Adapting Food-Related Communication to Children
Interdisciplinary and Multicultural Insights
©2026
Edited Collection
XX,
168 Pages
Open Access
Series:
Linguistic Insights, Volume 322
Summary
This collection of essays examines the multifaceted nature of food-related communication for children, an area that has become increasingly significant within the digital age. Beyond its nutritional value, food has always served as a powerful social and cultural connector, with traditions and rituals transmitted across generations. In addition, the contemporary media landscape, characterized by the excessive visibility of both children and food on social media, has given rise to the concept of the ‘consumer-child’. This has led to concerns about the negative health impacts of marketing that often promotes unhealthy dietary options.
While other fields, such as marketing, media studies, and literary and cultural studies, have explored the symbolic and socio-political dimensions of food representation for children, the volume identifies a significant gap in linguistics and communication studies. To address this gap, the chapters included in the volume aim to shed light on how food is represented, narrated, promoted, and translated for younger audiences across various genres, including corporate communication, digital media, and translation. Finally, the volume also presents the results of the two-year SPIN2023 research project funded by “Ca’ Foscari” University of Venice.
While other fields, such as marketing, media studies, and literary and cultural studies, have explored the symbolic and socio-political dimensions of food representation for children, the volume identifies a significant gap in linguistics and communication studies. To address this gap, the chapters included in the volume aim to shed light on how food is represented, narrated, promoted, and translated for younger audiences across various genres, including corporate communication, digital media, and translation. Finally, the volume also presents the results of the two-year SPIN2023 research project funded by “Ca’ Foscari” University of Venice.
Excerpt
Table Of Contents
- Cover
- Title Page
- Copyright Page
- Contents
- List of Figures
- List of Tables
- Introduction
- CHAPTER 1 Constructing Class Identity: How American and British Food Brands Shape Childhood Through Advertising
- CHAPTER 2 Textual and Visual Strategies for Baby Food Representation in Advertising
- CHAPTER 3 “Chip Chip Hurray”. How Food Is Described to Children: A Case Study
- CHAPTER 4 Adapting Food-Related Communication for Children in English: A Corpus-Based Investigation Using the FoRCCE Corpus
- CHAPTER 5 The Manual Corpus of Food-Related Communication for Children in English: Challenges and Results
- CHAPTER 6 Translating the Adventures of Food in Different Genres of Children’s Literature
- Conclusions
- Notes on Contributors
- Index
Introduction
Daniela Cesiri
“Ca’ Foscari” University of Venice
1. Food-Related Communication to/for Children
Human societies, in any moment of their history and in any known civilization, have always considered food an essential constituent element not only for its nutritional value as a source of sustenance but also as a powerful social connector. Beyond meeting dietary needs, in fact, food has always played a crucial role in establishing, favouring, fostering and/or reinforcing social bonds within communities and in establishing emotional bonds among family members and between individuals that share traditions, memories and rituals linked to the collective preparation, consumption and sharing that lie behind a certain dish or food (Marshall 2005).
Details
- Pages
- XX, 168
- Publication Year
- 2026
- ISBN (PDF)
- 9783034364843
- ISBN (ePUB)
- 9783034364850
- ISBN (Hardcover)
- 9783034362221
- DOI
- 10.3726/b23562
- Open Access
- CC-BY
- Language
- English
- Publication date
- 2026 (May)
- Keywords
- Food studies Food-related communication to children Food advertising Corpus linguistics Advertising Media Studies Tourism Books Food-related language Children’s literature Translation Cultural specificity Non-fiction for young readers Daniela Cesiri Adapting Food-Related Communication to Children
- Published
- Lausanne, Berlin, Bruxelles, Chennai, New York, Oxford, 2026. xx, 168 pp., 10 fig. col., 1 fig. b/w, 11 tables.
- Product Safety
- Peter Lang Group AG
