民俗学艺术论题的转向——从民间艺术到支撑人之“生”的艺术(vernacular艺术)

民俗学研究中关于艺术的讨论通常是在民间艺术或民俗艺术概念之下展开的。然而,这类议论往往深受传统与历史性的束缚,普通人在生活世界里所制作的平凡作品很少有机会能被视作"艺术"。要使这样略失偏颇的论题实现在现代社会中的转向,vernacular艺术这个概念应能发挥效用。它所指的,是并不自许为"艺术家"的普通人受难以抑制的创作冲动所驱使而作成的艺术;是在那原本与正统艺术世界的制度、权力或权威无涉的世界里,自学习得艺术技能与知识的人们苦心巧思而成的艺术。它是呈现在普通人生活现场与路上的艺术,有时亦是支撑人生、充实生活的艺术,是寻回新生、填补生命的艺术。在民俗学中采用vernacular艺术这一视点时,艺术本身并不是真正需要我们考察的对象。我们应当考察的是艺术背后人们千姿百态的生活形象与方式,是他们别具特征的人生观与人性,这些都是极好的研究材料。另外,将"艺术家"的个人史与其生活社会的当代史加以描述,从中亦能生长出研究的良材。     

Handcraft as Cultural Diplomacy: The 1968 Mexico Cultural Olympics and U.S. Participation in the International Exhibition of Popular Arts

Mexican post-revolutionary cultural institutions excelled at implementing Mexican art and popular arts as key elements in cultural diplomacy. However, while there is abundant research regarding these arts and their inclusion in international exhibitions during the first part of the twentieth century, there is little research on their role in international cultural diplomacy during the second half of that century. In the first part of this article I present a historiographical appraisal of the 1968 Mexican Cultural Olympiad and the resolutions of the “First Latin American Seminar on Popular Arts and Crafts” sponsored by UNESCO in Mexico City in 1965. In the second, I examine the case of U.S. participation in the “Exposición Internacional de Artesanías Populares” (International Exhibition of Popular Arts), which was part of the 1968 Cultural Olympiad’s programme – largely neglected by the historiography of the XIX Olympics – to explain how popular arts were made to perform as agents of cultural diplomacy in Mexico and the U.S. during the Cold War. In addition, I argue that U.S. participation in this exhibition also reveals negotiations and redefinitions of the concepts of handcraft and arte popular, and the economic and social situation of their makers in the United States.     

West African Tradition in the Decoration of Colonial Jamaican Folk Pottery

In the early colonial period, Jamaican slaves manufactured pottery that incorporated traditional West African technology with selected European innovations. Recent examination of Afro-Jamaican wares from the seventeenth-century site of Port Royal suggests that the decorative elements are consistent with those that are in wide use among West African pottery traditions, particularly those of the Gold Coast (Ghana). Stamped designs prevail as the clearest example of this continuity. Potential Amerindian contributions to the Jamaican folk pottery industry during this period are considered and shown to be unlikely. The isolation of decorative traits demonstrates how certain craft elements of West African peoples were transported to the New World and integrated with other cultural traditions. It also corroborates the documentary record pertaining to the geographical origin of Jamaican slaves during the early colonial period.     

闽中民俗艺术奇葩──莆田民间版画采风纪实

文章在民间采风的基础上,对大量莆田民间版画作了初步的归纳,指出莆田民间版画虽内容多封建色彩,但在制作、印刷、用色等诸多方面对当今的版画创作仍具有借鉴和参考价值。     

近年来民间信仰问题研究的回顾与思考:社会史角度的考察

民间信仰问题是当前社会史研究中的一个重要领域,其研究取得一定的成绩,使得民间信仰成为了深入理解中国传统社会的一个很好的突破口。当然,研究中也存在诸多不足,最主要的问题是概念运用的随意性太大。在研究方法上,一方面受到了包括社会人类学、社会学、民俗学等诸多学科的影响,另一方面传统的史学研究方法也应得到重视。     

民俗类博物馆与非物质文化遗产展示

本文结合河南省安阳市民间艺术博物馆近年来的工作实践,就当下非遗保护展示在综合类博物馆中展示位置日益靠前的普遍现象,论述民俗类博物馆在非遗保护、研究、收藏、尤其是展示中应该发挥的重要作用.     

从陶瓷观音造像看观音信仰的中国化

从历代陶瓷观音造像题材、样式与风格的变迁中不难看出,观音信仰自传入中国起便不可避免的开始经历本土化的调整与适应,杂糅了儒、道两种信仰,混合了多种世俗文化因素,最终形成独具特色的中国观音信仰体系。本文通过梳理宋元明清的陶瓷观音造像及相关问题,研究观音信仰在中国的传播过程及发展脉络。     

Eco-sites,Song Traditions and Cultural Heritage in the Lower Yangzi Delta

This study explores the struggle to preserve both the cultural heritage and the eco-sites associated with heritage in one of the most affluent and economically developed regions in China. In the twenty-first century, the introduction of global norms deriving from UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage and World Heritage Sites has led to a series of measures at the local level to preserve items of cultural heritage that are likely to vanish due to the accelerated pace of development in the lower Yangzi delta. This study focuses particularly on Wu Songs, the traditional songs of delta populations, now entered into the national register for Intangible Cultural Heritage. Wu Songs were associated with labour in the rice paddies and travel along the waterways. The rice paddies and waterways were both essential elements of the traditional ecosystem, but are now imperilled in various ways by the impact of modernisation and globalisation. Issues of heritage value arise in different forms in the more affluent regions of China. As argued here, contention between ethnographers, land developers and municipal authorities, as well as commercial land use imperatives, dominate the conservation of eco-sites and Intangible Cultural Heritage in the delta region.     

Echoing the Environment in Kam Big Song

Kam big song is an important genre sung within Kam (in Chinese, Dong) minority communities in southeastern Guizhou, China. It has traditionally served as a medium for transmitting historical, philosophical and ecological knowledge. Since the 1978 reforms, this region of Guizhou has been increasingly drawn into the national labour economy and has experienced a surge in economic development. The ensuing youth migration to urban centres, growing school attendance rates, and a marked rise in television viewing have led to a decline in Kam singing amongst younger generations. Nevertheless, in recent years certain forms of big song have featured increasingly in staged Kam cultural performances intended for broader audiences. Kam big song was recognised as a form of National Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) in 2006, and was included on UNESCO's Representative List of the ICH of Humanity in 2009. This study draws upon various big songs that I learnt during almost twenty-four months of musical research in rural Kam regions from 2004 to 2011. It illustrates the cultural and ecological significance of this musical tradition, and the importance and complexities of its maintenance at a time of social transformation.     

晚清中国商业行会对洋商的“停交”抵制活动——基于经济和法律的视角

晚清时期,在中西商贸领域,频频出现由华商商业行会倡导的对洋商的"停交"抵制活动.该种抵制活动,通常源于洋商破坏商事惯例及交易则例、赖欠货款、欺行霸市等损坏华商利益的行为,有时也因华洋商人分割市场、侵夺商利的市场竞争而起.它其实是一种扩大化的华洋商事纠纷形态,在特定历史背景下也成为华洋商事纠纷的一种独特解决路径.而其在中西商务交往过程中的实践和运作,从经济层面来看,是当时中国被强行融入资本主义世界经济体系过程中华洋市场仇恨的一种表征;从法律层面来看,则是中国商人藉本土商事习惯法与洋商进行斗争的一种自救行为.