Collective Memory And Spatial Imagination Of Food Documentary

At present,the research on "diet and national identity" is mostly concentrated in the domain of anthropology and human geography.But in the field of communication studies,this is a new subject.This study will take the food documentary A Bite of Guangdong as the research object,and use the spatial media theory of media geography as a research method to analyze and discuss the spatial presentation and collective memory of the documentary,and conduct narrative analysis,text analysis and discourse analysis of the documentary content.In addition,non-participatory observation was made on Bilibili video platform,the most important broadcasting platform.Specifically,the main topic of this study is: how can food possibly construct collective memory? What role does the media play in highlighting the characteristics of a place and highlighting its differences in comparison with other countries and regions? Through previous studies,we can discover that that spatial representation in media is one of the important means by which we know and perceive the world.Food,architecture,dialects and even the facial features of characters are important local symbols in the spatial representation of documentaries.Media’s highlighting and shaping of local characteristics arouse people’s identification with local characteristics,which is the answer to the question " Where am I " as well as the answer to the question " Who am I ".This reliance on place should be based on the "authenticity" of the filming.Through the window of media,people can identify whether the food and language in the space are authentic or not,so as to determine their own identity.In addition,people’s identity is intrinsically multiple,and the boundaries of regions can continue to expand outwardly until they are consistent with the boundaries of nation-states,which also provides strong support for people’s identity.This comes from the comparison of regional differentiation with other countries.When a country’s local diet is placed in the context of globalization,in the face of the invasion of "other" cultures,the domestic regional cultural differences can be ignored.That is to say,because of the emergence of other countries,it is possible for "we" to collectively deny the food of other countries and turn it into the cultural advantage of our own country.From a certain point of view,since the media has established a common symbolic domain for people,the media highlights the local characteristics while removing the localization to the maximum extent,so that everyone can see and participate in it.This symbolic field includes the narrative of a shared culinary history,capturing festive scenes in today’s rural spaces,showcasing the spatial wonders of modern technology.In conclusion,despite the conflicts of cultural reputation and cultural meaning within the nation-state,the symbol of the Chinese nation community can contain and condense various meanings compared with the culture of the "other".To sum up,the author attempts to explore the concept of "disappearing area" proposed by communication scholar Merowitz,arguing that electronic media can weaken place and place identity,but at the same time it is an important force that forms and builds a sense of place.Local prominence can build collective memory,condense local identity and national identity,so as to solve the increasingly severe erosion of globalization in the future.