This article is from the public number:Chinese Youth Research (ID:china-youth-study), author: Jiang Shuyuan, Luo han ni, Word problems from: vision China.
As a cultural symbol with the characteristics of the times,The concept of the town youth has been given a new interpretation, from the initial ridicule and discrimination to the “other image”, to more and more successful people to “self-identity” positioning, the town youth connotation And extensions show openness and ambiguity.
The town youth are not only young people born and raised in the “small town” defined by administrative divisions, but more importantly, an identity and cultural imagination.
The great potential of small town youth in the field of cultural consumption reflects the transformation of China’s social structure and the adjustment of production relations.
First, from the invisible social class to the emerging consumer group
“invisible” small town youth
Under the influence of provincial-prefecture-county-township-level administrative divisions and management modes, from the narrow literal meaning, young people in towns, that is, “small town youths”, should be pointed out in the county or township The household registration is a non-agricultural population with a population between the ages of 15 and 34.
According to the German sociologist Max Weber, the economic status (wealth), social status (Reputation) and Political Status (Power) as a standard for ethical analysis, “‘identity group’ stands for The special ‘life style’ of material consumption rules is stratified” [1].
As a social class, the growth experience, educational background, ideas, psychological characteristics and behaviors of young people in the town are marked by small towns.Different from the openness and activeness of urban youth, it is also different from the closure and conservatism of rural youth; it is nostalgic for the leisurely and comfortable life of small towns, but also for the vast world outside.
China’s long-established urban-rural dual social structure has caused the towns in the middle of the area to be submerged in the grand issues of urban development and rural revitalization. Neglected, its class attributes, living conditions and cultural needs have not entered the public’s vision.
“discovered” imperfect consumers
Since the second decade of the new century, with the expansion of the town’s regional scope and population size, the town youth began to become the focus of media attention and discussion.
In 2010, City Pictorial magazine conducted an in-depth survey of small and medium-sized cities in six different regions, from the macro level of social structure and social mobility to individual-level dreams and values, psychological state and consumer behavior. Detailed outline and realistic presentation.
The concept of the town youth began in the film industry in 2013. The film “Little Age” directed by Guo Jingming and “Little Age 2: Aoki Times” received 488 million and 2.96 respectively in the case of serious word-of-mouth polarization. Billion high box office. “The young people in the town are using their amazing spending power to shorten the difference between the urban and rural box office. The first-tier cities such as ‘North to Guangzhou and Shenzhen’ are the main players in the box office and have lost their status” [2].
The “small town” reinforces the regional differences with “big cities”, and “small town+youth” highlights the difference in taste in cultural consumption.
On the one hand, the consumption power of young people in the town has been recognized by the film market. On the other hand, the aesthetic preference of small town youths to focus on relaxation and entertainment is considered to be the main reason for lowering the quality of Chinese films.
“The concept of town youth used has undoubtedly a certain degree of derogatory and discriminatory color, but when it comes to the discussion of the intrinsic quality of Chinese film, the town youth is always a scapegoat for Chinese film”[3 ], even led the direction of the film market and changed the market structure of Chinese films.
Although it is an imperfect consumer, the potential purchasing power of young people in the town is expanding from the movie market to the entire cultural field and even in all aspects of social life. It is considered to be the vanguard of the third consumption upgrade. The town youth has thus become a hot topic in social discussion.
Diversified composition of small town youth
Under the dual promotion of population size and economic strength, the connotation of young people in the town has undergone a complete change, breaking through the geographical boundaries in the administrative sense. In an environment of social change and frequent mobility, the living areas of young people will migrate at any time, but their growth experiences, values and cultural genes will not change easily.
So the town represents more than just a geographical concept, but more of a cultural concept.
The town youth as a cultural symbol, more bearing the hierarchical nature of its mapping, spiritual temperament, aesthetic taste and emotional belonging. From the perspective of cultural chemistry, it analyzes the composition of young people in the town, and presents an overall picture of openness, diversity and complexity.
First, young people who were born, raised and worked in third- and fourth-tier cities, county towns and townships. This part of the population is the main body of the young people in the town.
Second, born and raised in the countryside, moved to young people working in third- and fourth-tier cities, county towns and townships. These people agree with the lifestyle of the town and show the cultural preferences of the young people in the cultural consumption. .
Third, young people born and raised in third- and fourth-tier cities, county towns and townships, working in first- and second-tier cities. The values and aesthetic tastes of these people are mostly influenced by the growth experience in the town. A small town of individual origin rather than a big city of life.
Fourth, born and raised in third- and fourth-tier cities, county towns and townships, have experienced first- and second-tier cities, but return to the third- and fourth-tier cities or young people working in their hometowns from big cities. Due to the high cost of living and the pressure of work, a considerable number of young people choose to “escape from the north and go wide” and return to the life of the young people in the town.
Five, born and raised in first- and second-tier cities, have experience in urban work, and choose young people who work in third- and fourth-tier cities, county towns, and townships. Although this group of people is small, it represents a new way of life and life.
