Mukbang, Food Performance, and Digital Media (Routledge Studies of Gastronomy, Food and Drink)

This timely and innovative book examines the roots, diverse forms, and international spread of mukbang, the phenomenon of digital eating which began in South Korea in 2008.

In mukbang, creators known as ‘broadcast jockeys’ (or mukbangers) consume a variety of foods, often in huge quantities, for an online audience. Through an analysis of the practice of mukbang, this book critically explores how the ever-growing use and integration of digital technologies is shaping understandings, experiences, and engagements with food. It outlines the pursuit of meaning and meaning making during broadcasted mealtimes, bite after bite. The book takes the dual lens of anthropology and performance to make sense of mukbang, its evolutions, and its ongoing transformations. To give equal emphasis to all aspects of the practice during its examination, the book uses performance categories to frame its analysis. There are lights, cameras, and endless spectacular consumption. The diversity of mukbang is brought together and elaborated upon; a robust showtime menu of noisy ASMR, colour-coded meal spreads, competitive eating, and more, await.

This significant and cohesive volume will be of pivotal interest to students, scholars, and academics of media studies, food studies, tourism, marketing, food and beverage management, public health, as well as those involved in the practice of mukbang, whether as a performer or viewer.

Ashley Thuthao Keng Dam is a Visiting Scholar in Anthropology at Portland State University. They are a medical anthropologist, ethnobotanist, and food writer. Their research interests lie at the intersections and overlaps of food and nutrition, global health, biocultural diversity, and media studies.

Stanley Ulijaszek is Professor Emeritus of Human Ecology at the University of Oxford. He is a nutritional anthropologist whose research encompasses the anthropology of food and eating, biocultural approaches to obesity, and the evolutionary basis for, and cultural diversity in, nutritional health.