Yiyeceğin Karanlık Yüzü: Gastroterör (Metaforik Bir Değerlendirme) (The Dark Side of Food: Gastroterror (A Metaphorical Evaluation))

Abstract

The primary aim of this study is to introduce the concept of Gastroterror to the relevant literature and to evaluate academics' perceptions of gastroterror from a metaphorical perspective. In this context, the concept was evaluated in the context of social, environmental, local culinary cultures, health and food production methods. The study was conducted with 252 academics working at Dicle University. A semi-structured questionnaire form was employed, in which participants were asked to complete the sentence: "In my opinion, Gastroterror is like ..., because .... The thoughts of Dicle University academics regarding the concept of Gastroterror were analyzed using content analysis, one of the qualitative research methods. The research revealed a total of 67 valid metaphors and 67 distinct metaphors related to the concept of Gastroterror. Six categories were created based on the developed metaphors. It is noteworthy that all participants generated negative metaphors concerning gastro-terror. The most frequently used metaphor was the threat metaphor. It was also determined that poison and disaster metaphors were frequently used. This study is important in terms of introducing the concept of gastroterrorism to the relevant literature and revealing the perceptions of individuals towards the concept of gastroterrorism. It is also thought to be important for other studies to be conducted. Various suggestions were developed in the light of the findings obtained in the study.