserts chapter. The distinction between what constitutes a proper breakfast and dessert emerges; breakfast should not be as sweet as dessert and should have some nutritional value. Desserts are acceptable for moments of indulgence; to eat dessert for breakfast is a breach of control and requires more conditions to be considered acceptable behavior. Since the recipe of ricotta on toast is a

“somewhat healthier version,” it can be eaten for breakfast, but only “if you are feeling decadent.”

Further, the Discourse of Control indicates a presupposition that eating desserts on a recurring basis is negative. The narrative that encourages eating desserts also carries feelings of guilt and works to justify the habit, as Giada writes, “I still love chocolate—that’ll never change, and I don’t want it to! I still eat it often, only now I do so in moderation. It’s one of my pleasures, a little treat that makes me smile” (De

Laurentiis, 2013, p. 11). Giada explains that desserts are “one of my pleasures, a little treat that makes me smile,” and are acceptable, because “only now I do so in moderation.” Food means comfort for Giada, so splurging on sweets and “treats” offers consolation and reward. Giada acknowledges the emotionally therapeutic value of food, but she does not let it override her self-control. The tension between the pleasures of consumption and the moral superiority from abstention is eased by uplifting food restrictions: “Eat a little of everything, but not a lot of anything” (De Laurentiis, 2013, p.

11).

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Like Giada’s discourse, Ree’s Discourse of Control relates dessert with morality and guilt. One salient example comes from a recipe for Malted Milk Chocolate Chip

Cookies and its variation, Malted Milk Coffee Ice Cream Sandwiches:

I’ve never met a chocolate chip cookie I didn’t like. This tastes-like-a-malt version will absolutely rock your world. Notes: These cookies should be very flat, unlike my abdomen.

Variation: Malted Milk Coffee Ice Cream Sandwiches. Bad. Very bad. Where bad means awesome. (Drummond, 2012, pp. 272-273, italics original)

In the first reading, desserts are labeled as “bad” and correlated with being overweight with the self-denigration about her protruding abdomen. But, in the second reading, the text inverts the morally-negative label of the dessert as “bad” into the positive lexeme “awesome.” The message is broken up with a series of three fragmented sentences, each with the word “bad” except for the third, building up to the climax: “awesome.” The italics further set off the text as an expression that the author has given unique meaning to.

This technique of altering the word’s meaning may be described as “rewording,” or what Halliday (1978) distinguishes as generating new wordings which are set up as alternatives to, and in opposition to, existing ones. “Bad” is generated as a new word meaning something that tastes very good as an alternative to and in opposition to, its existing meaning as something unpleasant and undesirable. The description of the dessert involves a rewording of its flavor in order to incorporate the ice cream sandwiches into the sphere of acceptable desserts.

Ree’s Discourse of Control subverts the rules and proclaims that it is acceptable, even “awesome” to indulge. In this Discourse of Indulgence, one need not fear the social condemnation that comes from being fat and if one’s abdomen is not “very flat,”

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like the cookies. Making fun of her body shows Ree’s lack of concern of letting food

consume her. This contrasts with studies of men’s and women’s health magazines that

downplay the Discourse of Pleasure and instead emphasize the Discourse of Guilt

(Fuller et al., 2013), and with studies of college students in the U.S. who display

concern with self-control towards food in order to be thin, moral, and admirable

(Counihan, 1992).

5.3.5.2 Discourse of control subverted

Ways that the Discourse of Indulgence countered the hegemonic Discourse of

Control were through the use of humor and exaggeration. Self-disclosures suggest

moments when the celebrity does not adhere to properly constrained eating behaviors

in U.S. culture. Consider for instance Ree’s narrative for cookies: “One [chocolate

cookie] is never enough. Ten is never enough. How many does this recipe make again?

Thirty-two? Well okay, then. Thirty-two isn’t enough either! But then again, I might have issues” (Drummond, 2013, p. 306). The exaggeration challenges the standard by losing self-control, a tactic evident in a second recipe, Coffee Cream Cake (Drummond, 2012):

I won’t even attempt to describe it. All I can do is encourage you to make it as soon as possible.

Today. Right now. It’s beyond words. If you’re a lover of coffee, it’s twelve trips to heaven and back.

Notes: Swirl the icing around the sides, then count how many seconds it takes you to cut a very enormous wedge and serve it to yourself. That took me approximately 43 seconds. A new world record in patience, ladies and gents! (Drummond, 2012, p. 252, italics original)

Not adhering to properly constrained eating behaviors challenges gender patterns in American culture. Male and female eating adhere to different terms in how much is consumed: “the sexes are enjoined to eat differently- men to eat heartily and

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abundantly, women daintily and sparingly” (Counihan, 1992, p. 61). Ree’s discourse of

humor challenges gender difference by eating differently and inappropriately for her

gender. That is, cutting a “very enormous wedge” of cake and eating it “right now”

represent the typical male attitude towards food and eating, i.e. men can eat a lot and

without restraint.

This is not to propose that this was the only alternative discourse to tradition in

the cookbooks, just that it was the most salient in Ree’s recipes and narrative. Rather,

the point is that The Pioneer Woman Cooks gives another perspective on the issue of

Control, one that challenges the hegemony through exaggeration and humor in the

Discourse of Indulgence. Statements, such as, “But then again, I might have issues”

and “A new world in patience, ladies and gents!” suggest Ree’s insecurity about her weight and food consumption, but by using humor, she sidesteps being a target of judgmental comments by readers on topics related to eating. The comic relief aligns the celebrity with her readers and reconciles the counter-discourse.

The Discourse of Indulgence is used to emphasize how delicious a recipe is.

While it may appear that losing control is encouraged, it may also be more to emphasize how delicious the recipe is than to encourage a particular behavior. In

Espresso Chip Meringues, Giada writes, “I dare you to stop after just one of these light and airy little treats; they melt on your tongue, leaving just a kiss of mocha flavor behind” (De Laurentiis, 2010, p. 177); for Orange Sweet Rolls, Ree writes, “Try to eat just one of them. I double dog dare ya” (Drummond, 2012, p. 14). The amount that is eaten illustrates the amount of one’s enjoyment as suggested in Ina’s narrative about the snacking of Salted Caramel Nuts:

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I tested these caramel nuts before a dinner party and I left a container on the counter to see if anyone noticed them. All evening, people would wander into the kitchen, open the container, take some, and put the lid back on. And then wander back into the kitchen again. They’re irresistible! (Garten, 2014, p. 229).

The “irresistible” nature of the caramel nuts triggers non-stop snacking. While the

Discourse of Control traditionally condemns such out of control consumption, here the behavior is framed as a compliment to the hostess and proof of how good the recipe is.

Since it was the people at the dinner party who seemed to lack control in eating, not the celebrity, the constructed image of the celebrity’s disciplined eating is maintained.

In sum, this section addressed a Discourse of Control and identified a Discourse of Indulgence, illustrating conflicting messages about exerting control but also allowing for indulgence, or the (over)consumption of foods typically not considered healthy, e.g. desserts. Because food represents pleasure, special occasions are a justification for extraordinary behavior that is normally criticized, such as eating “badly.” Whereas celebrity chef cookbooks circulate an ideology that eating desserts is acceptable, they also delineate eating in a proper and controlled manner (i.e. eating sparingly) to avoid presenting an immoral or gender-inappropriate self.

5.3.6 Discourse of Food and Feeding

As guides for what and how much to serve, cookbooks circulate a Discourse about Food and Feeding. Home cooks look to cookbooks for guidance for how much to serve and what constitutes a balanced meal. Narrative and images in the celebrity chef cookbooks reinforce the hegemonic discourse of traditional gender roles of the woman caring for the family.

The recipes and their narratives provide instructions on what is an appropriate serving size and meal. Each recipe has the standard yield amount indicated below or

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near the title (e.g. “serves 12 to 15,” “makes 2 cups”). Evaluative comments may

encourage home cooks to exceed the recommended amount: “A big dollop of rum

whipped cream doesn’t hurt the flavor, either” (Garten, 2002, p. 168); a plum cake is

“even better with a dollop of Whipped Cream” (Garten, 2004, p. 202); a sticky cherry

cake is served on a plate “with a (great big!) dollop of unsweetened whipped cream”

(Drummond, 2013, p. 85). Excess is not always encouraged; for richer desserts, smaller

portions are encouraged, as is the case for a chocolate tart: “Serve the tart in small wedges, as it is extremely rich, or cut it into little triangles to pack along on a picnic” (De

Laurentiis, 2010, p. 194). The servings seem to correlate to the richness of the dish (i.e. fruit desserts go well with whipped cream while rich, dense chocolate cakes are better as small servings), constructing a Discourse of what is considered permissible to eat, with what, and how much of it.

