Chapter 8
Dinner for One
The use of language in eating shows on YouTube
In this chapter, I investigate discursive practices in
eating shows, so-called Mukbang, on YouTube.
Originally a South Korean phenomenon, the object of this study are
the globalized, Anglophone, and asynchronous instantiations of these
shows. Based on a corpus of English-language eating shows, I
demonstrate how the Mukbang performers construct their discourse as
a conversation over food which resembles but is also different from
traditional face-to-face dinner/lunch conversations. In order to do
so, the YouTubers draw on a range of linguistic strategies, such as
imperatives, questions, terms of address and nicknames, pronouns,
topical choices, and the characteristics of delayed interaction.
Article outline
- 1.Introduction
- 2.YouTube and micro-celebrity
- 3.Methodology
- 4.The discursive style of eating shows on YouTube
- Imperatives
- Questions
- Terms of address
- Pronouns
- Topical choices
- Delayed interaction
- 5.Discussion
- 6.Conclusion
-
Notes
-
References
-
Appendix
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Cited by (3)
Cited by three other publications
Davis, Heather A., Meredith R. Kells, Chloe Roske, Sam Holzman & Jennifer E. Wildes
2023.
A reflexive thematic analysis of #WhatIEatInADay on TikTok.
Eating Behaviors 50
► pp. 101759 ff.
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Shen, Sijun
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Commercialising potential as a critical factor of differential media management: a cultural zoning study of China’s regulation of mukbang and online eating disorder communities.
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