In addition, with the implementation of the population control and relief policies in large cities, a considerable number of young people work in large cities, living in small towns near the city, and commuting between cities and towns every day. There are also a small number of young people working in big cities, but looking forward to the leisure life rhythm and quiet living environment of the town, choose the “5+2” mode to switch between the city and the town.
There is a diversity of young people in the town, reflecting changes in people’s living environment and lifestyle, as well asThe adjustment of the cultural consumption pattern.
Second, stereotypes about the cultural preferences of young people in the town
The French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu defines the different preferences that people present in cultural practice as “divisions” and is interpreted as having three meanings: “first, discrimination; second , separation; third, difference “[4].
The words “small town” and “youth” reinforce the distinction between geography and experience. People initially defined the cognition of small town youth in the narrow field of “county towns and townships”, solidified in the information packaged by the mass media and literary works, forming a stereotype for the young people’s aesthetic taste and cultural consumption.
Culture habits: ingrained rural complexes
As a field of political, economic, and cultural structure, the town has a relatively unique operating principle. Under the influence of the same geographical environment and human environment, the actors in the field will naturally form the same or similar “habits”.
“Habitus is the ability to exist as a survivability of a skill in a system of temperament tendencies” [5], that is, habitus is constantly interacting with the environment. A stable thinking mode and code of conduct is to internalize the rules, institutions, value orientation and cultural concepts in a specific field into the mind and externalize, and finally form a psychological formula with field characteristics. Lifestyle, cultural ideas and value orientation.
The essence of Chinese culture is local culture. The towns and villages have a constant blood, kinship and geographical connections, which makes the town youth have a stronger local complex in cultural inheritance and identity.
“Culture is dependent on the symbolic system andThe common experience of society maintained by human memory. In this way, each person’s ‘current’ includes not only his personal ‘past’ projection, but also the projection of the entire nation’s ‘past.’ History is not an ornament for individuals, but a practical, indispensable life foundation.[6].
Specifically, the rural complex of the town youth is mainly reflected in the inheritance and continuation of regional culture such as folk customs and festivals. In the traditional order characterized by the differential pattern and the acquaintance society, the concept of people’s cultural consumption has not yet been formed, and cultural consumption is mostly integrated with activities such as etiquette and festivals, such as weddings and funerals, and with food, clothing, and interpersonal relationships. Inseparable.
In daily life and participation in symbolic folk rituals and festivals, young towns follow the same cultural habits in subtle ways, inheriting common local cultural memories, and generating psychological closeness and emotions. Sense of belonging.
cultural taste: follow and imitation of fashion, fashion
Consumption style and lifestyle taste are an important dimension in the study of social class differentiation.
The German sociologist Max Weber believes that “the difference in consumption patterns leads to different lifestyles and ultimately to the formation of different class groups” [7]. The American economist Tosdan Bond Veblen put forward a similar point of view, saying that “the aristocratic class has intensified their aristocratic temperament and taste in order to reflect the difference in status with the bourgeoisie, so consumption has intensified. The division of the hierarchy “[8].
American cultural critic Paul Fossell uses style and taste to classify people’s affiliation. “Lifestyle can be used to indicate the class identity and relationship with other classes and social distance.”[ 9]. Pierre Bourdieu uses the taste as a means of segmentation, studying the isomorphism between people’s differences in cultural tastes and lifestyles and social classes. “Taste is the main bearer of personal characteristics, and also the main bearer of social connections. People position themselves according to taste and are also positioned by others”[10].
Discussion on the preference of young people in the town reflects the general cognition and hierarchical orientation of the young people’s cultural tastes.
The town youth was once synonymous with low-level fun. “The film critics believe that the town youthThe image is gradually presented.
For example, wearing grotesque exaggeration, strange hairstyles, and cheap cottage products, cultural activities venues such as Internet cafes and discos are mainly based on rural, urban-rural junctions and small towns. After the 90s is the main group, hair and clothing become the cultural capital of the physical form, and they are close and mimicked by the urban lifestyle and consumption patterns they understand. Instead, they fall into a life dilemma that is attached to the city but cannot be integrated into it. And because the aesthetic level is not high, the consumption level is outdated and the world is criticized.
“To a large extent we are unable to choose our identity, we accept the cultural identity passed to us by the previous generation” [18]. The external symbolic packaging did not change the personal image of the young people in the town. The media magnified its physical cultural capital and further strengthened its inherent cultural identity.
Third, from the geographical division to the cultural influence of the new media environment
In the context of globalization, urbanization, industrialization, and social transformation, the development of new technologies such as mobile Internet, artificial intelligence, and virtual reality has not only spurred new cultural formats, but also spawned new markets for cultural consumption. . “The new medium has made people more hostile to the age-appropriate group and thus hostile to the idea of hierarchical social order” [19].
As an active participant in the new media, the town’s youth re-establish identity through consumption.
In terms of cultural consumption, a new generation of young people is no longer divided by geographical divisions. The same cultural orientation has become the primary factor for the spontaneous establishment of different types of communities.
On this basis, the cultural consumption of young people in the town is no longer lagging behind, showing interest-oriented, focusing on scene experience, demand segmentation, diversification, and consumption behavior.