Note per una semiotica del cibo

This paper addresses a crucial question: why is a semiotics of food needed and useful? Food is not only a substance for survival and nourishment, but is also part of a sign system since it is strictly involved in processes of signification. After exploring this issue, we propose a brief examination of the main contributions dealing with food symbolism and the food system. The paper therefore presents some hypotheses concerning the role of semiotics within food studies, trying to individuate the main issues which seem in need to be urgently dealt with and pointing out the need for complementing the more traditional approaches to the new branches focusing on the observation of practices, social dynamics, and other tools of analysis. Finally, attention is drawn to interdisciplinarity, suggesting the importance of connecting semiotics with the other disciplines that have traditionally dealt with food.