DIALEKTIKA: JURNAL BAHASA, SASTRA DAN BUDAYA
Vol. 13 No. 1 (2026): JUNI

CONSTRUCTING CULINARY AUTHENTICITY THROUGH A CORPUS ASSISTED DISCOURSE ANALYSIS OF BATAK TOBA CUISINE ON INSTAGRAM

Devi Melisa Saragi (Universitas Kristen Indonesia)
Febrimarini Sinulingga (Universitas Kristen Indonesia)



Article Info

Publish Date
30 Jun 2026

Abstract

This study tries to examine how culinary authenticity of Batak Toba cuisine is represented in English language Instagram captions from a corpus assisted discourse perspective. By applying the multidimensional authenticity frameworks proposed by Johnston and Baumann (2010) and Freedman and Jurafsky (2011), alongside collocation and concordance analysis informed by Hunston (2002) and Baker (2006), the research aims to identify and analyse how lexical patterns construct various dimensions of authenticity such as sensory, procedural, historical, and locality aspects. This descriptive qualitative research employs a corpus assisted method, using Sketch Engine to collect and analyse 53 captions drawn from two Batak Toba culinary Instagram accounts. The findings reveal that the prominent collocational patterns produce six authenticity dimensions namely sensory, procedural, material, historical, locality, and social functioning to frame Batak cuisine as culturally rooted, traditionally sustained, and socially meaningful. Through Fairclough’s Critical Discourse Analysis, the study further shows that these lexical constructions undergo recontextualization which transforms everyday culinary elements into symbolic markers of heritage and identity. Ultimately, the results demonstrate how digital food discourse linguistically shapes and perpetuates Batak Toba cultural values in contemporary online spaces.

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Journal Info

Abbrev

dia

Publisher

Subject

Arts Humanities Education Languange, Linguistic, Communication & Media Social Sciences

Description

FOCUS AND SCOPE Journal of Dialektika is a professional, double-blind peer-reviewed international journal devoted to promoting scholarly knowledge and exchanging academic research and professional findings on all aspects of English such as English literature, second or foreign language (ESL/EFL) ...