Language & Communication | 2019
‘The illusion or the truth?’ – Back stage constructions of authenticity in an up-market restaurant
Abstract
Abstract Building on recent sociolinguistic and anthropological theories on authenticity, in this paper we take a sociolinguistic perspective on the construction of authenticity in a Copenhagen-based Bornholmian restaurant. Focus is on the tensions between different understandings of authenticity in the creation of a new predinner drink. Data include interactions between\xa0owner and staff where ingredients, serving, and glass design are negotiated, all connected to the general aim of creating a recognizable Bornholmian product. Through detailed discourse analyses it is shown how the potentiality of authenticity is created backstage in a contemporary commercial enterprise, and how understandings of authenticity as inherent quality or performed are not necessarily mutually excluding, but rather co-existing in contemporary commercial cultural encounters.