‘Cottagecore’ and the Rise of the Modern Rural Fantasy“田園風”與現代鄉(xiāng)村幻想的興起

安妮塔·拉奧·卡希 譯/彭勵田 審訂/唐偉勝

A few weeks into lockdowns everywhere， a curious thing happened on Instagram feeds. More and more， they filled with images of pretty cottages adorned with climbers and flower-laden trellises1， soft-focus sunbeams streaming through dense foliage， dappled2 wooded pathways and earthy mushrooms growing in abandon， tea tables and picnics in shaded gardens near gurgling3 streams laden with homemade sourdough4 bread and scones5， soft cotton dresses with smocking and embroidered with strawberries and butterflies... part surreal， part escapist fantasy from the horrors around， and partly about taking control. The phenomenon had a hashtag—#cottagecore. It’s a trend that has slowly become the standout aesthetic of the year 2020.

As an aesthetic that romanticises the return to traditional bucolic6 attributes， cottagecore lays heavy emphasis on a mix of rural self-sufficiency and delicate décor， with a heavy dose of nostalgia. Ironically， for all its emphasis on the rural idyll and anti-modernity， it is largely played out on the internet—on Tumblr， Pinterest， Instagram and Facebook. The latter has at least a dozen pages dedicated to its various aspects.

At its heart， cottagecore hinges heavily on modern escapist fantasies， and posts are full of foraged mushrooms， long billowy dresses， gingham tablecloths， baskets of wildflowers， sourdough bread and mossy terrariums. There are babbling brooks surrounded by woodland， snails， beeswax candle-making， delicate doilies， farm animals， forest bathing and rustic simplicity.

“Cottagecore is all about the outdoors， slow living and often includes country houses. It’s a warm， cosy community full of nature， growing your own foods， spending time with pets， picnicking in the garden. Think Anne of Green Gables meets The Secret Garden，” says cottagecore practitioner Lucy Blackall， whose surroundings in Oxfordshire in the UK encompass the ideals of countryside living， and tie in perfectly with the cottagecore aesthetic.

Cottagecore， which is related to other nostalgia-driven aesthetics like ‘faeriecore’， ‘farmcore’ and ‘grandmacore’， has been around since 2018. However， in 2020， its popularity soared. Take Tumblr， where the hashtag #cottagecore saw a 153% jump in use while the number of likes for cottagecore posts rose by a staggering 500%.

By presenting isolation and staying home as romantic and even aspirational， does the cottagecore trend help make lockdown a less scary prospect？ Singapore-based artificial-intelligence company Quilt.AI—which uses AI to glean insights into human behaviour—recently analysed more than 300 Instagram posts with the hashtag cottagecore， and concluded that the top emotion was creativity （28%） followed by affection （19%） and solitude （10%）. It also studied 1.5 million unique searches across platforms of 2019 and 2020， and discovered nearly a 30% increase in search interest for gingham clothes and ‘milkmaid’ style.

Anthropologist and Quilt.AI co-founder Angad Chowdhry says cottagecore is indicative of a desire for simplicity and anti-modernity. “It is the equal and opposite reaction to the contamination7， helplessness and incoherence of our contemporary mise en scène.” Quilt.AI’s analysis also revealed that while a slew of wholesome， earthy symbols such as flowers， leaves， bees and mushrooms were generously used， the top emoji was that of sparkles signifying magic and wonder， and hinting that cottagecore holds a lot of meaning as a fantastical paradise.

Rural tranquillity

While cottagecore might have increased on social-media platforms， it has a more rooted sibling in homesteading， a lifestyle based on self-sufficiency and subsistence agriculture. The concept saw a resurgence in the 1960s and 70s but subsequently went below the radar—only to re-emerge in recent years， with hipster8 undertones， as proponents advocated adapting renewable energy technologies and growing heirloom vegetables， even if they didn’t necessarily live in rural locations.

Earlier this year， a new book， The Women’s Heritage Sourcebook was published， describing homesteading as “a lifestyle of self-reliance and sustainability， characterised by home gardening… and even the small-scale production of textiles， clothing， and craftwork.”

“It seems the pandemic has made some people consider the value of making their own goods [which] they maybe hadn’t thought about previously，” says Lauren Malloy， co-author of the book. “Maybe [it was] the disrupted supply chain or maybe it was slowing down and more time at home to explore homesteading or maybe both. Now is a great time to think about self reliance and some of the old， traditional skills that previous generations would have had.”

A big part of cottagecore and a return to traditional ways is about making clothes and sewing， as evidenced by the profusion9 of prairie-style dresses and aprons embroidered with natural motifs such as mushrooms， sprigs10 of flowers and butterflies posted on many of the social media platforms. In fact， practitioners not only design and sew their own whimsical dresses but also model and retail from their accounts. And then there are adjacent activities that could range from home-embroidered berets and bags to eco-printing and designing shawls， quilting patchwork blankets， and sharing knitting and crochet11 patterns.

And underlying the aesthetic is also a strong affinity to environmentalism， which ties in with attributes like self-care and thriftiness. “In our fast-paced society，” says Lauren Molloy， “the process of making， doing， feeling connected， has virtually been eliminated. We love the thought of slowing down， feeling connected and having the experience be meaningful”.

