Analysis of “The Small Farmer” by Gastón Acurio: A case of poverty romance in organic discourse

Analysis of “The Small Farmer” by Gastón Acurio: A case of poverty romance in organic discourse

##plugins.themes.bootstrap3.article.main##

Abstract

This study will analyze a brief text by Peruvian chef Gastón Acurio, leader of the so-called Peruvian gastronomic boom, in order to explain how he develops a discursive strategy aimed at generating resistance to technological changes, especially in the field of transgenic foods. This analysis becomes necessary given that digital social networks have become very influential spaces for the formation of opinion. At the same time, Gastón Acurio is not only an influential businessperson but also one of those new media characters that we call “influencers” and that have thousands of followers.
His text is part of a campaign against the use of genetically modified organisms —GMOs— in Peru. Acurio’s textual strategy was creating a fictional character; a small farmer living in a poor but bucolic world, far away from the greedy needs of the city, happy with his modest
life, and in no need for riches.

Keywords

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

##plugins.themes.bootstrap3.article.details##

Author Biography / See

Daniel Salas

PhD in Philosophy. CENTRUM Católica Graduate Business School, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, Lima, Peru

References

Bourdieu, P. (1989). Social Space and Symbolic Power. Sociological Theory, 7(1), 14-25. https://doi.org/10.2307/202060 DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/202060

Brecher, J. (2015). A Strategic Proposal to Stop Climate Change. Labor Forum, 24(2), 18-24. https://doi.org/10.1177/1095796015579086 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1095796015579086

Bruner, J. (1991). The Narrative Construction of Reality. Critical Inquiry, 18(1), 1-21. https://doi.org/10.1086/448619 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1086/448619

Cook, J. (2019). America Misled: How the fossil fuel industry deliberately misled Americans about climate change. Fairfax, USA: George Mason University.

Dargent, E. and Urteaga, M. (2019). The Power of the Seed: Timing, Quick Structural Change, and Genetically Modified Crop Regulations in the Andes. Comparative Politics, 51(4), 539 561. https://doi.org/10.5129/001041519X15647434970108 DOI: https://doi.org/10.5129/001041519X15647434970108

Guerrero, D. (2018). The Limits of Capitalist Solutions to the Climate Crisis. In Vishwas, S. (Ed.), Climate Crisis, The: South African and Global Democratic Eco-Socialist Alternatives (pp. 29-46). Johannesburg, South African: Wits University Press. https://doi.org/10.18772/22018020541.7 DOI: https://doi.org/10.18772/22018020541.7

Gupta, R. and Musunuru, K. (2014). Expanding the genetic editing tool kit: ZFNs, TALENs, and CRISPR-Cas9. The Journal of Clinic Investigation, 124(10), 4154-4161. https://doi.org/10.1172/JCI72992 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1172/JCI72992

Hsu, P.D., Lander, E.S. and Zhang, F. (2014). Development and applications of CRISPRCas9 for genome engineering. Cell, 157(6), 1262-1278. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2014.05.010 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2014.05.010

Jamieson, K.H. (2017). The role of language in expressing the life sciences in a polarized age. Politics and the Life Sciences, 36(1), 47-53. https://doi.org/10.1017/pls.2017.8 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/pls.2017.8

Klümper, W. and Qaim, M. (2014). A Meta-Analysis of the Impacts of Genetically Modified Crops. PLoS ONE, 9(11), e111629. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0111629 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0111629

Komor, A.C., Badran, A.H. and Liu, D.R. (2017). CRISPR-Based Technologies for the Manipulation of Eukaryotic Genomes. Cell, 168(1-2), 20-36. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2016.10.044 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2016.10.044

Krebs, J.E., Goldstein, E.S. and Kilpatrick, S.T. (2014). Lewin's Genes XI. Burlington, USA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.

Labov, W. (1982). Speech Actions and Reactions in Personal Narrative. In Tannen, D. (Ed.), Analyzing Discourse: Text and Talk. Washington, USA: Georgetown University Press.

Lakatos, I. (1978). The Methodology of Scientific Research Programmes. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.

https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511621123 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511621123

Lander, E.S. (2016). The Heroes of CRISPR. Cell, 164(1-2), 18-28. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2015.12.041 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2015.12.041

Ormond, K.E. et al. (2017). Human Germline Genome Editing. The American Journal of Genetics, 101(2), 167-176. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajhg.2017.06.012 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajhg.2017.06.012

Saik, R. (2019). Food 5.0. Austin, USA: Lioncrest Publishing.

Solli, A., Bach, F. and Akerman, B. (2014). Learning to argue as a biotechnologist: Disprivileging opposition to genetically modified food. Cultural Studies of Science Education, 9(1), 1-23.

https://doi.org/10.1007/s11422-013-9528-1 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11422-013-9528-1

Sweeny, S. (2015). Green Capitalism Won't Work. New Labor Forum, 24(2), 12-17. https://doi.org/10.1177/1095796015579693 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1095796015579693

Taxler, G. (2006). The GMO experience in North and South America. International Journal of Technology and Globalisation, 2(1/2), 46-64. https://doi.org/10.1504/IJTG.2006.009126 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1504/IJTG.2006.009126

Westropp, H.W. (1880). Notes on Fetichism. The Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, 9, 304-311. https://doi.org/10.2307/2841919 DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/2841919

Cited by