NATIONAL CULINARY CAPITAL HOW THE STATE AND TV SHAPE THE 'TASTE OF THE NATION' TO CREATE DISTINCTION FRANCESCO BUSCEMI A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy QUEEN MARGARET UNIVERSITY 2014 ABSTRACT This interdisciplinary thesis breaks new ground in the fields of food and media studies, in the specific areas of culinary capital and food TV. On food studies, this thesis theorises that the state plays the role of meta-tastemaker, legitimising some foods as a source of social distinction in order to support national ideologies and beliefs. The social prestige that citizens accumulate thanks to these foods is what this thesis defines as national culinary capital. On media studies, this thesis analyses how national culinary capital is represented on television, and how the media and the nation negotiate it. Only by merging the two disciplines has this thesis been able to catch the sense of the complex power relationships between the nation and the media. Through the analysis of two national TV food travelogues, the Italian Ti Ci Porto Io and the British Jamie's Great Britain, this work draws on Bourdieu's concepts of statist and cultural capital, and on Naccarato and LeBesco's theorisation of culinary capital. Cultural studies views of national culture and television, and theories on nation-building contribute to the theoretical framework. Methodologically, this study applies political economy and Bourdieu's field analysis to Italian and British TV and food TV, and to the broadcasters and production companies of the shows. In addition, moving image and semiotic analysis of the travelogues clarify how the two shows represent national culinary capital. An interview with the Italian producer, and a failed interview with the British one shed further light on the national ideologies represented by the shows and linked to food. The results show how, in the two countries, national culinary capital supports different ideologies with similar aims. Moreover, while in Italy the state exerts its power over the media in a stronger way, in Britain the media prove to be powerful enough to shape an independent form of national culinary capital, embodied by the media invention of the celebrity chef. II ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This thesis is the result of a wonderful, long journey that started in 2010 at the University of Stirling and has continued since 2012 at the School of Arts, Social Sciences and Management of Queen Margaret University. As with every wonderful, long journey, there are many people to thank for their guidance, encouragement, advice or simply for providing fun and distraction between one stage and another. First of all, this thesis would not have been the same without my first supervisor Jacquie L'Etang. Since the beginning, Jacquie has been (not necessarily in this order) critical, encouraging, loquacious, ironic, doubtful, optimistic, perplexed and extolling, and this multifaceted approach fostered the growth and improvement necessary for this thesis. Jacquie was also the link between Stirling and QMU, and thus the only witness to the whole journey that led me from the initial spark to the final product. She knows this work word for word, and her support deserves much more than a simple 'thank you'. This thesis also had a copious and helpful team of co-supervisors. In chronological order, Julia Jahansoozi supervised the Stirling part of the research, and her enthusiasm fuelled the sense of discovery and surprise that encapsulates the beginning of a long investigation. At QMU, Jeremy Valentine realised that the moment to take some decisions had arrived, and added his concrete point of view on things. He suggested a couple of very effective and decisive twists, and has never given up discussing and arguing. Finally, Susanne Schulz provided this work with her sociological expertise and concerned insight, suggesting how to refine and improve my work in its last stages. However, this thesis also owes much to other scholars that suggested, commented on and fruitfully criticised my work. At the useful ECREA Summer School other PhD students coming from the EU and many outstanding researchers went through my research with a fine-tooth comb. Above all, Nico Carpentier, Heiner Stahl and Fausto Colombo (who was also my professor at postgraduate level and is today the head of the department where I teach) helped me to come out of the school with a clearer idea of what I was doing. Apart from ECREA, I also want to say thank you to all the researchers that gave me advice and support during the many European and US conferences where I presented sections of this thesis. Moreover, the reviewers of the articles that I published contributed to shedding light on my investigation. Finally, Karl Squitier, during his frequent visiting professorships in Italy, explained what food culture is to me. We mixed theory and practice while walking and eating together in Trastevere, Rome. Finally, Andrea helped me orientate in this new world. Daniela, Matthew, Isabella and Alessia