Food and Immigration: The indigestion trope contests the sophistication narrative

Abstract

This paper explores the emergence of indigestion metaphors within contemporary Australian discourse on immigration and race. It establishes connections between the indigestion metaphor and the more traditional tropes used to describe immigration-inundation, contamination and disorder. The appearance of the indigestion trope is related to the common perception that one of the indisputable benefits of immigration and multiculturalism has been the increasing diversity and sophistication of Australian cuisine. The examination of the ethnic inflection of reports on food poisoning illustrates the link between the indigestion and contamination tropes. The article argues that fears about non-European immigration and racial intermingling within a policy of state-sponsored multiculturalism are currently being expressed with indigestion and contamination tropes.