LINGUISTIC PERFORMANCE AND IDENTITY CONSTRUCTION WITHIN CONTEMPORARY COOKING : A Comparative Study of the Language Use of Two British Chefs

Abstract: This is a limited linguistic study that focuses on contemporary language use of two British nationals who are well-known professionals within cooking, and who perform linguistically in the writing of cookery books and in television shows. There are two linguistic foci for the study: a gender perspective and a social class perspective. The aim is to evaluate the linguistic features that are characteristic of the two subjects in relation to the research approaches and in relation to previous research from these perspectives, and to compare their respective language use from the selected material. The study also aims to explore how the language use and linguistic style of each subject may contribute to his or her identity and to the professional image marketing processes the employ. A quantitative method is used for the study of specific linguistic features and to detect the presence or absence of these features. A qualitative approach is used when discussing and commenting on how the qualitative result may have impact on, or may contribute to, individual style, identity and professional branding. The texts for the study is randomly chosen and comprises written texts in two cookery books of each individual and spoken language in one television episode, of each person, from broadcasted cookery shows. Due to the randomly selected and limited data, the study does not claim to be statistically relevant. Rather, it presents possible tendencies. The results of the study show that the subjects act linguistically in accordance with traditional findings and previous research from the perspective of social class, but opposite to traditional findings regarding gender. This result raises the question as to whether or not class may have priority over gender as a linguistic feature, with higher relevance as a social variable, and further research is suggested within this area.