Class Identity Signaling through the Strategic Rebranding of Traditional Egyptian Food-Related Terms on Digital Platforms

Abstract

This study investigates the way re-branding traditional Egyptian food-related terms is strategically used by an emerging socio-economic class to assert their class identity in digital milieus. Specifically, it analyzes the strategies employed for the Englishization and hybridization of culinary culture and examines the underlying socio-cultural motivations and dynamics driving such an innovative linguistic practice. Drawing on insights from sociolinguistics and sociology, we analyzed two data sets collected by means of an online survey and semi-structured interviews. Findings revealed that there is an emerging exclusive socio-economic class that manifests itself through specific lexical preferences based on diverse types of lexical borrowings. Additionally, the Englishization of traditional Egyptian food-related terms partially drove the emerging class’s rejection of social equality and solidarity with collective socio-cultural Egyptian identity. Such a class division, primarily initiated on digital platforms, was found to be motivated by complex factors at play, including age, gender, educational level, lifestyle, technology usage, etc. The findings of this study have implications for understanding the intersection of language, class identity, and technology in contemporary Egyptian society.