Further, home cooks play a role in structuring meals for family and guests. Entire meals may be planned so as to allow for dessert. For chocolate rice pudding that is

“rich, creamy, and most important, absolutely loaded with chocolate,” Giada makes sure that “when I serve this I make a very light meal so everyone has room to indulge and the pudding is the star of the show” (De Laurentiis, 2010, p. 189). Ina, too, explains her method of making a menu; instead of letting “your guests go home holding their bellies,”

Ina serves the “very thinnest” French Apple Tart at a dinner party since the meal was rich (Garten, 2008, p. 24). The narrative suggests that the home cook has a responsibility for the well-being of their guests and how they will feel after the meal.

Serving food extends beyond the menu to how to serve the meal. In a narrative

titled “Serving Dinner,” Ina provides guidelines in how to serve the food (Garten, 2014,

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p. 167). Instead of serving dinner the “old fashioned way” where everything was put into separate bowls, Ina encourages putting the meat and vegetables all on one platter, commenting “It looked like a party!” (Garten, 2014, p. 167). Besides being easier for the home cook (“there’s only one platter to clean up!”) (Garten, 2014, p. 167), this could be about saving time too. Only one dish has to be focused on more intensively than the others. As Ina suggests, “not every dish has to be a star; I choose one special dish and design the rest of the menu around it. Remember, the star doesn’t always have to be an entrée or meat” (Garten, 2008, pp. 23-24). Further, the food assembled on only one dish symbolizes the communal nature of eating, supporting the cookbook’s theme of family meals.

The female celebrity chef cookbooks manifest a Discourse of Feeding that is a uniquely female identity as a mother. In Giada’s Feel Good Food (2013), Giada narrates the transformation of her eating from one based on chocolate and sugar to one with more vegetables, protein, whole grains, and less sweets. She explains what triggered the change: “When I became pregnant with Jade, however, everything changed. I was responsible for this little life inside of me and I took the saying ‘eating for two’ to heart.

My body needed—and my baby deserved—better” (De Laurentiis, 2013, p. 10). The change was not simply for health benefits, but for moral ones as well: “my baby deserved better.” What Giada ate became part of her duty and fulfillment as a new mother.

Besides images of the dishes, the cookbooks have images of the celebrity chefs and their families taken at their homes that support traditional gender roles of women in the home kitchen. Ree’s two daughters sit at the kitchen counter, waiting to be served

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(front cover, Drummond, 2012), Frank, Ina’s business partner, smiles as Ina serves him risotto (Garten, 2002, p. 88); Giada’s nephew, Julian, bites into chocolate cake (De

Laurentiis, 2008, p. 226). Even images of the authors’ husbands reinforce traditional gender roles; Ina’s husband, Jeffrey, reads, sits as Ina pours him juice, entertains guests on the porch, etc. (Garten, 2002); Giada’s husband, Todd, grills meat outside, eats pasta with a pleased expression, plays with Jade, their daughter, etc. (De

Laurentiis, 2008); Ree’s husband, Ladd, hauls hay, rides a horse to round up cattle, wears cowboy chaps, etc. (Drummond, 2012, 2015).

Captions of the photos of Ladd further suggest traditional gender roles: “Part of fatherhood is teaching your children to take the reins” is with an image of Ladd on horseback teaching his son how to horseback ride (Drummond, 2012, p. 189); “There’s nothin’ more beautiful than a cowboy with a baby on his hip” accompanies the image of

Ladd with his cowboy hat, chaps, and workman gloves working in the ranch and holding his son on his hip (Drummond, 2012, p. 190). These images depict the man as the appreciative consumer of his wife’s cooking and traditional ‘breadwinner’ and father; his role in family food preparation is limited to a few carefully bounded skills, such as carving roast. As the complementary role, the woman is nearly always in the culinary sphere and cooks, serves, and cares for her family and friends.

The female celebrity chef cookbooks thus influence the feeding practices of home cooks, whether for the family, guests, or for themselves. Through cookbooks, women learn what their own responsibilities are, as well as those of their family members, in the kitchen and in society.

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5.4 Summary

This chapter on Discursive Practice used Intertextuality and Topics to analyze

the construction of gender, specifically as related to ideology and hegemony.

Intertextuality sheds light on which voices were represented, principally the official

discourse found in the voice of the expert and mainstream ideology and second the

amateur voice which includes the voice of home cooks (e.g. friends, family). The

cookbooks varied in their inclusion and exclusion of these two voices, using them

strategically to illustrate lessons in the kitchen or instruct about preferred tastes.

Linguistic techniques, such as the use of first-person and second-person pronouns,

anecdotes, and the telling of “secrets” or “confessions” are ways that the celebrity chefs construct a pseudo-intimacy with their readers. In building rapport with their followers, the celebrities earn their trust and influence them to follow their ideologies. Further, these linguistic and pragmatic strategies lend more authority to the celebrity chefs.

Topics identified salient Discourses: Discourse of Cooking for Men and the Self,

Discourse of Time, Discourse of Expertise, Discourse of Authenticity, Discourse of

Control and Indulgence, and Discourse of Food and Feeding. There was an emphasis on time-saving tips that accounted for a modern, fast-paced lifestyle. Rhetoric on serving others, men in particular, indicated that cooking becomes a vehicle for power, a way for women to gain influence in the house, in the community, and in society.

Conflicting discourse involved topics of control and indulgence, which extended to morality and the social nature of the eating. By narrating about balanced menu planning and showing images of the celebrities serving their families, the cookbooks adhered to an ideology that values a woman’s role in caring for the family.

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In the next chapter, Chapter 6, the study provides a critical perspective on the findings from this Chapter 5 and Chapter 4. The discussion draws on gender and critical language studies to shed light on the Discourses uncovered in the celebrity chef cookbooks about women’s responsibilities in the kitchen. Moreover, food and eating correspond with attitudes and emotions related to one’s understandings and feelings about self and others. Food and eating are intimately connected with cultural conceptions of self. Thus, through a Critical Discourse Analysis, this study connects

Discourses in recipes and the social imperatives that accompany food, such as what foods one consumes, how, and who prepares them, to patterns associated with society.

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CHAPTER 6 DISCUSSION

6.1 Overview

The analysis of how the discourse was deployed in cookbooks by female

celebrity chefs shows variation on all levels of analysis, and in cases, it seemed that the

three cookbook collections were negotiating power relations and gender hierarchies in

different ways. In this Chapter, I synthesize the insights of textual and discursive

practice analysis and contextualize the data within studies of discourse analysis with the

aim of highlighting this present study’s findings that contribute to discussions of power

abuse and social inequality. In other words, the present Chapter addresses the ‘critical’

dimension of the study.

To do so, I first examine the linguistic and ideological findings that could better our understanding of how the three celebrity chefs represent the identity of the expert and housewife and report Discourse related to food. Specifically, I address the linguistic tactics that were employed by the three celebrity chefs on the first, textual level, and discuss ideological findings on the second, discursive practice level of Fairclough’s

(1992) three-dimensional framework of Discourse Analysis with reference to the

relevant sociopolitical context.

Several of the important findings of textual analysis were that the three celebrity

chefs tended to employ reporting strategies as both the expert and the home cook,

particularly around the use of personal pronouns, loanwords, innovated lexicon, hedges,

and tag questions. What emerged was the paradoxical strengthening of authority of the

celebrity chefs through the use of “weak” language typically associated with women’s

language. Also new was the hybridization of the cookbook genre that contributed to the

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construction of a pseudo-intimate relationship between the celebrity chef writers and the audience.

To account for this, I explain how the investigated discourses represented two seemingly antagonistic discourses in contemporary America: the celebrity chef cookbooks represented the hegemonic discourse and the home cook represented the counter-hegemonic discourse. Specifically, I examine key Discourses of cooking and femininity in the cookbooks and then analyze their relevance in relation to women’s identity and domesticity in contemporary culture, which will inform the discussion and reflection of representations in the following concluding chapter: the contemporary domestic feminine. I argue that, far from distancing themselves from the domestic kitchen, celebrity chefs embrace the identity of ‘the cook’ and seek to distinguish themselves through demonstrating competence in domestic tasks including feeding and caring for the family. This modern figure of domestic femininity reconciles and embraces the discourse of traditional gender roles and the discourse of self-serving and self- gratification.

6.2 Findings at the Textual Level

Chapter 4 was an analysis at the Textual level with three analytic tools:

Lexicalization, Presupposition, and Interpersonal Function. Here, I present an overview of the chapter with an emphasis of the findings and critical contributions.

6.2.1 Lexicalization

In Lexicalization, “tradition” and “modern” came up as frequent terms of comparison and contrast. While all looked to tradition for inspiration, how they framed the past and how the recipes were adapted reflect different perspectives. For Ina, traditional recipes are uninspiring and represented a fun challenge to rework. She

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viewed cooking more from a science-based perspective, methodically testing ways to

“turn up the volume” or amplify the flavor on her recipes. For Ree, tradition evoked

warmth and nostalgia with connections to her past. Although she altered some old

recipes, she did not emphasize her recipes as a radical improvement. For Giada,

tradition and modernity represented her Italian-American identity. Tradition was

associated with her Italian heritage and modernity with her contemporary lifestyle. Like

Theopano’s (1991) study of American ethnic groups, Giada circumscribes the boundaries clearly between the two cultures, marking them with food that represents her present Italian-American world and that of the Italian culture of her parents and

parents’ generation.

