美国民俗学/非物质文化遗产保护中的“本真性”问题

在美国,"本真性"这一概念是一个精致而复杂的建构,是民俗工作和文化自身中定义合法性的核心。假定"本真性"是民俗学理性研究数十载的成果以及学术推论,它也可被视作一些民俗学者及其拥护者发明和部署的一种策略,以便将物质素材、社区和与中产阶级的精致性、政治意识形态、商业实体和大众传播机制相关的实践活动进行恰当的定位。和直观的或"自然的"不同,本真性本身是人为制造的。尽管这一概念符合一些学者和活动家的需要,但是当被僵化地使用时,本真性也对功能性的概念提出质疑,即传统行为实际上如何为个人和社区服务。在美国语境中,什么是"本真性"明确和暗含的标识?美国的本真性概念是否太过狭隘和条框化?在面对21世纪的文化保护与实践问题时,在全世界对非物质文化遗产的标识有一种共识时,美国民俗学者是否能够或者是否应该找到办法调整本真性的理念?     

Social Media as Primary Source

This article explores and critiques the use of social media as a primary source in the writing of twenty-first-century history. Since the introduction of so-called social media in the early 2000s, social scientists, journalists, and users have hailed this media form as a revolutionary departure from the ‘old media’ that dominated the twentieth century. Part of the narrative of ‘new media’ is it provides greater amounts of user agency, removes structural impediments for social dialog, and promotes an egalitarian exchange within the global sphere. This article suggests that this account is a product of the narrative structure of classical liberalism, through which social media as an object of knowledge and effectivity is produced. It concludes that the use of social media as a primary source for social histories of popular protest will require substantive theoretical scrutiny by scholars writing about these processes of the twenty-first century.