Ambivalent identities in Kampala city

An interrogation of the "grasshopper delicacy" in Ugandan press photographs

Bibliographic Data

ID3627577
AuthorsIvan Nathanael Lukanda (0000-0001-5981-6248, Makerere University, corresponding author), Susan Nalugwa Kiguli (Makerere University), Susan Kiguli (Makerere University), Sarah Nakijoba (English Language Studies, and Communication Studies, Makerere University)
Year2025
Volume50
Issue3
Pages1-19
Publication date2025-09-14
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueSocial Dynamics (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0253-3952 • E-ISSN: 1940-7874
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/02533952.2025.2555795
OpenAlexW4414189613
LanguageEN
References cited40

This paper interrogates the notion of an African modern city and its identity through an analysis of the representation of the popular“grasshopper delicacy” in Ugandan press photographs and theiraccompanying text. It uses semiotics as a theory and method to examine the ambivalence resulting from the newspaper coverage of grasshoppers as a delicacy in Kampala city. The paper intends to highlight how the elite and local newspapers use visual texts to construct urban narratives about a delicacy primarily sourced from the hinterland – Masaka, Kabarole, Hoima, West Nile, and other areas – to Uganda’s capital, Kampala. Grasshoppers have been transformed from being food for the rural poor to a delicacy for urbanites. The semiotic analysis revealed that the practice of eating these insects is laden with contradictions springing from the multiple identities of the origin of the eaters, cultural practices,food networks, associated economic interests, markers of genderroles, the technological infrastructure and organisational structures in the city

Ambivalence · Interrogation · African history and culture studies

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