In Lexicalization, key terms of “fast,” “easy,” and “delicious” were used repeatedly and consistently by all three cookbook authors. This emphasis on such cooking perhaps is a way to persuade readers to embrace domestic cooking that is frequently understood as labor rather than leisure (Aronsson & Gottzen, 2011; Kemmer, 1999;

Roos et al., 2001). This discourse encourages women to view home cooking positively,

and seems to be a backlash against convenience foods that were embraced in the

1960s and onwards as solutions for women working the double shift at home and at work (Inness, 2001). Research on gender and cooking that is motivated by a wider

interest in the sexual division of labor has been primarily concerned with the meanings

women bring to cooking practices within the family unit (Murcott, 1995; Kendall, 2008).

Eating a meal cooked at home is associated with intimacy and ways of constructing a

“proper” family (Bugge & Almas, 2005). Yet, in academic work, there is a relative lack of consideration of women’s relationship to domestic cooking as positive and pleasurable

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(DeVault, 1991; Inness, 2000). Here, I find that cookbooks by celebrity female chefs for women sell a discourse of achievability and enjoyment while maintaining that feminine competence in the private sphere of the kitchen is a virtue. Such a position reaffirms historical research that women’s cooking practices are a principal means through which

“a woman conducts herself as recognizably womanly” (DeVault, 1991, p. 118). The easy and appetizing recipes offered by the celebrity chefs seek to enable women to be competent in the kitchen.

Lexicalization illustrated the use of culinary terms and loanwords and conveyed three significant aspects: expertise, class alignment, and social mobility. First, culinary terms (e.g. whisk, dice) and loanwords in recipe titles, ingredients, and instructions emphasized the expert knowledge of the celebrity chef, similarly to previous studies of cooking-related texts (Tomlinson, 1986; Mϋhlesien, 2003; Diemer & Frobenius, 2013).

The celebrity chefs often explained about the technique, ingredients, and where to source the ingredients. Second, foreign terms and loanwords convey class alignment.

References of an exotic, or less accessible, place and time demonstrate the celebrity chef’s alignment or explicit disalignment with the referenced culture. Giada and Ina both offer ways for their readers to align themselves with the Italian and French cultures, and while Ree does too, with the token French- and Italian-inspired recipes, she rejects the class exclusivity they represent. Third, I suggest that foreign-inspired recipes enable readers to vicariously travel to another country through food. Readers may feel more cosmopolitan knowing that they made a dish called “Pots de Crème” (Drummond, 2012, p. 244), not “pudding;” or “Amaretti Cookies” (De Laurentiis, 2015, p. 77) instead of

“vanilla wafers.” Being able to make an authentic dish, or at least one that sounds

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authentic, readers feel like they have insider’s knowledge and access to a desirable

lifestyle. In this way, celebrity chefs can be characterized as “cultural intermediaries”

(Bourdieu, [1979] 1984) and “lifestyle experts” (Lewis, 2008) in offering symbolic

practices associated with cooking and consumption.

The section on Lexicalization also identified distinctive phrases of each celebrity

chef that added to her unique personality and brand but also showed class. Ree uses

‘countryfied’ language that signifies an anti-elitism, similar to British celebrity chef and

cooking star, Jamie Oliver, whose “‘mockney’ accent works to signify a kind of ‘anti-

posh’” (Lewis, 2008, p. 9). While Ree does not have a distinct accent, her everyday

language firmly establishes herself as a cook of the country, not a restaurant chef of the

city. Further, her language is a way to emphasize her membership to the local milieu,

despite her celebrity status, and is part of the construction and expression of local

identity and solidarity (Eckert, 2004). Thus, I suggest that the use of regional language enhances the appeal of the celebrity chef to the average American.

The innovation of words identified in the recipe narrative may reflect the evolving

nature of cookbooks and recipe writing. A corpus linguistic study by Deimer and

Frobenius (2013) of food blogs revealed that a key feature of blogs is lexical innovation

with the coining of new, non-standard lexical items. In comparing the three cookbook

author styles, I find that Ree’s cookbooks have by far the most innovation of lexical

items, e.g. “veggie-licious” (Drummond, 2015, p. 170); “brupper, brinner” (Drummond,

2015, p. 1), which can be attributed to her developed style as a professional food

blogger. As a blogger, Ree “pioneers” new words that flavor her cookbook narrative.

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More and more food bloggers are publishing cookbooks, so I predict that future cookbooks will have more linguistic features common to food blogs. The incorporation of innovative words results in a more personal and highly evaluative narrative of a text that historically is considered to be an instructional genre. Also, I add that cookbooks are incorporating new forms of communication through the use of social media, such as twitter; Giada’s most recent cookbook’s breakfast chapter is titled, “First things first:

#breakfast” (De Laurentiis, 2015, p. 4). The # symbol, called a hashtag, with “breakfast” indicates the relevant keyword and recommends readers who are users of twitter to spread her recipes and receive in-the-moment updates of the celebrity’s lifestyle and public appearances. In this way, the celebrity chef extends her influence and increases her following through social media.

Another linguistic finding from Lexicalization was the rhetorical pattern Wh+ X

(e.g. “Who doesn’t like chocolate chunk cookies?” (Garten, 2012, p. 233); Barefoot

Contessa: How Easy is That? (Garten, 2010)). Holmes (1995) finds this pattern in compliments to be typical of women’s language and suggests that the structure can be regarded as “emphatic” and “increasing the force of the speech act” (p. 127). I found that the rhetorical patterns used in the cookbooks were meant to be considered as evaluations and/or directives. The pattern is syntactically marked formula, involving an interrogation point and intonation. I suggest that using a rhetorical pattern decreases the level of imposition on the recipients. The celebrity chefs intend for their readers to take their suggestions but make them more appealing by using Wh + X syntactic patterns.

The final section of Lexicalization examined recipe titles. The naming of the titles reflected the personality of the cookbook author and displayed their priorities. Many of

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Ree’s recipes are family recipes and accordingly attributed by name to them (e.g.

Billie’s Italian Cream Cake), demonstrating the importance of preserving dishes from the past. Ina’s recipes were succinct and described the dessert at its most essential level

(e.g. Chocolate Chunk Brownies). Giada’s were the most complex syntactically and descriptively (e.g. Poached Pears in Honey, Ginger, and Cinnamon Syrup; Fluffy Lemon

Buttermilk and Mascarpone Pancakes), making her cookbooks read more like a menu, and perhaps is an attempt to elevate the home-cooked meal to a restaurant dish. This could further suggest that restaurant food sets the highest of standards and is what home-made meals should strive for.

6.2.2 Presupposition

The analysis of Presupposition indicated the top values shared by the authors and their priorities in food and cooking. In a critical perspective, presuppositions achieve persuasion and influence recipient behavior, i.e. the behavior of home cooks. As Lakoff

(1982) describes, persuasive discourse is the “attempt or intention of one participant to change the behavior, feelings, or intentions, or viewpoint of another by communicative means” (p. 28). Presuppositions can become dangerously powerful because of their covert nature and potentially manipulative power. While cookbooks are not typically thought to be dangerous, they can spread a certain ideology that promotes a harmful behavior or habit. At the same time, presuppositions can wield power in a positive way.

Here, I propose that the celebrity chef cookbooks take assumptions about home cooking—cooking is stressful, difficult, and expected of women—and address them with solutions on how to cook faster and easier. Even with increased convenience in modern kitchenware and accessibility to ingredients, home cooking for American women today is still viewed as arduous as it was for their predecessors, as indicated in studies such

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as Hochschild and Machung (2012) and Stratton (2003). Different is what the celebrity chefs offer for present-day: the possibility of cooking as fun and easy and of eating, especially desserts, as pleasurable and a way to feel happy. They promise their best recipes and guarantee a satisfying and rewarding experience in the kitchen for the home cook.

Since this study takes a CDA perspective, I also consider what presuppositions were made for ingredients and cooking facilities and their implications. The recipes are available in print, but not everyone has access to such cookbooks, and if they did, they may not know how to make sense of it either. The text assumes the reader/homecook has the appropriate kitchen equipment, ingredients, and skill to complete the task, yet people may be restricted as to what they can do with the recipe. If the reader does not share the schema for the presuppositions made in the recipe, such as the evaluative components (e.g. how ‘shallow’ is a shallow saucepan), the success or failure of the recipe may be because of the conflicting set of linguistic resources. The recipe reader may not have equal experience in cooking due to social, cultural, or economic reasons.

CDA may even say that the lack of understanding of kitchen basics hides a deeper social inequality with the privileged ultimately leading healthier lives. In this consideration, making cookbooks available to home cooks is a way to improve health at a national level.

