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Eating Green on Screen: Analysis of vegetarian representation in Japanese content on Instagram

Wiklund, Simon LU (2025) MKVA22 20251
Media and Communication Studies
Department of Communication and Media
Abstract
Instagram as a platform of content created by its users presents a plethora of possibilities regarding cooking in all its forms. Vegetarian cooking in particular is a reoccurring aspect of this particular body of content on Instagram. Japan as a food culture has garnered a certain infamy among non-native vegetarian tourists for being unaccommodating for their food preferences. As such, how the country’s perceives vegetarian cooking may be found in the content on platforms such as Instagram made by native creators. This study analyzes ten videos representing vegetarian cooking as they relate to Stuart Hall’s theory of encoding and decoding, as well as how the videos reflect Michael Billig’s writings about banal nationalism. Findings... (More)
Instagram as a platform of content created by its users presents a plethora of possibilities regarding cooking in all its forms. Vegetarian cooking in particular is a reoccurring aspect of this particular body of content on Instagram. Japan as a food culture has garnered a certain infamy among non-native vegetarian tourists for being unaccommodating for their food preferences. As such, how the country’s perceives vegetarian cooking may be found in the content on platforms such as Instagram made by native creators. This study analyzes ten videos representing vegetarian cooking as they relate to Stuart Hall’s theory of encoding and decoding, as well as how the videos reflect Michael Billig’s writings about banal nationalism. Findings indicate the content analyzed may be subject to hegemonic processes due partially to the platform’s affordances surrounding content creation. Further findings suggest the recipes represented are reflections on societal definitions as to what Japanese vegetarian cooking can be. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Wiklund, Simon LU
supervisor
organization
course
MKVA22 20251
year
type
L2 - 2nd term paper (old degree order)
subject
keywords
Japan, social media, vegetarian, Hall, Billig
language
English
id
9191818
date added to LUP
2025-07-09 13:17:29
date last changed
2025-07-09 13:17:29
@misc{9191818,
  abstract     = {{Instagram as a platform of content created by its users presents a plethora of possibilities regarding cooking in all its forms. Vegetarian cooking in particular is a reoccurring aspect of this particular body of content on Instagram. Japan as a food culture has garnered a certain infamy among non-native vegetarian tourists for being unaccommodating for their food preferences. As such, how the country’s perceives vegetarian cooking may be found in the content on platforms such as Instagram made by native creators. This study analyzes ten videos representing vegetarian cooking as they relate to Stuart Hall’s theory of encoding and decoding, as well as how the videos reflect Michael Billig’s writings about banal nationalism. Findings indicate the content analyzed may be subject to hegemonic processes due partially to the platform’s affordances surrounding content creation. Further findings suggest the recipes represented are reflections on societal definitions as to what Japanese vegetarian cooking can be.}},
  author       = {{Wiklund, Simon}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Eating Green on Screen: Analysis of vegetarian representation in Japanese content on Instagram}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}