Linguistic strategies prompting interactions in recipes from Mandarin Chinese food blogs

Abstract

AbstractThis study investigates linguistic strategies used in recipes from Mandarin Chinese food blogs that prompt interactions between writers and readers. Using analytical concepts such as contextualization cues and frames to analyze 122 recipes collected from five popular food blogs in Taiwan, this study explicates two research questions. First, what linguistic strategies do writers frequently employ as contextualization cues to prompt interactions from readers? Second, how do these contextualization cues help readers choose frames when responding to writers? The findings show that writers of popular food blogs often adopt three linguistic strategies to engage readers’ discussions on recipes: narrative orientations, speech acts, and direct reported speech from family members. Three implications arise from interactions in the context of food blogs. First, writers usually adopt manifold contextualization cues to establish the frames of recipes intended by them. Second, the ways writers and readers use language to discuss food and create coherent discourses on food construct food blogs in Taiwan as an online community. Finally, recipes may reflect social phenomena, i.e. in Taiwan, more and more people, especially female caregivers in their families who are concerned about health, started to cook after serious breaches of food safety.