6.2.3 Interpersonal Function

In Chapter 4, the Interpersonal Function illustrated various ways that politeness was expressed. Previous studies indicate that hedges and qualifying statements diminish what women have to say and imply a lack of authority (Holmes, 1995; Lakoff,

1975). According to Lakoff (1975), women use phrases such as for me, in my opinion,

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and personally, to be polite and less imposing. Additional linguistic phrases that reduce credibility are superlatives such as terrific, extraordinary, and fantastic (Josefowitz,

1985) and “empty” adjectives such as divine, charming, and cute (Lakoff, 1975).

Modifiers such as very, really, and many are also weakeners and soften what is being said rather than a direct assertion. As demonstrated in Chapter 4, the cookbook data is complete with qualifying statements, superlatives, and modifiers. While this language is typical of women’s language, I argue that the status of the celebrity chef keeps the statement from becoming weak. That is, the use of qualifiers such as for me and I like highlights the personal preferences of the celebrity chef and provides insider knowledge of what they like the best.

Another frequent politeness strategy in the celebrity chef cookbooks was the use of tag questions, such as isn’t it? and don’t you?. According to Lakoff (1975), whose study was not based on empirical evidence, tag questions depict a lack of self- confidence and the desire to avoid conflict, a speech pattern that is problematically often associated with women. Subsequent researchers raised doubts about Lakoff’s claim that tag questions are characteristic of women’s talk and pointed out that tag questions have multiple roles in conversation (e.g. Cameron, McAlinde & O’Leary,

1988; Coates, 2004; Eckert & McConnell-Ginet, 2003). Besides making cookbooks seem like a conversation, tags can increase or decrease one’s power. For example,

Mindell (1995) points out that tag questions can be effective in certain situations: “If you’re the most powerful person in the room, tag questions can make you more approachable and encourage people to disagree or respond in other ways” (p. 28). Here tag questions are effective because celebrities are the most powerful person in the text

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and have influence in the sociocultural practice. Like Holmes’ and Coates’ studies, this study suggests that tags elicit agreement and/or confirmation from the recipient, giving the celebrity even more power. A CDA perspective may even say that tag questions can be manipulative for their coercive nature.

Another expression of politeness was the use of personal pronouns. Research has shown that women use first-person singular pronouns like I, me, and my more frequently than men, which Pennebaker (2011) attributes to the tendency of women to be more self-aware of their feelings than men. Further, Pennebaker (2011) finds that self-confident leaders rarely use the word I and that people who are in lower status use I much more frequently. Similarly equating I with weak speech, Mindell (1995) critiques women’s use of the first-person pronoun and describes it as “the indecisive I” (p. 18), especially when the subject is something else than that of the speaker. This study finds that when the celebrity chefs use I in situations such as “I hesitated to include the recipe for these [Espresso Caramel Bars] in this book” (De Laurentiis, 2010, p. 181), it shows both the woman’s sensitivity of her emotions and also a degree of indecisiveness.

However, this study’s CDA approach may consider these apparently weak statements as strategic ways to enhance the celebrity’s appeal to the reader. By first apologizing, the celebrity chef seeks empathy and tolerance from the reader in an unusually demanding recipe.

Besides first person pronouns, this study found that the use of second person pronouns also strengthens the celebrity chef discourse. The personal pronouns create

“synthetic personalization,” the impression that the recipient or home cook is being addressed individually (Fairclough, 1989). In this situation, the first person pronoun I

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represents the celebrity’s individual voice and second person you the readers or home cooks. The use of you is a way for the celebrities to create a pseudo-relationship with home cooks and encourage them to participate in the dialogue and kitchen space.

6.3 Findings at the Discursive Practice Level

Chapter 5 was an analysis of Fairclough’s second-level Discursive Practice with two analytic tools: Intertextuality and Topics. Here, I present a synthesis of the chapter with an emphasis on the findings.

6.3.1 Intertextuality

Intertextuality refers to the texts’ dependence on previously produced texts and may continue an established and powerful hegemonic Discourse. Media outlets focus on certain social categories to reproduce relations of power. The study identified two types of voices: the expert voice, or one deployed with authority and references to the professional and public world, such as restaurants and other cookbooks, and the amateur one, or one characterized with uncertainty and representative of the home cook.

Ina Garten’s Barefoot Contessa cookbooks showed a tendency of including voices of the expert, framing Ina as knowledgeable of Paris, a master of casual gourmet cooking, aligned with professional chefs, and a source of authority for other media outlets such as women’s lifestyle magazines. The Barefoot Contessa cookbooks also included voices of the amateur voice and home cook, who makes mistakes and relies on the expert for “secrets” of successful cooking. The expert voice predominated in the number of occurrences and textual prominence that served to establish credibility in the celebrity’s recipes. The amateur voice was used to relate to and gain solidarity with the home cook.

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Ree Drummond’s The Pioneer Woman Cooks cookbooks, in contrast, reported the voices of both sides; however, the inclusion of the expert voice was positioned and contextualized in ways that would elicit interpretations against the expert in order to validate her home cooking. The analysis of intertextuality revealed that the statements of the expert voice expressed surprise of successful cooking and a tendency to downplay the success of the recipes despite the claim of positive reviews by blog readers, family, and friends. The cookbook discourse also distanced itself from the expert voices by employing strategic quotes and expressions like so crazy, a joke, so they say, and making fun of French pronunciation like pots de crème. It also included voices of parties that did not belong to any side of the distinction, such as the addressed you who was “laughing” at the recipes; these voices were used to support the home cook voice and present the expert negatively. Since Ree’s audience is different from

Ina’s and Giada’s, the Pioneer Woman does not want to be fancy like the French, whereas Ina and Giada have a “European” preference to their cooking and offer an aspirational point of view to their audiences.

Giada De Laurentiis’ cookbooks, in contrast, used the expert voice the most. In

Giada’s case, the expert voice functioned to remind readers of Giada’s professional training in cooking and position her more at a distance, to be admired (if not envied).

For example, Giada at Home attributes skill and quality to restaurant cooking but recognizes the same amount of time and effort in cooking is not appropriate for home cooking:

Much as I appreciate the skill and artistry of a chef working at the top of his or her game when I go out for a meal, in a home setting it can seem over the top....I’m always mindful of the fact that turning a home-cooked meal into something straight out of a restaurant negates the warmth of the

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setting and the fact that I’ve decided to open my house and share my family. (De Laurentiis, 2010, p. 11)

The cookbook discourse attempts to frame professional cooking as occasional,

for entertaining or special family meals, and home cooking as daily food that is warming

and an expression of love.

Further, Giada’s cookbooks position her as an expert with detailed descriptions

of Italian ingredients and traditions, emphasizing her knowledge of the differences

between American and Italian cooking. The statements of the author’s personal

preferences express expertise over and above tradition (e.g. “I tend to think of a classic

recipe as a stepping-stone to fun, new recipes” (De Laurentiis, 2015, p. 74); as a result,

Giada’s cooking is framed as superior to Old Italian cooking. The voice of the home

cook emerges in narratives about mothering and trying to juggle both a career and a

family. Yet, this serves to Giada’s advantage in that her own home and life experiences

become the model for other home cooks.

I propose that the reasons for drawing on two voices of intertextuality was to present the celebrity chefs as both amateurs and experts, thus aligning themselves with their audience (i.e. the home cook) and distancing themselves at the same time. By admitting to their cooking mistakes, for instance, the celebrity chefs are shown in a humble position while also indicating their experience. What Van Dijk (1998) describes in his concept of the “ideological square” and the binary construction of an ingroup and outgroup can be seen in the conflation of the roles of amateur and expert as embodied in the female celebrity chefs. While studies, especially those of political news stories

(e.g. Shojaei, Youssefi, & Hosseini, 2013; Kuo & Nakamura, 2005), find a distinct

polarization constructed between groups, I suggest that the celebrity chefs give respect

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to both the home cook and the professional. As a result, the categories of Us/Them may be more flexible than proposed by Van Dijk (1998).

6.3.2 Findings at the Discursive Practice Level: Topics

As to the topics included, the analysis identified a commonality among the cookbook outlets as to what constituted content value and was worthy of emphasizing.

The cookbooks each constructed reality on certain topics in ways that were consistent with their readers. The topics extended beyond the description of the dish to revolve around lifestyle matters such as ranch life, entertaining, and beauty tips, suggesting that cookbooks as a genre are extending their instructional role beyond food preparation.

Chapter 5 specifically addressed these Topics: Cooking for Men and the Self, Time,

Expertise, Authenticity, Control and Indulgence, and Food and Feeding.

In the Discourse of Cooking for Men and the Self, all three cookbooks illustrated the pleasure of serving others, especially men, while also serving themselves.

