Eating Online Discourses: Rhetorics on Food Consumption in Contemporary Bicocca (Milan, Italy)

Abstract

This article sets out to analyse from both anthropological and comparative perspectives two trattorie -the Tuscan Trattoria da Aldo and the Old Trattoria Arlati- in Bicocca, a post-industrial Milanese neighbourhood. In order to best consider food consumption rhetorics in these historical places, I am using ethnographic observation, employing as sources web portal online reviews from sites such as Tripadvisor.it, 2spaghi.it, and Yelp.it, blog contents, and the restaurants' own official websites. Here, the consumption of food plays an important role in revealing how the so-called "new" inhabitants of this area perceive, interpret, and excite new discourse on the social memory of the area itself.

DOI: 10.5901/jesr.2014.v4n1p469