“We all have our feet in the same Basque soil”: The Depoliticization of Basque Cuisine in American Media from 1980-2010
Abstract/Contents
- Abstract
- The Basque Country in Spain rose to global prominence in the post-Franco area for two very different reasons: for its culinary explosion and excellence and for the terrorist activities of the Basque separatist group, E.T.A. American media covered both movements, but used divergent rhetorical methods to do so, effectively creating two versions of the Basque Country in the American imagination: one highly political, and one seemingly apolitical, sometimes even appearing just pages apart from each other. However, previous research has found that food served as a vehicle by which to preserve Basque nationalism in the face of Franco’s oppression, as food is deeply embedded in and important to the Basque culture. Through this research, I seek to answer the question of how this sharp line between culture and politics was created in American media, exploring how journalism, especially related to food and travel, handles times political strife in areas that are otherwise alluring to their audience. Through a content analysis of newspaper articles from major American media outlets from 1980-2010, I found that the rhetorical methods used by the American media effectively depoliticized Basque food and culture, ensuring that the political tension never complicated the cultural appeal, despite the centrality of Basque culture in the political struggle. Each decade accomplished this through strategies that built on the previous: first, by rigorous separation of food and politics, then by focusing on worldwide cultural markers to overshadow any mentions of politics, and finally, by using the voice of Basque chefs to cultivate the image of the apolitical Basque person. This resulted in an incomplete picture and understanding of the Basque Country from either perspective.
Description
| Type of resource | text |
|---|---|
| Date created | 2020 |
Creators/Contributors
| Author | Echeverria, Danielle |
|---|---|
| Advisor | Mullaney, Thomas |
Subjects
| Subject | Science Technology and Society |
|---|---|
| Subject | Basque |
| Subject | media |
| Subject | Basque cuisine |
| Subject | food journalism |
| Subject | travel journalism |
| Subject | content analysis |
| Genre | Thesis |
Bibliographic information
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- License
- This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license (CC BY).
Preferred citation
- Preferred Citation
- Echeverria, Danielle. (2020). “We all have our feet in the same Basque soil”: The Depoliticization of Basque Cuisine in American Media from 1980-2010. Unpublished Honors Thesis. Stanford University, Stanford CA.
Collection
Stanford University, Program in Science, Technology and Society, Honors Theses
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- Contact
- dech23@stanford.edu
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