Producing meals is about serving family members in a double sense: the food provided for a family cannot be just any food, but must be food that satisfies. Researchers in feminist sociology (Murcott, 1983; Charles & Kerr, 1988; DeVault, 1991) have found that women’s cooking is strongly influenced by their husband’s and children’s preferences.

The analysis of the cookbooks confirmed the traditional Discourse that women have primary responsibility to serve food to their families.

The study argues, however, that home cooking does not mean to put women in a subservient position. Rather, I found two additional Discourses that empower women: 1) the added importance for women to cook for themselves and for their own pleasure, and

2) cooking makes others indebted to the home cook, thus giving women—the typical home cook—the upper hand in power. For the first Discourse, for example, Barefoot

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Contessa emphasizes cooking for men and for the self with presumed knowledge of men’s tastes but added the author’s personal preferences; Ina writes of men’s love for

“nursery desserts,” yet finds them “really boring,” like rice pudding and bread pudding, so she updates the flavors. For the second Discourse, a salient example of how cooking made recipients, notably men, weak was illustrated in Ree’s Knock You Naked

Brownies. In the recipe title and headnote, Ree strategically and subtly inverts gender inequality by narrating how women get power through cooking and making the intended recipients vulnerable. In Ina’s case, this seems like infantilizing men while in Ree’s, using sexuality is a way to have power. These are both very traditional types of women’s roles, as mother and sexual being. Plus, Ina is older and Ree is more “sexual.”

Part of serving others entails how the dish will be received. As such, an additional Discourse of Performance emerged. For instance, Giada emphasizes impressive display, such as “this will make you look like a superstar.” I find a similar anxiety in the discourse of early 20th century American cooking where women’s cooking was a way to gain attention, to the extent of securing matrimony or material goods

(Inness, 2001a, 2001b; Neuhaus, 2001b). Even more, 1950s cookbooks such as Betty

Crocker recommended that women dress nicely and wear makeup while cooking because it would enhance their families’ enjoyment at the kitchen table (Endrijonas,

2001, pp. 164-165). This close association between a woman’s outward care for herself and cooking is especially evident in Giada’s cookbook Giada’s Feel Good Food: My

Healthy Recipes and Secrets (2013) which includes personal lifestyle and beauty tips alongside recipes.

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The Discourse of Time manifested two themes, one with nostalgia for the past and one with solutions for today. In a study of Rachael Ray, a Food Network star,

Nathanson (2009) found that Rachael’s cooking shows (and I add her cookbooks) manifest contemporary women’s experience of time with nostalgia for an imagined past with women’s endless amounts of time negotiated with the contemporary need for efficiency and speed. Like Nathanson (2009), I find that the female celebrity chefs of this study associated the past with freedom from the demands and urgency of contemporary life. Recipes that entailed cooking homespun, simpler dishes offer women a momentary retreat into a timeless world of memory and nostalgia. The study adds that reference to tradition confers expertise; cooking already trusted recipes contributes to the perception that the celebrity chefs are good cooks.

These concerns reflect the specific historical context of the cookbooks in which many women participate in the workforce. Sociologists Hochschild and Machung (2012

[1989]) coined the term “Second Shift” to describe the labor performed by women at work and home. The Second Shift found that women still have primary responsibility of the household and childcare responsibilities despite women having entered the workforce. Revisiting their initial study from more than twenty years ago, Hochschild and

Machung (2012) still find that while a few couples equally shared responsibility for the home, women reported higher feelings of guilt and inadequacy. The cookbooks’ narrative and recipe repertoire (e.g. make-ahead meals, 16-minute meals) implicitly and explicitly addresses these feelings by their audience of professional-working women who perceive high levels of pressure and stress in relation to their domestic obligations.

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The Discourse of Expertise analysis identified the construction of two identities, the expert and the friend, a construction similar to one identified by Smith (2010) of hosts of lifestyle property television shows. Like Smith (2010), I find that various politeness strategies are used to create these identities such as the framing of instructions as advice/suggestions rather than as directives. This study finds that tag questions and minimizations, for example, are ways that the celebrity chefs give advice while appearing to seek approval from their audience. Another strategy that constructed a friend/expert identity was anecdotes, both personal and professional, that indicated their experience in the kitchen. Smith (2010) observed that the host’s gender as a female allowed her to discuss elements of interior design that are stereotypically feminine (e.g. nuances of color, soft furnishings) (pp.193-194). This study also considers that the female gender of the celebrity chefs allows them to talk about topics considered ‘womanly matters’ such as disaster dinner parties and running errands to rhapsodizing over the aesthetics of a dish. The sharing of personal information, while potentially problematic for men, was a linguistic resource that made the celebrities more relatable and reliable figures of authority.

The Discourse of Authenticity is analyzed through an understanding of

Fairclough’s “synthetic personalization,” which describes the way text producers use personalized language to construct a relationship with receivers of the text. In a study of women’s magazines, Talbot (1995) identifies several linguistic examples of synthetic personalization that simulated informal friendship between the producers of the magazines and their female audience. These include the use of pronouns such as the collective we and direct you, expressive lexis, and punctuation that constructed a

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youthful female identity for the writer, and presuppositions about shared knowledge

(Talbot, 1995). This study finds similar linguistic and pragmatic patterns with comments like “between you and me” (Ina) and “I’m so glad we had this talk” (Ree) that simulate an intimate friendship and dialogue with the reader. While Talbot (1995) found that exclamation points add expressive value and frame the writer as friendly and enthusiastic and are the strongest booster device, I found that the use of italics in the recipe narratives seem to act as the strongest boosting device. (Other boosting devices in these cookbooks include intensifiers and superlatives, e.g. really, so, best, always.)

Further contributing to the literature on synthetic personalization, this study finds that the relaying of private opinion, decisions, and feelings—Giada’s “secrets” and

Ree’s “confessions” for instance, and humor—especially evident in Ina’s and Ree’s narratives—contribute to the discourse of authenticity. By “revealing all” and “in the interest of full disclosure” (Drummond, 2013, p. 374), the celebrity chefs construct themselves as ‘real’ and ‘ordinary.’

The data focused on Dessert recipes, and since dessert is not typically eaten on a daily basis but more for special occasions, two opposing discourses emerged:

Discourses of Control and Discourse of Indulgence. The connection between food and control has been studied before, especially by sociologists and historians. Studies indicate different underlying expectations are held for males and females when food consumption is involved. Women who consume relatively small meals are perceived as more feminine and concerned about physical appearance (Chaiken & Pliner, 1987) and more socially appealing than other women who consumed large amounts of food

(Basow & Kobrynowicz, 1993). Furthermore, women who ate fat-restrictive diets were

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rated as being more attractive, intelligent, conscientious, and calmer (Mooney, DeTore,

& Malloy, 1994). In contrast, there is a widely held assumption that men require little

attention to food intake to achieve an ideal body (Fallon & Rozin, 1985) and are subject

to less criticism for their eating practices (Mooney & Lorenz, 1997). Men tend to be

given permission to eat ‘bad’ foods while women are instructed to monitor their food

consumption, always conscious of the consequences on their weight and appearance

(Fuller et al., 2013). According to Counihan’s (1992) study about food rules in the United

States, what and how people eat says a great deal about them and their place in

society: “[Eating] must be done in a proper and controlled manner lest we project an undesirable, immoral, or gender inappropriate self” (p. 59). Counihan (1992) describes that “[t]he sexes are enjoined to eat differently—men to eat heartily and abundantly, women daintily and sparingly” (p. 61).

What this study adds is that the female celebrity chef cookbooks reflected and countered hegemonic gender roles about the how women should relate to food. On the

one hand, the celebrity chef cookbooks support the hegemonic discourse about

constraint, especially in Giada’s Feel Good Food (2013): “Eat a little of everything, but not a lot of anything” (p. 11). On the other hand, the female celebrity chefs challenge societal rules about appropriate food consumption for women. Pleasure derived from eating dessert should not be denied, nor require waiting, as Ree suggests with humor and exaggeration about serving sizes and eating style: “I could drink caramel sauce with

a straw. And I have!” (Drummond, 2015, p. 350). Eating dessert is a pleasure and

equated with happiness, as Giada suggests: “[Chocolate] is one of my pleasures, a little

treat that makes me smile” (De Laurentiis, 2013, p. 11).

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In the Discourse of Food and Feeding, the cookbooks reinforce traditional gender

roles of the woman caring for others. Women, referred to as “gatekeepers” of the family

meal, have traditionally been credited with control over the purchasing, storing, cooking,

and serving of food for their families. In addition, they are perceived as greatly

influencing the food habits of family members (McIntosh & Zey, 1989). In this present

study, women, it appears, are responsible for determining what and how much family

members and guests eat, which gives them power; but, at the same time, from a CDA

perspective, this responsibility could lead to unfair accusations towards women for the

health problems of others.

