主管单位:中国科学技术协会
主办单位:中国地理学会
承办单位:华东师范大学

World Regional Studies ›› 2022, Vol. 31 ›› Issue (5): 1070-1082.DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.1004-9479.2022.05.2021001

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The making of geographical imagination in the Web2.0 context ——A case study of the webcomics "Polandball"

Songmin LIANG1(), Chen LIU1(), Jun OUYANG2   

  1. 1.School of Geography and Planning, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China
    2.School of Geography, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, China
  • Received:2021-01-05 Revised:2021-04-26 Online:2022-09-15 Published:2022-09-15
  • Contact: Chen LIU

Web2.0环境中的地理想象建构及其机制研究

梁颂岷1(), 刘晨1(), 欧阳军2   

  1. 1.中山大学地理科学与规划学院,广州 510275
    2.华南师范大学地理科学学院,广州 510631
  • 通讯作者: 刘晨
  • 作者简介:梁颂岷(1997-),男,硕士研究生,研究方向为社会文化地理,E-mail: liangsm7@mail2.sysu.edu.cn
  • 基金资助:
    国家自然科学基金项目(42001152);广州市科技计划项目(202102020997)

Abstract:

Online prosumption platforms have been established for netizens in the Web2.0 era. Prosumers' digital practices can offer new materials for the analysis of geographical imagination. Previous studies on geographical imagination have provided nuanced understandings on how the results and processes of imagining specific places can reflect the power structure or produce place meanings by analyzing "texts". Few of them have focused on the geographical imagination or the geopolitical knowledge generated by the audience or consumers through investigations on popular cultures. These studies have overwhelmingly focused on how geographical knowledge is produced or represented by "texts" while ignoring the role of visual cultures (such as images and videos) in reproducing or reshaping people's geographical imaginations. Moreover, Web2.0 technology enables consumers to produce media texts and mediascapes and thereby combines the processes of production and consumption. In this context, the notion of "proesumption" is created. However, the prosumption practices have not received enough attention in the geographical imagination research by the global scholarship. Addressing these lacunas, this article aims to understand the prosumption process in the online space and its role in constructing daily geographical imagination. Drawing on both qualitative and quantitative analysis of the textual and visual contents of "Polandball" webcomics simultaneously produced and consumed by netizens in the "Bolanqiuba" community of Baidu Tieba, this article has sketched out how these comics represent the geographical knowledge of the world. Moreover, based on structured interviews, this article analyzes how the socio-political contexts produce geographical knowledge in both physical and digital spaces. Our research findings include: (1) the "Polandball" webcomics represent the world geography in a "center-periphery" structure; (2) prosumers constructed their geographical imaginations of different countries (regions) in the world based on the Chinese official view on the international relations in "Polandball" comics; (3) the construction mechanism of geographical imagination in the "Polandball" comics is a prosumption practice based on interaction.

Key words: geographical imagination, online prosumption, Web2.0, "Polandball" comics, internet meme

摘要:

Web2.0环境为网民提供了线上产消(即网络文化生产与消费相结合)的平台,其产消结果为地理想象研究提供了新素材。研究基于地理想象的相关理论,以百度贴吧“波兰球吧”为案例,通过对网络漫画“波兰球”进行内容分析,并对“波兰球吧”用户展开结构化访谈,探讨线上产消者在“波兰球”漫画中建构的全球地理想象特征及其机制。研究认为:产消者通过“波兰球”漫画表征世界地理,建构了关于全球地缘关系的“中心-边缘”结构的地理想象;产消者基于中国的本土视角在漫画中建构世界各国(地区)的地理想象;产消者在“波兰球”漫画中的地理想象建构机制是一种基于互动的产消实践。

关键词: 地理想象, 线上产消, Web2.0, “波兰球”漫画, 网络模因