表征、关系、资本——媒介地理学视角下乡村网红民宿的生成逻辑

Representation,Relation,Capital:The Logic of Making of Internet-Famous Rural Homestay from the Perspective of Geographies of Media and Communication

近年来,乡村民宿成为我国促进旅游地转型升级和实现乡村振兴战略的新业态。在互联网上拥有高曝光度和知名度、口碑良好、风格鲜明的网红民宿受到游客的追捧,在网红民宿“打卡”成为媒介化社会典型的旅游现象。文章在传播地理学这一新兴交叉学科的启发下,将新媒体的属性提炼为表征、关系、资本3个维度,并以此为理论框架分析乡村网红民宿的生成逻辑,探讨媒介化时代的旅游体验。研究选取“黄河宿集”这一典型案例,通过对民宿经营者、游客、本地居民、本地从业者等群体的深度访谈以及非参与式观察,结合网络资料展开分析。研究发现,新媒体的多重属性使得“游客-民宿-乡村”之间的两两关系均产生变化,在新媒体的介入下,地方转变为景观;民宿成为游客展演的舞台;乡村被再生产为契合城市中产阶级想象与审美需求的“自然”。文章揭示了新媒体对旅游体验和目的地复杂的影响,反思了新媒体介入下乡村旅游面临的新挑战。

In recent years,rural homestays have become the new driving force for upgrading rural tourism destinations and rural revitalization.Homestays with high exposure on the Internet,good reputation,and distinctive style are called Internet-famous homestays and are sought after by tourists.Taking the perfect Wechat Moments snap at an Internet-famous homestay has become a common tourism phenomenon in the mediatized society.The extant study on the Internet-famous rural homestays mainly focused on the marketing strategy and its effect and did not pay attention to the structural factors that resulted in the popularity of Internet-famous rural homestays and the huge changes in tourism experience resulting from the convergence of new media and tourism.The emerged interdisciplinary subject so-called geographies of media and communication indicate that media is not only the representation of content but also a spatial organization,which participates in the whole process of meaning-making,relationship construction,and resource allocation of the space.This paper analyzes the attributes and functions of new media from the three dimensions,namely representation,relation,and capital.Based on a typical case called“Huanghe Suji”,which is an Internet-famous rural homestays cluster located in the city of Zhongwei,Ningxia,this study attempts to reveal the complex logic regarding the making of Internet-famous rural homestays as well as the change of tourism experience under the intervention of new media.Data were collected mainly through in-depth interviews with homestay managers,tourists,residents,local tourism staff,and other interest groups.The author also used non-participatory observation and data such as relevant reports,and photos from the Internet.The study finds that the new media takes the rural homestay as the intermediary to shape the landscape into a“spectacle”.As Guy Debord pointed out in Society of the Spectacle,people in the postmodern society have been obsessed with the representation of reality.The most important reason that these homestays in“Huanghe Suji”become famous via the Internet is that they look perfect under the lens.These homestays are designed for the camera rather than for staying.Moreover,this study finds that tourists are attracted to this place due to beautiful photos,and their main activity in this space is taking pictures.They either hire a professional photographer or use highend cameras to capture the scenery.Tourists share these photos on social media and interact with friends instantly.Social media has changed the journey into a“personal film”and built the rural area as a stage for performance.Thirdly,according to the political economy of the media,the ownership and use of media also indicate the power relations of society.To meet the imagination of tourists,the rural area has been reproduced.Although certain plants and animals are not local,they are selected to decorate the space.Tourists from the urban use social media more skillfully than people in the rural area.As Gerhard Rainer pointed out,“nature”is reproduced according to the tastes and needs of the urban middle class.Tourism in the mediatized society is the product of the mutual construction of new media and space.New media expands the physical space,constructs new interpersonal relationships and humanplace relationships,and creates symbolic capital to shape the space.This paper reveals the complex impact of new media on tourism experience and destination and critically reflects on the new challenges faced by rural tourism in the mediatized society.