Further, feeding is projected as a distinctly “womanly” and “motherly” act, especially since women are the childbearers. DeVault (1991) notes that this heightened awareness of new mothers and this sense of responsibility of feeding do not come automatically:

Women are taught to attend to their pregnancies, and a strong sense of responsibility for the next generation comes from a multitude of public sources as well as from women’s own reflections on the individual physiological and psychological experiences of becoming a mother. (DeVault, 1991, p. 111)

As an influential public source, the female celebrity chefs, especially Giada and

Ree, add to the Discourse of mothering and reinforce women’s involvement in feeding work. While not a mother, Ina uses discourse that also reinforces women’s role in feeding others with her frequent entertaining. Ree contributes to the ranch work by cooking and serving others, but rarely works in the fields with her husband and the cowboys. Her domain is in the kitchen. When Giada’s only daughter was born in 2008, the cookbook topics became more personal and domestic-oriented with Giada at Home

(2010) and Weeknights with Giada (2012). The cookbooks and their recipes signify

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Giada’s changing roles, her relationships to her family, and her identity as a woman.

The cookbooks teach women that they not only have an obligation to eat well for

themselves, but also for their children and the greater common good. The celebrity

chefs guide women on menu planning and what constitutes a balanced meal.

The study also identified that the multimodal medium of cookbooks, specifically

the images, contributed to the Discourse of Food and Feeding. Photos of the celebrities

with their family members reinforced traditional gender roles at home. The women

cooked and served their families with smiles on their faces; the men were at leisure or

at work (e.g. playing with their daughter, Giada’s husband Todd; working the ranch,

Ree’s husband Ladd; reading, Ina’s husband Jeffrey) or exclusively at the grill if helping with the cooking.

6.4 Summary

The main theme identified in the textual and discursive practice analysis was that the cookbooks went beyond simply giving instructions for cooking a dish. The textual analysis identified new linguistic patterns not typical of traditional cookbooks such as innovative lexicon, hedges, tags, minimizations, and the use of first and second person pronouns. The incorporation of spoken-like features illustrate that the construction of an expert is increasingly relying on the informalization of language and that cookbooks as a genre are evolving. Language is fluid, and cookbooks as a text are adapting features from other communicative platforms about food, such as food blogs, social media, and television cooking shows. Textual analysis also uncovered that loanwords indicated familiarity with other cultures and food types, not surprisingly most frequently of French and Italian, and adds that their treatment manifested the celebrity chefs’ (dis)alignment with a particular culture and class.

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The discursive practice analysis identified that narrative in the recipes and in the surrounding text (e.g. introductions, side notes) provided Discourses of ideology towards food and cooking. The celebrity cookbooks on the one hand support traditional hegemonic Discourse by encouraging women to cook in the kitchen and take pride in home cooking; on the other hand, the cookbooks challenge the traditional rhetoric of self-denial and deprivation and instead encourage women to take pleasure in eating food. Also, the celebrity cookbooks on the one hand support the hegemonic Discourse in the power dimensions; the celebrities maintain superiority or authority over their audience with their power deriving from a variety of sources, such as knowledge, social prestige, and role; on the other hand, their use of informal address terms decreases the social distance. The inclusion of non-food related topics, specifically from a woman’s point of view and concern, such as managing the home and body (e.g. stocking the pantry, doing laundry, applying makeup, pre-and-post pregnancy), are relatively unproblematic and further establish an intimate relationship with their (female) audience. While some scholars have described women’s language as weak speech

(e.g. Lakoff, 1975), this study has sought to show that the women’s language in the celebrity chef cookbooks enhances their expertise and appeal, in particular the use of personal pronouns, innovated lexicon, hedges, tag questions, and topics that are underlined by their femininity.

Next, Chapter 7 concludes the study with theoretical reflections, the significance of the study, the study’s limitations, and avenues for future research.

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CHAPTER 7 CONCLUSION

7.1 Overview

Drawing on Fairclough’s (1992) approach of intertextual analysis within the framework of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), this study examined how the case of home cooking is interpreted and represented in western contemporary printed media.

The analysis focused on the discourses and ideologies of three female celebrity chefs:

Giada De Laurentiis, Ree Drummond, and Ina Garten as represented in their cookbook collections of Giada at Home, The Pioneer Woman, and Barefoot Contessa. The study attempted to clarify how linguistic tools can carry ideological characteristics in their discourse properties resulting in positive representation of the celebrity chef cookbook author and home cook while at the same time legitimizing the ideological stances of their narrative and favorite recipes. The findings revealed that linguistic tools are among the most important devices through which hegemony can be used in the recipes of cookbooks. Lexicalization, presupposition, intertextuality, modality, and topics were identified as the most salient linguistic tools used in the representation of such cookbook authors. Also, enlighteningly, the findings indicated a different definition of the place of cooking and eating within domestic gender divisions than most sociology studies (Murcott, 1982; Bugge & Almas, 2006). The cookbook authors place equal emphasis upon the pleasure of caring for others and for the self, and in this way, offer an alternative mode of representing domestic femininity.

7.2 Theoretical Reflections

The present study utilized CDA and critical theories of ideology, discourse, and hegemony to explain media discourse of contemporary American cookbooks by female

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celebrity chefs. It drew on Fairclough’s (1992) framework of critical discourse analysis, which consists of three components that illustrate how discourse may reflect social ideologies: text, discursive, and sociocultural practices. By doing so, the analysis consists of both micro-textual level analysis and macro-social practice analysis as an exploration of the ways in which discourses operate in relations of social power. Only through the integration of these accounts can a descriptive, explanatory, and critical account of social relations be achieved. In other words, social ideology may be reflected by identifying “the crucial link between macro-level analyses of groups, social formations and social structure, and micro-level studies of situated, individual interaction and discourse” (Van Dijk, 1995, p. 18).

The study also drew on the concept of ideology in a critical discourse analysis sense as a set of beliefs or attitudes shared by members of a group that contribute to hegemony and unequal power relations; it refers to the unconsciously held beliefs, attitudes, and patterns that make them appear natural and difficult to challenge

(Fairclough, 2001). The ideology of cookbook writers, according to CDA, is not always transparent but is hidden in the subtle choices of linguistic forms. Underscoring the role of discourse in establishing and sustaining social power, Van Dijk (1998) identifies polarized group ideologies of positive in- and negative out-groups that are often manifested in discourse by lexical choice and other linguistic features (p. 33). Strategies of polarization consist of emphasizing the in-group’s positive properties and actions while emphasizing the out-group’s negative properties and actions. Based on these assumptions, the study aimed to investigate the ways in which media contributes to

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producing and/or challenging hegemony, identifying their representation and

interpretation of cooking and social actors.

Thus, the study sought to “bring together linguistically-oriented discourse

analysis and social and political thought relevant to discourse and language”

(Fairclough, 1993, p. 92) to explain power relations within society. What follows is a

summary of the significant findings of the present study with regard to the linguistic

resources deployed by and in association with celebrities and the typically vernacular

voice in which the writer engages readers. The chapter then discusses the symbolic

meaning of the cooked meal in these celebrity cookbooks. Then, the chapter highlights

the influence of female celebrity chefs and the potential for advances in relations of

social power in America. Finally, the chapter concludes with the study limitations and

avenues for future research.

7.3 Significance of the Study

7.3.1 Linguistic Findings

The significance of the linguistic strategies used by the cookbook authors is the

extent to which it differs from the studies of politeness devices that women use in

sociolinguistics. These studies situate expressions of politeness within debates about

the different ways women and men use language (Mills, 2003; Kharraki, 2001). On the

one hand, studies demonstrate that women tend to use questions and phrases, such as you know to encourage others to talk, while men tend to use such practices to assert the validity and certainty of their information (Holmes, 1995; Tannen, 1987). Some women in Holmes’ (1995) study used you know to express positive politeness that was solidarity-orientated while men used you know as a speaker-orientated politeness device, protecting the speaker’s positive face (p. 91); and similarly, for Tannen (1990),

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women use language for intimacy, or “rapport-talk” to give confirmation and support

while men use “report-talk” to maintain the upper hand in a conversation: a man is an

individual in a hierarchical social order “in which he [is] either one-up or one-down” (p.

24). On the other hand, Mill’s (2003) research challenges these gendered stereotypes in relation to politeness and impoliteness and argues that these classifications are essentially judgements about another’s interactions in the group and community. While this study situates itself outside the debates in linguistic models of politeness and gender, it suggests that the celebrity women worked both to build relations and negotiate status as experts. In this way, the language use demonstrates both women’s and men’s politeness strategies, suggesting that these characterizations are polarized and abstract. Instead of describing the language in terms of gender, it is important to consider the context and the intentions of the speaker or writer.

