Des sens au sens : Goût, dégoût et processus de signification

This paper deals with taste and distaste from a semiotic point of view, combining some initial physiological and material observations with a thorough reconstruction and description of the cognitive dynamics and the meaning-making processes associated with the so-called “(dis-)tasting experience”. To this purpose, we examine an extensive literature, through a comparative approach aimed at showing the complementarity of different approaches and analytical perspectives. This allows showing how taste and distaste extend from the senses to sense, also providing a better understanding of some of the most evident aspects of contemporary Western foodspheres, that is to say, the “(hyper-)semioticization” of the nutritional dimension of food and the increasing spread of “free from” dietary habits.