‘A Little Taste of Something More Exotic’: The Imaginative Geographies of Everyday Life

Abstract

The last few years have seen a noticeable increase in the availability of ‘exotic’ food, much of it marketed for consumption by members of the new cultural class of young professionals living in inner urban areas. But what does this taste for the exotic represent? Drawing upon a qualitative methodology, it is suggested that the consumption of such food operates largely as a means of distinction; a way in which a new class of consumers can distance themselves from other social groups. Examining the meanings associated with exotic food, this article introduces the notion of imaginative geographies and demonstrates the racist understandings that frame these geographies and the consumption practices they give meaning to Situated within a wider set of debates concerning the politics of race and racism, the article therefore illustrates one way in which a revitalised cultural geography can he used to examine the practices of everyday life and connect these practices to some broader geographical concerns.