Unique to this study’s findings is that the social status of the user plays a role in the use of tags, hedges, first person and second person pronouns, collective pronouns, personal anecdotes, and secrets. While these linguistic and pragmatic features are characteristic of women’s language, and in a sense, their use weakens the power of the celebrity, at the same time, their use serves to enhance the celebrity chefs’ appeal to the reader and thus increase their power. Through positive politeness strategies that emphasize equality and express solidarity between participants, celebrities increase the devotion of their following and consequently their influence. In this study’s cookbooks, what Brown and Gilman (1960) call the “solidarity semantic” has displaced the power semantic in many contexts: “solidarity has largely won out over power” (p. 260). In other words, solidarity rather than positional power determines the appropriate linguistic

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usage. Strong egalitarian ideology dominates in the U.S. and seeks to suppress any expression of power asymmetry. English has no discriminating pronouns that exist in other languages such as Spanish, French, and Italian, but it uses proper names and titles that operate on a nonreciprocal power pattern in the U.S. and other open, egalitarian societies.

In this case, the celebrities have a positional power based on their status as a celebrity but seek a semantic solidarity with their audience and refer to themselves by their first name. According to Holmes (1995), “despite power differences, people who know each other well will use first names reciprocally” (p. 19). The Introduction chapters of their cookbooks end with intimate, personal sign-offs and their first name, which seems to be a unique characteristic of the female celebrity chef cookbooks. Comparison to other best-selling contemporary cookbooks by non-celebrity female chefs (e.g.

Chang, 2015; Medrich, 2014) and male celebrity chefs (e.g. Deen, 2014; Flay, 2015) indicates an absence of a personal sign-off. Thus, the first-name affectionate sign-off seems to be strategic practice in sending goodwill to readers in their reading and cooking the recipes that follow. For instance, the Pioneer Woman cookbooks end the letters to the readers in the Introduction with: “Lots of love, Ree” (2015, ix) or “Pioneer

Woman” (2009, p. 3) with decorative, colored typography suggestive of her hand writing; Giada’s cookbook introductions close with “XO, Giada” (2012, p. 18; 2008, p.

11) with Giada’s handwritten signature; likewise, the Barefoot Contessa cookbooks sign off affectionately: “XX, Ina” (2014, p. 16) with Ina’s handwritten signature. Setting a warm, familiar tone with “hugs and kisses” in the beginning matches the overall tone of the celebrity chef cookbooks and suits the particular type of cooking, home cooking.

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The rapport builds solidarity with the readers, and the consistent use of the first name reinforces the celebrities’ brand and identity in media discourse.

7.3.2 Sociocultural and Ideological Findings

The significance of the emphasis on the pleasure of cooking and eating is the extent to which it differs from the accounts of the meanings women bring to cooking and eating in feminist sociology. These studies situate cooking and food within debates about the sexual division of labor. They demonstrate that women serve as providers of food for others, but maintain a difficult relationship with eating itself: women frequently use food to offer pleasure to family and friends, yet deny themselves the same pleasure

(Charles & Kerr, 1988; Martens, 1997). Some women in Charles and Kerr’s (1988) study “treat” themselves when they were home alone by cooking food that only they liked but nobody else in the family liked (p. 71); and similarly, for Moores (1993), women enjoyed “guilty pleasures” by bingeing on their favorite television shows when no one else was around (p. 53). These practices are framed negatively, as the language used,

“treat” and “guilty,” suggest shame and embarrassment. However, Charles and Kerr

(1988) find that the pleasure gained in cooking “for him” is the pleasure of demonstrating “care” for others, and in line with DeVault’s work, cooking and caring for others affirm the relationship between cooking and femininity: caring work is the

“undefined, unacknowledged activity central to women’s identity” (1991, p. 4).

What this present study proposes is that the representation of cooking in Giada’s,

Ina’s, and Ree’s text starts from the equal importance of satisfying and caring for others and for the self, and in this way, offers an alternative mode of representing the pleasures of domestic femininity. I already have demonstrated how cooking as pleasure and love for others is represented in their writings, but by linking the pleasures of

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cooking and eating, the three women represent not only a nurturing, domestic feminine

self that cooks and cares, but also one that is very aware of what she wants and likes to

eat rather than always deferring to the preferences of others. The female celebrity chefs

do not deny that food is about sharing, about “connectedness” and “togetherness,” they write, but also that cooking is about taking time and effort to feed yourself, enjoying life on purpose rather than by default (e.g. “so relax, pour yourself a glass of wine, and enjoy your own party” (Garten, 2006, p. 91); “I know even my most discerning friends

will appreciate the effort I’ve made—as well as the fact that I’m not too tired to sit down and enjoy it with them!” (De Laurentiis, 2010, p. 11). By combining cooking for others and for the self, they suggest that readers can learn how to approach cooking as a pleasure in itself, “to enjoy every moment– and every bite” (De Laurentiis, 2010, p. 11).

This emphasis on the pleasure of cooking and eating appears to fit with the need

for constraint. Even lighter or less-sweet desserts are linked with pleasure rather than

deprivation. This restraint seems to characterize the new middle classes with its ability

to both pursue pleasure and maintain a disciplined relationship with the body and food

(Bourdieu, 1984). This controlled practice distinguishes the new middle class from the

restraint of the old middle classes and the lack of discipline that is seen to characterize

lower class taste (Featherstone, 1991). In Lupton’s (1996) work, pleasures may be

gendered as they relate to the way many women experience their relationship with both

food and the body. Hollows (2003) has suggested that women may have a sense of

feeling as if they were in control, or at least, a form of imagining of what it would feel like

to be in control (p. 185). What Giada, Ina, and Ree offer is a sense of actually being in

control over the self and the body.

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However, while taking pleasure in cooking and eating, Giada, Ina, and Ree at the same time acknowledge the anxieties associated with cooking. In DeVault’s (1991) work, among others, if men cook, they do not “feel the force of the morally charged ideal of deferential service that appears in so many women’s reports” (p. 149). Cooking as caring is one of the key ways in which femininity is performed, in which “a woman conducts herself as recognizably womanly” (DeVault, 1991, p. 118). While Ina, Ree, and Giada advocate that home cooks should take pleasure from their own eating, they acknowledge that cooking occurs in real life with less than perfect scenarios (e.g. surprise guests, burnt chicken, lack of ingredients, for instance). Ina suggests, “if worse truly comes to worst [when entertaining], you can always order Chinese takeout and serve it on your best china with a glass of champagne, and you can all have a good laugh about it for years to come” (Garten, 2002, p. 25).

The women’s writings (and their television cooking shows) associate cooking and caring “for him” and with motherhood. Ree’s four children feature in her cookbooks and her television shows, where they eat some of her dishes, join in the cooking and baking

(only the two daughters do), and contribute in constructing Ree’s projection of the middle-class, stay-at-home mother. Similarly, Giada’s daughter graces the cookbook pages and sometimes eats and cooks alongside her mother during her television cooking shows, also participating in the construction of Giada’s image of the devoted mother. While Ina does not have children, she writes recipes specifically for kids

(Chapter “Kids!” Barefoot Contessa Family Style, Garten, 2002). Cooking is still a means of performing motherhood by both feeding children and socializing them into culinary competence. Ina writes, “I like to invite children for a cooking class....We all

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have a great time, the kids learn to cook....” (Garten, 2002, p. 199). Part of the women’s work that demonstrates their lifestyle (i.e. the ‘Giada lifestyle,’ ‘Ree lifestyle,’ and ‘Ina lifestyle’) is the frequent mention of their husbands and appearances in their shows and cookbooks. Their husbands are portrayed as father, party co-host, and eater (never cook). As a result, ‘the caring self’ produced within their work coincides with caring for others.

Further, I want to suggest that the three celebrity chefs: Giada, Ina, and Ree, negotiate a space between oppositions: a nostalgic view of the kitchen and a modern response to societal pressures for women to do-it-all. It is in both the cooking and eating of dishes that the celebrities draw on their childhood memories to produce food that invokes home: “I try not to alter these recipes [from childhood] too much, preferring to prepare the dishes much as Italian mothers have been doing for hundreds of years” (De

Laurentiis, 2010, p. 10). But, these do not need to be recreations of the past, but a means of reconnecting with the past and producing new memories of comfort; “a flavorful pasta or a substantial salad is all any of us needs or wants” (De Laurentiis,

2010, p. 10). On the one hand, Giada calls for a need to respect tradition; on the other hand, she refuses the passivity that comes from reproducing feminine and familial traditions. Instead, Giada offers an active relationship to tradition: “Now I’ve found myself simplifying the kitchen experience even more....But I don’t think that’s a bad thing” (De Laurentiis, 2010, p. 11). In this way, the celebrity chefs are freed from the

‘real’ force of tradition and the modes of feminine labor, self-sacrifice, and obligation associated with it: tradition is presented as a choice. Failure to cook is not a failure to perform in such a way that is ‘properly feminine.’

