Chapter 3
The moral taste of food
A discourse analysis of social media discussions about
vegetarianism and veganism
This paper analyses discussions about vegetarianism and
veganism in francophone social media groups where moral statements
play an important role. It sketches a communicative conception of
morality as ‘doing ethics’ that zooms in on how
morality emerges and is negotiated in interaction by concentrating
on linguistic practices that key morality. Based on two case
studies, it examines controversies about moral values of food which
offer insights in the more general machinery of moral discourse. The
data reveal different linguistic techniques which are frequent in,
although not specific to, moral discourse. In particular, these are
evaluations, pejorative or upgrading lexicon, deontic modality,
generalisations, typical speech acts like advice or instruction as
well as semantic and structural forms of intensification.
Article outline
- 1.Introduction
- 2.Vegetarianism and veganism
- 3.Doing ethics
- 4.Data
- 4.1Data collection
- 4.2Contextualization of the social media discussions
- 5.Two case studies:
Honey and French fries
- 5.1Is honey health food?
- 5.2Are French fries junk food?
- 6.Conclusion
-
Acknowledgement
-
Notes
-
References
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