Cultural Expression And Emotional Production In The Process Of Commercialization Of Old Objects

Based on the current social context,modern folklore studies have incorporated the daily practices and cultural creations of ordinary people into the research field and launched a series of discussions.Among them,material culture,as one of the entry points for folklore studies to focus on the living world,has received increasing attention from scholars in recent years.However,compared with archaeology and anthropology,the study of material culture from the perspective of folklore has not yet formed a mature research paradigm,and most of the existing studies take folklore artifacts as figurative representations of folk customs in a certain region,or discuss the issue of decontextualization of objects in the context of non-heritage.Insufficient attention has been paid to the process of everydayization and de-everydayization of objects and their associated human-object relations.This paper selects an old object base in Tianjin with a long history of collection and rich antique resources as a field site,and focuses on the daily practices of the old object team centered on the used object,presenting the logical path of reshaping and reproducing the cultural connotation of the old object after it is removed from its original context,and using it to reflect on the issues related to material culture.It should be added that the object of this paper is different from antiques and curiosities and is similar to the concept of "folk furniture".Specifically,it refers to objects that were once made and used by people on a daily basis mainly wooden products such as wooden tables,cabinets,boxes and boxes.The commodification and resourcefulness of folk culture is a relatively common phenomenon in contemporary society.Along with the social trend of nostalgia and nostalgia,old objects that used to be regarded as scraps are re-entering the lives of urbanites with new identities.As a mediator connecting the original owners and consumers of old objects,the used goods team plays a key role in this process.The study found that there are three parts to the cultural reproduction of old objects with the used object team as the main body of action: the first part is the recycling process of used objects,i.e.,the selection and definition of old objects.In this stage,objects move from the countryside to the city in terms of space,and change from tangible objects that can be marked down to commodities with cultural value in terms of meaning.This stage is the starting point for constructing the value of old objects and laying the foundation for the subsequent reproduction;the second part is the restoration process of old objects,i.e.the emotional value of old objects.In this paper,"restoration" is not a technical task,but has a process orientation,i.e.,an emotional exchange with the old object through direct sensory experience.This provides the material for the cultural narrative of the dealer and his interaction with his guests;the last stage is the sale of the old objects,where the consumer is also present.The trading of used items differs from the ordinary sale of goods in that in the absence of a numerical price tag or even a clear pricing standard,the sale between the merchant and the guest takes place in a more complex intellectual interaction and production.At this stage,the cultural value of old objects is recognized and eventually flows into the market as part of the aestheticized life of the public.Taking the process of cultural transformation of old objects as an entry point,this study attempts to break through the structuralist and symbolic-functionalist paradigms of material culture research and explore the emotional connection between people and objects from individual perception,imagination and daily life experiences.In this idea,emotion is not just a private mental state,but a cultural fact that can be described and concretized.In particular,emotions embedded in objects can be seen as a way for people to find certainty and construct sustainable lifestyles.Such a discussion of issues can provide a new possible path for modern folklore studies to focus on contemporary people’s lifestyles and logic of life.