Author: Linjun Yuan

Bourdieu, P. (2010) Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste. London: Routledge Classics. English Verison Bourdieu’s Distinction is a milestone in sociology and cultural studies. He argues that “taste” is not a matter of individual preference but a mechanism of social differentiation. Through extensive empirical research, Bourdieu shows how different social classes engage…

English Version 1. Research QuestionWhat food best represents Chengdu? 2. MethodThis round used a card game with food cards and emotion cards. The approach works as a cultural probe, designed to trigger participants’ memories, imaginations, and emotions through play and visual association. 3. Materials 4. Execution 5. Participant Outputs Food choices and statements: Filtering and…

English version In the first round of interventions, I worked with stakeholders to identify and debate Chengdu’s cultural symbols: hotpot, pandas, teahouses, mahjong, night markets… These elements already reflect ways of living. But to move from “cultural perception” to “fashion identity,” I needed to take a crucial next step—Cultural Translation into Fashion Language. The core…

In Intervention 2, I intentionally chose a group made up entirely of people who were born and raised in Chengdu. Unlike the previous round, where the conversation reflected the clash and dialogue between locals and outsiders, this time I wanted to shift the focus inward—to the lived and embodied experience of local residents. Locals are…

English Version After running the first mixed-group intervention (locals + non-locals), I decided to hold another round of the card game exclusively with Chengdu locals. The goal was simple: if “Chengdu identity” is defined only by locals themselves, would the hierarchy of cultural symbols look different? Quick Recap of the Rules Result 1: Chengdu’s Top…

English version After completing the first round of the card game intervention, I gathered and organized the cultural symbols and points of tension that emerged from stakeholders’ open discussions. What I ended up with was more than just a “list of Chengdu elements”—it was a record of collective negotiation, showing how local culture is layered…

English Version In the final stage of the card game, I introduced a new layer to the research—Cultural Dislocation. The idea was to push participants out of their familiar local lens and ask them to reimagine Chengdu’s cultural symbols from the perspective of an “outsider,” someone who had never actually been to Chengdu. Why this…

English Version When I finally brought the card game into a real setting, the atmosphere turned out to be far livelier than I had imagined. I had set up the space with a spread of Chengdu-style food—hotpot bubbling at the center, sweet dan hong gao (egg pancakes) on the side—so participants could walk around, taste,…

English Version In my first blog, I raised a core question: What kind of fashion identity does Chengdu need? To answer this, relying on a researcher’s subjective judgment is far from enough. Cultural symbols in Chengdu aren’t one-dimensional—they live in everyday stories and collective memories. That’s why I needed a way for stakeholders to express…