Cultural Culture And Identity

2.1 Culture and identity:

There are different approaches between the anthropological and sociological field about culture (Tressider and Hirst 2012, Thomas 2002, Gupta and Ferguson 1997, Montanari 2006). Culture can be defined as the traits (understood as the beliefs, traditions, values, codes, etc.) that a person can acquire as a product of being part of a community or society (Thomas 2002). In addition, Montanari (2006) defined culture as the congruence between tradition and innovation. Culture is also being transmitted by no biological processes (like behavioural patterns, adaptation to new environmental changes) and can be also defined as what we called “civilization”. (Thomas 2002). In other words, culture is part of human beings and

Tressider and Hirst (2012) proposed the concept of cultural capital, which is defined as “types, and levels of knowledge” (p113). This cultural capital can be developed in relation to the things people consume or do and the image they acquired as a consequence of doing certain activities. In addition, it includes the cultural knowledge of life, views of the world and linguistic competences (Tressider and Hirst 2012). Furthermore, the authors also mentioned “the things we consume become a means of forming our identity”

Several studies (Hall and Shaples 2008, Apega 2013, Tresidder and Hirst 2012, Ali-Knight et al. 2009, Yeoman et al. 2004, Kim et al. 2009, Culinary Tourism 2010) emphasize the growth of food in the tourist’s budget and the importance of it as a cultural element. To mention some probes of the growing phenomenon, around one million of culinary tourists travel every year around the world where one third of his total budget goes only in food and beverages (Culinary Tourism 2010). In addition, Chang (2011, p151) states “in the past decade, food has increasingly recognized by its social and cultural significance”. Ali-Knight et al. (2009) proposed “Tasting Australia” as a clear example of successful cultural- food festival where Australian food interests have become a crucial role in the traditions and culinary identity. Furthermore, Hall and Sharples (2008, p95) identified the principal social outcomes of food and wine festivals as the improvement of “leisure opportunities, learning experiences and cultural exchanges as well as the main stakeholders benefactors like the residents, tourist, government and media”. The authors also stated that the possible benefits cannot only being done in short-term but also in long-term (Hall and Sharples 2008). In addition, some of these long-terms benefits and impacts are also related to the image of the festival on the community. Yeoman et al. (2004, p45) argued