Modern science, moral mothers, and mythical nature: a multimodal analysis of cod liver oil marketing in Sweden, 1920–1930

IF 1.2 Q2 ANTHROPOLOGY

Food and Foodways Pub Date : 2022-09-21 DOI:10.1080/07409710.2022.2124725

L. O’Hagan, Göran Eriksson

{"title":"Modern science, moral mothers, and mythical nature: a multimodal analysis of cod liver oil marketing in Sweden, 1920–1930","authors":"L. O’Hagan, Göran Eriksson","doi":"10.1080/07409710.2022.2124725","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Abstract This paper offers the first case study of the marketing of cod liver oil in Sweden (1920–1930), following the discovery of vitamins A and D. Drawing upon a large dataset of cod liver oil advertisements from the Swedish Newspaper Archive, it uses multimodal critical discourse analysis to investigate how language and other semiotic resources (e.g. image, typography, color) work together to convey the benefits of cod liver oil intake. It identifies three overarching themes—scientific rationality, scientific motherhood, and nature—noting how advertisements were aimed squarely at mothers and struck a balance between vitamins as scientifically formulated products and mythical, natural substances to convince them that cod liver oil was necessary for their children. Exploring how cod liver oil was marketed from a historical perspective shows how nutritional research gained prominence and became of increasing importance for marketing, as well as how food, through science, became incorporated into a consumerist lifestyle. It also provides a way to deconstruct contemporary marketing practices, thereby enabling consumers to rethink products framed as indispensable for their health.","PeriodicalId":45423,"journal":{"name":"Food and Foodways","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.2000,"publicationDate":"2022-09-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"8","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Food and Foodways","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1080/07409710.2022.2124725","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"ANTHROPOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 8

Abstract

Abstract This paper offers the first case study of the marketing of cod liver oil in Sweden (1920–1930), following the discovery of vitamins A and D. Drawing upon a large dataset of cod liver oil advertisements from the Swedish Newspaper Archive, it uses multimodal critical discourse analysis to investigate how language and other semiotic resources (e.g. image, typography, color) work together to convey the benefits of cod liver oil intake. It identifies three overarching themes—scientific rationality, scientific motherhood, and nature—noting how advertisements were aimed squarely at mothers and struck a balance between vitamins as scientifically formulated products and mythical, natural substances to convince them that cod liver oil was necessary for their children. Exploring how cod liver oil was marketed from a historical perspective shows how nutritional research gained prominence and became of increasing importance for marketing, as well as how food, through science, became incorporated into a consumerist lifestyle. It also provides a way to deconstruct contemporary marketing practices, thereby enabling consumers to rethink products framed as indispensable for their health.

查看原文本刊更多论文

现代科学、道德母亲和神话性质：1920–1930年瑞典鱼肝油营销的多模式分析

摘要本文提供了继发现维生素A和D后，瑞典（1920–1930）鱼肝油营销的第一个案例研究。根据瑞典报纸档案馆的鱼肝油广告的大型数据集，它使用多模态批判性话语分析来研究语言和其他符号资源（如图像、排版、颜色）如何协同工作来传达鱼肝油摄入的好处。它确定了三个首要主题——科学理性、科学母性和自然——注意到广告是如何直接针对母亲的，并在维生素作为科学配方的产品和神秘的天然物质之间取得平衡，以说服他们鱼肝油对孩子是必要的。从历史的角度探索鱼肝油是如何营销的，表明营养研究是如何获得重视并对营销变得越来越重要的，以及食品是如何通过科学融入消费主义生活方式的。它还提供了一种解构当代营销实践的方法，从而使消费者能够重新思考对他们的健康不可或缺的产品。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

求助全文

约1分钟内获得全文求助全文

来源期刊

Food and Foodways ANTHROPOLOGY-

CiteScore

2.20

自引率

0.00%

发文量

期刊介绍： Food and Foodways is a refereed, interdisciplinary, and international journal devoted to publishing original scholarly articles on the history and culture of human nourishment. By reflecting on the role food plays in human relations, this unique journal explores the powerful but often subtle ways in which food has shaped, and shapes, our lives socially, economically, politically, mentally, nutritionally, and morally. Because food is a pervasive social phenomenon, it cannot be approached by any one discipline. We encourage articles that engage dialogue, debate, and exchange across disciplines.