Edible Narratives: Semiotics of Food, Migration, and Identity in the Film Axone

Abstract

Food, one of the most necessities of human life, serves as a powerful medium for narrating human history, culture, familial bonds, migrations, assimilation, resistance, and both personal and collective identities. It provides critical insights into the cultural norms and traditions of individuals as well as the communities to which they belong. Every culture has the capacity to shape and be shaped by the food it consumes, particularly those regarded as staples within its cultural framework. As Roland Barthes aptly argued, food functions as a sign within a semiotic system. The depiction of culinary motifs in cinematography has a rich and longstanding history, offering a lens through which cultural narratives are represented and interpreted. This paper aims to explore the semiotics of food as portrayed in the film Axone and examines how it reflects the cultural and social nuances of the region depicted in the narrative. The study is grounded in Roland Barthes’ theory, which conceptualises food as a language to be decoded. Using this theoretical framework, the research investigates food and culinary practices as subjects of semiotic analysis to uncover the layers of cultural significance embedded within them. The paper provides a detailed examination of how food culture, as depicted in Axone, is intricately interwoven with the lived experiences of migrants, thereby offering a nuanced portrayal of Delhi's sociocultural landscape. Through a semiotic analysis, the study highlights the critical arguments and meanings conveyed through food representation in the film. Consequently, the connotative meanings attached to food in Axone transcend its traditional function as a medium of consumption, emerging instead as a cultural signifier with profound symbolic implications.