Paper short abstract:

This paper focuses on ongoing changes in Denmark with regard to the meaning of pork. From a linguistic perspective it discusses sign values of pork, and how mediatized discourses’ constrain its meaning potential. Pork is changing from basic foodstuff to an index of Danishness /national affiliation.

Paper long abstract:

This paper discusses ongoing changes in Denmark with regard to the meaning of pork, a food item with a key role in the traditional kitchen (Boyhuus 1998). The aim is to demonstrate how food items have sign value, how sign values are contextually embedded, but also how mediatized discourses may influence their meaning potential.

The historical significance of pork is reflected by pork featuring in most traditional (meat) dishes and meals eaten at religious holidays. Recently a pork-based dish was elected the National Dish. In addition, pork has become part of larger political struggles concerning immigration. Through erasure (Gal & Irvine 1995) all immigrants are understood as Muslims, and as Muslims uphold a taboo against pork, this creates the possibility of recursively reproducing (Gal & Irvine 1995) other cultural differences in terms of eating practices.

The meaning of pork is thereby changing from basic foodstuff to a Danish core value. Pork becomes emblematic of Danish-ness and national belonging, and pork becomes a moral issue which index one's Danish affiliation and alignment.

With a linguistic approach, the paper compares media discourse with data from three different ethnographic settings: a high-end restaurant where pork is tradition and authenticity (Karrebæk & Maegaard forthcoming), a classroom where the differences between Muslim and non-Muslim children's understanding are left unexplained (Karrebæk 2012), and a modern fast-food restaurant where newer discourses of pork as Danishness are exploited.