各地實行封閉措施幾周后，照片墻的推文中出現了一個奇怪的現象。人們越來越多地開始分享這樣的圖片：美麗的小屋裝飾著攀緣植物和布滿鮮花的格架;柔和的陽光透過茂密的樹葉;林間小徑光影斑駁;大地上蘑菇恣意生長;潺潺小溪旁，花園樹蔭下，茶桌和野餐布上擺滿自制的酸面包和司康餅;柔軟的縮褶棉布連衣裙，繡著草莓和蝴蝶……這些圖片既有一種超現實的風格，也有一種逃避恐怖周遭的幻想，還有一種希望掌控大局的意味。這種現象有一個標簽——田園風。這種潮流逐漸變成了2020年最突出的美學運動。

田園風給傳統(tǒng)鄉(xiāng)村特征的回潮賦予了浪漫氣息，這一美學尤其強調鄉(xiāng)村的自給自足和精致布置的相互融合，帶有濃厚的懷舊色彩。諷刺的是，盡管強調田園牧歌和反現代性，但田園風主要在互聯(lián)網上流行，包括湯博樂、拼趣、照片墻和臉書等。臉書上至少有十幾個頁面專門介紹田園風的各個方面。

從本質上講，田園風很大程度上源于現代逃避主義式幻想。網上帖子中滿是野采的蘑菇、飄逸長裙、方格桌布、野花籃子、酸面包和苔蘚微景觀生態(tài)瓶。有森林環(huán)抱的潺潺小溪，有蝸牛、自制蜂蠟蠟燭、精致飾墊、農場動物，還有森林浴和鄉(xiāng)村的質樸氣息。

“田園風意味著戶外、慢生活，通常還有鄉(xiāng)村房屋。在一個溫暖舒適又充滿自然氣息的地方，食物自給自足，與寵物共度時光，在花園里野餐。就像《綠山墻的安妮》與《秘密花園》的合體?！碧飯@風實踐者露西·布萊科爾說。她居住在英國牛津郡，那里的環(huán)境蘊含了鄉(xiāng)村生活的理想，與田園風美學完美契合。

田園風大約出現于2018年，與“仙女風”“農場風”和“奶奶風”等其他受懷舊驅動的美學相似。然而，2020年，它的受歡迎程度飆升。以湯博樂為例，田園風的話題標簽使用率上升了153%，而田園風的帖子點贊數則驚人地增長了500%。

田園風浪潮把隔離和居家描繪成浪漫甚至是夢寐以求的，這是否能讓封城變得不那么可怕？Quilt.AI是新加坡一家利用人工智能搜集分析數據以洞察人類行為的AI大數據科技公司，該公司最近分析了照片墻上300多條田園風標簽的帖子，發(fā)現其中最主要的情感為創(chuàng)造力（28%），其次是喜愛（19%）和孤獨（10%）。該公司還研究了2019年和2020年各個平臺上的150萬次單個搜索，發(fā)現人們對格子衣服和“擠奶女工”風格的搜索興趣增加了近30%。

Quilt.AI聯(lián)合創(chuàng)始人、人類學家安格德·喬杜里表示，田園風反映了人們對簡約和反現代性的渴望?！斑@是與當今世界呈現的環(huán)境污染、無助感和無秩序同等而又對立的一種反應。”Quilt.AI的分析還顯示，雖然大量使用健康、樸實的符號，如鮮花、葉片、蜜蜂和蘑菇，但排在首位的是象征魔法和奇跡的閃爍符，這暗示了田園風作為奇幻天堂具有多種含義。

鄉(xiāng)村的寧靜

田園風可能在社交媒體平臺上走紅，而它有一個植根于家庭農場的同胞，即一種基于自給自足和自給農業(yè)的生活方式。這一概念在20世紀60年代和70年代復蘇，但后來沒有引起什么動靜，只是近幾年又重新出現，頗有點兒趕時髦的味道，因為這個概念的支持者們提倡采用可再生能源技術，種植原種蔬菜，而他們自己不一定住在鄉(xiāng)村地區(qū)。

2020年年初，一本名為《婦女遺產資料》的新書出版了，該書將家庭農場描述為“一種自力更生和可持續(xù)發(fā)展的生活方式，其基本特點是家庭園藝……乃至小規(guī)模生產紡織品、服裝和工藝品”。

“這場疫情似乎使一些人開始考慮是否應該自己制作物品，此前他們也許從未這樣想過?！边@本書的合著者勞倫·馬洛伊說，“其原因可能是供應鏈中斷，也可能是生活節(jié)奏變慢且人們有更多時間在家探索家庭農場，或者這兩個原因都有。如今是個好時機去思考自力更生的生活方式，以及先輩們曾經有過的某些古老而傳統(tǒng)的技藝?！?/p>

田園風和回歸傳統(tǒng)方式的一個重要部分是制衣和縫紉，證據是很多社交媒體平臺發(fā)布了大量牧原風格的連衣裙和圍裙，上面繡有蘑菇、花枝和蝴蝶等自然圖案。事實上，這些實踐者不僅設計和縫制他們自己奇思妙想的服裝，還在他們的社交賬號里展示和銷售。此外，還開展一些相關活動，從家庭刺繡貝雷帽和包包，到生態(tài)印花和設計披肩、絎縫拼接毯子，以及分享各種針織圖案。

田園風美學的背后還有對環(huán)保主義的高度認同，兩者都有自食其力和勤儉節(jié)約等特征。勞倫·馬洛伊說：“在我們這個快節(jié)奏的社會中，親手制作、感受歸屬的過程幾乎已被淘汰。我們喜歡這種放緩節(jié)奏、感受歸屬、體驗意義的觀念?！? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? □

（譯者單位：江西師范大學外國語學院）