差异求真——中国节日影像志和中国史诗影像志的理念与实践

Seeking Truth in Differences——The Theory and Practice of Visually Documenting Chinese Festivals and Chinese Epics Series

中国节日影像志和中国史诗影像志是我国从国家层面第一次发起的对节日和史诗进行影像摄制的重大研究工程。本文对这两项国家项目的基本情况、理念、方法进行梳理,综合阐释为“承认差异性真实”“注重影像场域”“让文化持有者发声”“以影音研究为导向”四种学术理念,并对其调查、记录、叙事、著录等方法进行了归纳和提炼,藉此提出影视人类学研究可借鉴的理念和方法。随着越来越多节日、史诗新资源、新类型的发现,该系列研究工作也在不断调整既定的理念和方法,这一循环论证的过程旨在表达对事实的尊重与对文化多样性的敬意。

The projects to document Chinese Festivals and Chinese Epics are the first systematic major research projects in China for recording traditional festivals and epics.Having been planned and implemented by Center for Ethnic and Folk Literature and Art Development,Ministry of Culture and Tourism,the projects aimed to reflect the current situation of festivals and epics objectively by recording the festivals and epics using high quality audio-visual technology.At present,more than 240 sub-research-groups and 2,000 experts and filmmakers have been involved in these two projects.Since the end of 2010 when the Chinese Festivals project was launched,not only has the structure for shooting festivals been explored,but also a large number of cultural events have been recorded.So far,more than 160 festivals have been included in the list for filming,which will result in more than 3,000 hours of raw video footage.The project to document Chinese Epics aims to record the epics and their related context by way of tracking and recording the epic artists.Up to now,more than 70 epics have been included in the list for the project,including classic heroic epics and endangered ethnic epics which are being discovered for the first time.This will result in more than 1,000 hours of video materials.This research aims to sort out the research situation of these two projects,and present some experiences and rules with regard to aspects of creating and researching visual anthropology.Firstly,the academic concepts for documenting festivals and epics have been sorted and classified comprehensively into four concepts:“acknowledging the differences in truth”,“paying attention to the field of filming”,“allowing cultural bearers have a voice”,and“taking the study of audio-video as guidance”.Among them,seeking“differences in truth”is the basis for implementing relevant academic ideas.The starting point of“differences in truth”is the concept of“relative truth”,and extending“relative truth”,which derives from a binary concept of“absolute truth”and“relative truth”,to the multi-dimensional and multi-faceted“differences in the truth”.This paper proposes that shooting objects is“multi-dimensional”,because they will present different aspects of the faces of different film makers or of different fields,and that this will also generate different interactive relationships.The result which the film makers obtained was a study of the“interaction”,but it was not a complete study of the object which was shot.For example,in the process of shooting an epic,both the villagers and the outsiders were shooting at the same time.In one scene of the ceremony,the villagers'film team could not shoot the ritual because of a taboo.So they only recorded the off-site images,whereas the outsider film team filmed the entire process of the ceremony.In the end,both pieces can be regarded as a record in the field.In other words,the different perspectives constitute the complete cultural record of the ceremony at this time.Therefore,the concept of“truth”in“differences in truth”matches the“interaction process between the researcher and the objects of the research”rather than the research object only.So,when the researchers completed the research of this interaction,was it absolutely compatible with external social fact?A“rigorous methodological training”in relevant disciplines and“deep and persistent fieldwork”(Cai,2014)can help to exclude some subjective interference.However,judgment on the degree of matching requires the recognition of a comprehensive community,and it should be noted that such“recognition”must be dynamic.In addition,Concerning“differences in truth”,there might be a possible debate—do such differences reflect a constant cultural tradition,or are they just a subtle individual difference in expression,behavior and psychology?Does the stable constant in the festivals and recitation of the epics remain unchanged?In the case mentioned in this article,the villagers'film team was unable to shoot due to the constraint of taboos—which reflects taboo ethics in their tradition.If we did not shoot from different perspectives,a special comparative perspective would be missing.When the artists and other members participating in the ceremony face the video camera of outsiders,is the content of the recited epic different?One record is not enough to explain the rule.However,researchers and video cameras are the variables of the current traditional cultural scene.When dealing with various variables,the local cultural system will generate a situation of strain.Then,we can ask,in what situation can the variables achieve equilibrium?This is another interesting perspective.This paper also sorts out the research methods of filming festivals and epics,and summarizes and extracts the methods of investigation,recording,narration and description.It emphasizes that field work is the basis for on-site investigation and in-depth interviews;puts forward recording methods,such as“integral recording”,“subject-object double-way recording”,“the coexistence of various narrations”and“natural oral narrative”,etc.With regard to the narration method,this paper proposes a narrative structure for filming festivals and epics,and also gives a further conclusion on the types of narrative based on Pang Tao's“descriptive structure”and“interpretative structure”.With regard to the method of description,this paper puts forward a method using folk custom characteristic from experience.If we think backwards about the purpose for designing these two projects,we can say that on one hand it is for the purpose of preserving cultural resources.On the other hand,it is to observe this“era”from the perspective of festivals and epics,and then find rules.Although these two projects have spanned a 10-year cycle and accumulated rich cultural memories,the selection of festivals and epics as recording angles is only one particular aspect of this era.In the face of the vast historical space and time,this kind of record from the perspective of individual,relatively static,and from one scene has its limitations.However,relatively speaking,it is just these individual,static and on-site images that constitute the final record which is collectively multi-dimensional,dynamic and covers multi-scenes.With constant testing through trial and error and adjustment,these different perspectives will eventually approach the truth of the facts.