Discursive Negotiation of Isan Identity through Pla Ra Consumption Culture on Contemporary Social Media

Abstract

This research aims to study the factors that have contributed to the positioning of Isan in a marginalized status within Thai society and to examine the process of discursive negotiation of Isan people through pla ra consumption culture on contemporary social media. This study employed a qualitative research approach using documentary analysis together with discourse analysis of video content produced by 5 Isan influencers on YouTube and TikTok platforms. The findings revealed that the marginalization of Isan is the result of the continuous reproduction of discourses by the state and central society, which have persisted from the nation-integration era, the nation-building era, the development discourse era, and the Yellow Shirt–Red Shirt political discourse era. These discourses have played a significant role in devaluing Isan identity and culture. At the same time, Isan people have utilized social media as a space for negotiating meanings through the representation of pla ra consumption culture by reconstructing the image of pla ra from a food previously perceived as unhygienic and backward into one that is clean, standardized, and culturally valuable, while simultaneously creating new aesthetics through the use of the Isan language, visual composition, and consumption practices that reflect local identity. The findings indicate that food consumption culture can serve as an important arena for power negotiation, meaning-making, and the reconstruction of a new Isan identity within the context of contemporary digital media.