provided hospitality, friendship and fun, and thankfully managed to put up with me... Dulcis in fundo, my wife Tania from the beginning was enthusiastic about the idea of pursuing a PhD, and shared with me happiness, doubts, beautiful places, cosy flats and probably the most serene period of our lives. III LIST OF PUBLICATIONS AND CONFERENCE PAPERS Parts of this thesis have already been presented or published in: Conference Papers 28-29 August 2014: The Ancestral Room of the Nation: Scotland and Britain on Jamie's Great Britain. Becoming Scotland: Screen Cultures in a Small Nation, Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh. 26-27 September 2013: Television as a Trattoria: Constructing the Woman in the Kitchen on Daily Italian Food Shows. Ordinary/Everyday/Quotidian: An International Two-Day Conference, University of York. 18-20 April 2013: Cooked Communities: How Television Uses Food To Build the Nation. Traditions and Transformations: An Interdisciplinary Food Studies Conference, California State University, Fullerton, Department of Liberal Studies. 6 December 2012: How TV Constructs Britain Through Food. (Mis)representations of Britishness, Northumbria University, Newcastle. Articles BUSCEMI, F., 2012. Non è la Rai: Storia e modelli del telegiornale in Gran Bretagna. In G. SIMONELLI, ed. Speciale TG. 5th ed. Novara: Interlinea publishing. BUSCEMI, F., 2014a. From killing cows to culturing meat. British Food Journal. Vol. 116, no. 6, pp. 952-964. BUSCEMI, F., 2014b. Television as a trattoria: constructing the woman in the kitchen on Italian food shows. European Journal of Communication, vol. 29, no. 3, pp. 304-318. BUSCEMI, F., 2014c. Jamie Oliver and the gastrodiplomacy of simulacra. Public Diplomacy Magazine, special issue Gastrodiplomacy, winter, pp. 46-50. IV TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract II Acknowledgements III List of Publications and Conference Papers IV Table of Contents V List of Tables VI List of Figures VI Chapter 1: Introduction 1 Chapter 2: Literature Review 15 Chapter 3: Paradigm and Theoretical Framework 77 Chapter 4: Methodology 110 Chapter 5: TV and Food TV in Italy and Britain: National Influences 137 Chapter 6: Ti Ci Porto Io 175 Chapter 7: Jamie's Great Britain 214 Chapter 8: Conclusions and Implications 253 References 278 Appendix 1: Episodes' Plots 313 Appendix 2: Interview with the Italian Producer Ettore Musco 333 V LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Food Regimes 45 Table 2: British retailing 69 Table 3: Chocolate consumption at school 70 Table 4: Food TV genres 74 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: The culinary triangle 33 Figure 2: Stringfellow et al.'s scheme 95 Figure 3: Methodology 111 Figure 4: Mario Soldati in Viaggio Lungo la Valle del Po 149 Figure 5: Ave Ninchi-housewife 149 Figure 6: Antonella Clerici in La Prova del Cuoco 152 Figure 7: Philip Harben 165 Figure 8: Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall 169 Figure 9: The presenters and Nello 188 Figure 10: Vissani and Ferron 188 Figure 11: Vissani, Sonia, the cook and Giuliani at the Chinese Restaurant 204 Figure 12: The beginning and the end of the logo's animation 232 Figure 13: The army truck in the British countryside 237 VI CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION This thesis makes a new contribution to both the fields of food and media studies. For food studies, the new contribution concerns the theorisation of a specific form of culinary capital that draws upon the nation, which I term 'national culinary capital'. Culinary capital refers to the social assets that one acquires thanks to his/her knowledge and cultural abilities relating to food. It confers social prestige and power (Naccarato and LeBesco 2012). This work focuses on forms of culinary capital that relate to national ideologies. Bourdieu et al. (1994) argue that the state holds a powerful meta-capital, through which it influences other fields. I analyse how, through its meta-capital, the state contributes to shaping national culinary capital, in order to support itself. This clearly does not mean that members of the state decide what foods citizens must eat or watch on TV. The influence, instead, has to do with hegemony, which is a form of soft power (Gramsci 1964), and with national ideologies, which “are part of the state's strategy to maintain its existing hegemonic order” (Kosasa 2008, p.212). Trends in culinary capital are often suggested by food experts, journalists, celebrity chefs, food shows, food guides and so on. They are called 'tastemakers' and legitimise or delegitimise foods and tastes. I focus on how tastemakers are hegemonically influenced by national ideologies and legitimise foods and foodways supporting the nation. When this happens, I argue that the state, by exerting the power of its meta-capital, becomes a meta-tastemaker. I demonstrate in Chapters 6 and 7 that the state influences the taste put forward by the analysed shows through the frequent representations of its ideologies relating to food.