Consuming food in pre-industrial Korean travel: approaching from Veblen´s conspicuous consumption

Abstract

The chapter considered Thorstein Veblen’s description of conspicuous consumption in the context of consuming food while travelling. Travelogues from pre-industrial Korean society were used for the data in the chapter, employing critical discourse analysis. The identified meanings were subsequently reflected on Veblen’s conspicuous consumption. Two embedded notions of instrumental and intrinsic values were reviewed from philosophical grounds. When consuming food and drink, the pre-industrial era travellers demonstrated traits that confirmed the central element in conspicuous consumption as adopted by marketing and tourism studies. Specifically, the use of instrumental value in the process of consuming food and drink was evident from the analysis. However, the consumption of food and drink could not solely be interpreted as instrumental value based on conspicuous consumption. This is owing to the undeniable fact that one needs food and drink to enable physical travel.