Leiden University Student Repository

Cirillo, Lorenza (2021)

#Palestinianfood: Does social media change the way that Palestinians in the diaspora politicise food?

Master thesis | Middle Eastern Studies (MA)

Abstract: Previous literature on the role of food in the diaspora indicates that social groups communicate their identity to outsiders through culinary culture and traditional recipes. What food is produced, how it is cooked and with what available ingredients it is prepared has extremely meaningful cultural implications, especially in circumstances of migration, hardship and loss. Social media, however, has profoundly blurred the boundaries of knowledge implicit to social groups and “followers” who do not belong to the community, but who still consume food content online. In a way, social media has brought the traditionally domestic practice of food culture onto a public platform. On this platform, exclusion and praise have faced diaspora communities in relation to their cuisine in the food influencer community. Publicity, sponsorship and an international audience have changed how the Palestinian diaspora relates to its identity-marking food practices.

Diaspora

Instagram

food culture

resistance

Author

Cirillo, Lorenza

Faculty

Faculty of Humanities

Supervisors

Schonmann, N.

ECTS Credits

20

Language

en