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For these reasons, the women’s writing addresses the anxieties associated with

cooking that frequently arise from the fear of ‘failing’ and behaving ‘improperly’ feminine

in two ways: first, they invoke a personal, conversational tone to assuage anxiety,

recognizing that “you’ll have plenty of those [recipes] to add to your arsenal...because life is crazy and unpredictable” (Drummond, 2015, ix). This more informal and chatty discourse is an example of “conversationalization,” a concept related to synthetic personalization and also developed by Fairclough (1992, p. 204; 1995). The increase of conversational features is part of the restructuring of the boundaries between the public and private domains (Fairclough, 1995). The celebrity chefs attempt to create an interpersonal relationship with their readers and want them to feel as if they are in the kitchen with them as they cook. This interpersonal language turns into transactional language, which has a clear objective, e.g. buy their cookbooks. A chaotic schedule and potential failures are anticipated, so readers are given recipes for “make it ahead”

(Garten, 2014) and “ready-to-go” meals (Drummond, 2015, ix), and are reassured that cooking mistakes are not only ‘normal’ but also not failures. This reference to authenticity and “keepin’ it real” (Drummond, 2012) relates to the second way in which the women seek to negotiate anxiety by stressing the value of a feminine domestic culinary tradition. Their writing attempts to inspire confidence, but also acknowledges the pressures of the feminine while refusing to be judged by culinary standards. The standards refused are those of enjoying all aspects of cooking and feeding the family.

Ree confesses that,

I’m going to tell you something that perhaps a cookbook author shouldn’t necessarily say out loud, but here goes: I really don’t like going to the grocery store. I’m not saying that to freak anyone out; I just felt like I should be honest. (Drummond, 2015, xv)

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While Ree acknowledges that cooking, or aspects of ‘feeding work,’ may not be unproblematic (i.e. grocery shopping), she also claims that cooking is something “I absolutely love doing” (Drummond, 2015, xv). She refuses to be judged by domestic standards of being a perfect housewife and mother, but also does not neglect taking care of others.

User comments and reviews on Amazon.com suggest that it is not only women who use the celebrity chef cookbooks and that the figure of the ‘balanced’ and ‘happy’ home cook is also receptive to men. Nonetheless, the figure of the celebrity is used to validate feminine practices and traditions to produce a homology between cooking, eating, feeding, and femininity based around ideas of comfort. While Ina, Giada, and

Ree are careful not to overlook the demands of work and shortage of time of contemporary fast-paced lifestyle, they nonetheless stress both cooking and eating as a source of social and psychological sustenance. The references to family meals and entertaining drawn on here are less a nostalgia for a previous domestic culture and more micro-narratives of life in which readers are invited to vicariously experience and to reproduce themselves.

Additional main findings indicate that, as celebrities, the cookbook authors project a desirable lifestyle that they want readers to be able to imitate. In selling good recipes and using narrative to support their expertise in the kitchen, the celebrity chefs are telling readers that they can buy into their world by cooking the things they do, and the way they do it. Ina writes: “I hope you’ll find not only that the recipes are foolproof and delicious, but also that entertaining is less stressful and more fun” (Garten, 2014, p.

16). As celebrities, the authors have an extensive platform with frequent television

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exposure, magazine features, and websites that circulate their influence. Their individual product lines in food and cooking further enable viewers to emulate the celebrities’ lifestyles; they can use the GDL (Giada De Laurentiis) food processor that

Giada does on her cooking show, replicate the cake that Ina does with a Barefoot

Contessa Chocolate Cake Mix, or sprinkle on salt from the decorative bowls on Ree’s product line, aligning themselves with the glamour and prestige of the chefs and their brand.

As celebrity chefs, the cookbook authors act both as knowledge and lifestyle intermediaries that connect audiences with food in multiple ways. Here, the female celebrity chefs actively construct and mediate discourses around ‘good food’ and what it means to cook for others and for the self. As trusted, credible, and well-liked public figures, the female celebrity chefs step into the private home spaces through their cookbooks to convey information of food in a charismatic, entertaining and accessible way.

7.4 Female Celebrity Chefs

I conclude by discussing the prospects for female celebrity chefs in changing gender inequality in the U.S. There is reportedly some sign of progress of gender equality, yet men still dominate the leadership positions and the public sphere. I argue that despite the inequalities in America’s media and political situation thus far, women’s role in the media should not be considered lightly; what changes occur at a national level start at the lowest level, at the home, and perhaps even more so, at the kitchen table.

Initially, it appears that gender equality is becoming more of a reality. In the culinary world, in recent years, women have been moving into the realm of professional

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cooking in significant numbers, but men still reign in the majority of the most-esteemed restaurants (Foster, 2015; Harris & Giuffre, 2010; Nicholson, 2012). While domestic cooking seems to include more male presence in preparing ordinary and daily meals

(Swarns, 2014), for the most part, however, drawing from the present study’s findings, women’s cooking continues to be an expected, anonymous service to their families.

Hence, cookbook literature for easy yet delicious meals is aimed at women primarily.

Considering this positively, this study proposes that women readers, armed with simple and scrumptious recipes and supported by expert and friend celebrity chef personalities, are enabled and empowered to care for the self; they can make meals that please them as equally as the family. These advances in Discourse contrast to previous societal expectations, according to Shapiro’s (2009) study: “Women on their own, making independent decisions about food they will actually eat rather than serve to others, do not constitute a very appealing class, according to our hardiest prejudices” (p. 222).

Taking light of these advances, female celebrity chefs have the potential to continue to make changes in the American society. As prominent figures of authority of cooking, female celebrity chefs have the possibility of influencing Americans’ perception of food, cooking, and women.

7.5 Study Limitations

The analysis and findings of the present research are limited by several factors. It investigated cookbooks by three individuals: contemporary female American celebrity chefs. A more diverse data, such as material from the women’s media platforms (e.g. internet and social networking sites), and by other individuals (e.g. men, women of different race/ethnicity/class, non-Americans, lesser known people) may have resulted in different Discourses that were more salient. A full understanding of representations of

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women may only be gained with an analysis of representations of men, which I aim to turn to in the next project. Celebrities, whose fame derives from media activity and self- presentation, would be of interest to consumer researchers. As Cashmore and Parker

(2003) note, “it [celebrity] is [the] commodification of the human form […] the process by which people are turned into ‘things,’ things to be adored, respected, worshipped, idolized, but perhaps more importantly, things which are themselves produced and consumed” (ibid, p. 215). Commodity celebrities who have high standing in the public provide a powerful tool for brand building. Thus, harnessing the marketing of celebrity can reap huge rewards for business. As Pringle (2004) states, “celebrity sells.”

Also, this study contextualized the data in its contemporary American setting; consequently, the conclusions may not be directly extended to other societies. Future research may recognize the value of comparative analysis of regional, national, and global approaches to food and cookbooks. How cookbooks, especially those by celebrities, are created, branded, and distributed leads to questions of reception—the why, how, and by whom of people reading celebrity cookbooks—and are both areas wide open for investigation. An integrated approach to the study of cookbooks that works to incorporate the text, industry, and audience is a challenging yet rewarding future arena, as any comprehensive project risks diluting the expertise that comes with specificity. However, given cookbooks’ and food’s interdisciplinary nature, future research may be rewarded from this emerging methodology.

7.6 Avenues for Future Research

Critical Discourse Analysis along with gender and food studies share being fields informed by interdisciplinary underpinnings. Consequently, there is abundant opportunity for future research to contribute to existing literature and fill research gaps.

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While this study has made advances of research in cookbooks from the U.S., there are cultural and linguistic variables that are glossed over. Future research should consider the value of comparative analysis at a regional, national, and global level. Directly related to this gap is studies on work by lesser known contemporary authorities on cooking (e.g. Mark Bittman, Dan Barber, Alice Waters, etc.) other than a handful of celebrity chefs (e.g. Rachael Ray, Jamie Oliver, Nigella Lawson); however, given today’s burgeoning interest in food, there are innumerable texts in need of academic attention. Moving from the genre of the cookbook, internet and social networking sites, where contemporary cultural and political information is available, are accessible and ripe for the next research project on language, gender, and food. Finally, the study did not explore the audience relationship with the celebrity chef cookbooks. How the cookbooks and recipes are understood and used by audiences in their everyday food practices merit academic attention as well.

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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

Kelsi Matwick earned her Bachelor of Arts in Spanish, summa cum laude, from the University of Notre Dame in 2005. She served in the United States Air Force in

Anchorage, Alaska, as a Personnel Officer, from 2005-2008. Returning to her alma mater, she received her Master of Arts in Spanish from the University of Notre Dame in

2010. Complementing her studies of Spanish literature, she joined the Department of

Linguistics at the University of Florida in fall 2010. She earned her Master of Arts in

Linguistics in 2013, followed by her doctoral degree in Philosophy in 2016. Kelsi’s dissertation, A Critical Discourse Analysis of Language and Gender in Cookbooks by

Female Celebrity Chefs, was supervised by Dr. Ann Wehmeyer. Kelsi’s research interests are discourse analysis, gender studies, and cultural studies. She has taught many courses, including beginning and intermediate Spanish and professional writing and communication. She loves to cook and read cookbooks.

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