How to treat the "shanzhai phenomenon"
"The term 'shanzhai' has gradually evolved from an economic behavior to a social and cultural phenomenon", which has attracted widespread attention and fierce debate.
Two opposing views each have their own say
Faced with the phenomenon of copycats, public opinion has two diametrically opposed views. Opponents regard the phenomenon of copycats as synonymous with fakeness and believe that copycats The essence of the phenomenon is piracy culture and gangster logic; praisers regard the phenomenon of copycats as a sign of the self-awareness of the grassroots class and an innovative force coming from the private sector. It challenges authority, resists the mainstream, and aims to check and balance.
Why do we draw opposite conclusions when faced with the same phenomenon? After careful analysis, it is not difficult to see that the root of the disagreement is that they all have different opinions: opponents focus on various copycat products, while praise Those who pay more attention to the cultural connotation of the copycat phenomenon.
Xia Xueluan, a professor at the Department of Sociology at Peking University, believes that to analyze the phenomenon of copycats, we must first distinguish between two concepts: one is copycat products such as copycat mobile phones, which essentially adopt other people’s core technologies; It should be an infringement, but copycat products do not use the trademarks of genuine products, which is actually taking advantage of legal loopholes. This is a manifestation of disordered market competition.
The other is "shanzhai culture". In the final analysis, Shanzhai culture is folk culture and grassroots culture, which is the result of the incompatibility between folk ideology and mainstream culture. In this sense, Shanzhai culture is actually a subculture and a manifestation of cultural diversity. However, it is not necessarily opposite to mainstream culture. On the contrary, it is a complementary form of mainstream culture.
The rise of "shanzhai" expresses the demands of the people to a certain extent
Pan Zhichang, director of the Institute of International Media at Nanjing University, believes that the rise of "shanzhai" reflects the current needs of ordinary people in Chinese society. Basic demands.
Internet commentator Lu Guoping believes that the formerly closed and authoritarian society suppressed the individual spirit of grassroots culture in the bud. Grassroots culture has no ability to compete with mainstream culture and has no opportunity to express its voice, while modern society With the integration of multiple cultures, grassroots culture has developed by leaps and bounds. In this relaxed cultural environment and background, Shanzhai culture naturally emerged as the times require.
Geng Xin, deputy director of the Japan Cross-Strait Relations Research Center, analyzed that society is currently in a period of rapid transformation, and the actual differences are becoming more and more extreme. Some people have lost confidence in using "reasonable and legal" methods, but do not have the courage to test the law themselves, so they use ridicule, soft methods, edge-breaking techniques, and vague norms to resist, while expressing their self-assertion. The Shanzhai phenomenon actually seeks to survive by disrupting the existing order, thereby calling for the establishment of a new order and even the emergence of a truly fair society.
When the channels for people to express their needs are not smooth enough, there is no outlet, or the outlet is too small, when a few people control and monopolize the outlet of public opinion, and when their thoughts and opinions cannot be recognized by the mainstream, they will inevitably have to Choose some channels.
The future of "shanzhai" depends on whether it can achieve self-innovation
The phenomenon of "shanzhai" originates from the imitation of successful brands, but this imitation is not simply plagiarism and imitation. Zhang Yiwu, a professor at the Chinese Department of Peking University, believes that Shanzhai is an unorthodox and comical imitation, an ironic copying of a brand. Imitation is not a bad thing. Any cultural creation is based on imitation. The domestic cultural industry has grown up against the backdrop of the increasingly mature global cultural industry and is a latecomer. If you want to strike later and turn defeat into victory, "copycatization" is one of the methods that must be adopted. Only by imitating first can we create better products. Therefore, it can be said that the copycat phenomenon is a necessary stage for the development of China's cultural industry.
Some scholars predict that there are only two development trends of the copycat phenomenon. One is from entertainment to comedy and then to extinction. This copycat phenomenon is just "garbage" covered with a gorgeous painting; the other is from entertainment to comedy and then to extinction. The first is to move away from imitation, move towards innovation, and eventually become the main body of market competition. This kind of copycat phenomenon is the "cultural journey of folk wisdom" with a bright future. Therefore, the future of the Shanzhai phenomenon depends on whether it can achieve self-innovation.
Reflection: What to learn from "copycats".
Today, the debate about the phenomenon of copycats continues. Being in favor of the phenomenon of copycats does not mean that fakes can escape punishment, and being opposed to the phenomenon of copycats does not mean that grassroots challenges to mainstream discourse will cease. The purpose is not to make a simple value judgment for the copycat phenomenon, but to constantly reflect on what can be learned from the popularity of the copycat phenomenon.
New things often sprout in the old system, and the disadvantages of the old system are often the nutrients for new things. As Hunan media person Zhou Dongfei said, those who gain the most from this discussion should be competitors of copycat products and copycat culture, as well as regulators of economic order and social and cultural order. The sudden rise of copycats is not due to the fact that the copycats themselves possess the invincible genes, or that the people suddenly change their attitudes or positions. The essential reason is that the economic, social, and cultural patterns have produced certain variations and gaps, and endogenous forces have contributed to the rise of Shanzhai. We see our own problems in the copycat phenomenon, and are not even ashamed to learn from some of its innovations. This is the attitude that mainstream, elite, and orthodox people should have when facing the copycat phenomenon. Only in this way can the negative impact of the copycat phenomenon be truly eliminated and the progress and improvement of the entire society be promoted. This is also the ultimate meaning and value of the copycat phenomenon.