Lesson25 Globalization of Food Diversity
In the 1990s, when use of the term "globalization" had become commonplace, it appeared that the long record of interconnections between peoples and places had greatly intensified over the previous 30 years, producing an increasingly compressed economic, political and cultural world. Greater awareness of these compressions had given rise to the concept of the globalization of the food system. Time out had stated that one could find "The world on a plate," and it had urged its readers to "Give your tongue a holiday and treat yourself to the best meals in the world - all without setting foot outside our fair capital." The implication of this claim was that the culinary culture to be found in London had not submitted to the homogenization promoted by a monolithic transnational capitalism (in other words "McDonaldization") , but had staged, and perhaps reconstructed, cultural differences to create a "globalization of diversity".
Scholars pointed out that cultural diversity sells and that the touristic quality of food was now being exploited. What was being sold purported to be an authentic example of an exotic dish, and this was being reinforced by messages imparted by the décor and other features of the location in which the food was served.
compressed 压缩的，缩小的
give rise to 引起、导致
culinary 饮食的、烹饪的
submit 臣服于…, 屈服于…
homogenisation 一体化（消灭差异性）
monolithic 单一的
McDonaldization 麦当劳化（指麦当劳快餐文化）
purport 达到…的目的
impart 给予
食物的全球化
二十世纪九十年代，“全球化”成为了一个家喻户晓的词语，世界各民族和各地区之间的联系在过去的三十年里达到了空前的程度，使得地球从经济、政治和文化角度上看变得越来越小。日益缩小的地球也引起了人们对饮食文化全球化的关注。《旅游报》曾声称人们可以找到“餐盘中的世界”，并鼓励其读者“奖励你的舌头一天假期，款待一下自己，去品尝全世界的美味佳肴&&就在我们美丽的首都！”这一宣传背后所蕴藏的理念是伦敦的饮食文化成功地抵抗住了横扫一切他人文化的跨国资本主义（就是说“麦当劳文化”）的冲击，展现了，也许该说是重新构建了文化的差异性，创造出了“多元文化全球化”的例子。
学者们指出，文化多元化就是卖点，饮食旅游化正在兴起。出售外国饮食就是展示异国的饮食文化，如果加上饮食地点的装饰和其他地区特色，这种文化的展示还将得到强化。 |