ABSTRACT

Looking back on completed fieldwork for interdisciplinary research exploring the discursive construction of luxury by those producing and promoting it, I noticed that I – a putative expert in consumer culture – had my own sense of self, critical distance and belonging challenged and negotiated by the object of study. This paper theorises reflexivity in luxury research, showing how luxury worked on me while I worked on luxury. I present a conceptual framework for reflexivity in luxury research using Stuart Hall’s classic model of decoding: oppositional-critical, negotiated-playful and hegemonic-aspirational. First, the researcher may act as an outsider who rejects luxury; second, the researcher may experience the pleasurable workings of luxury marketing strategies, and finally researchers may explore the possibilities of luxury acquisition. These shifting positions in critical distance highlight researcher authority, neoliberal power and the role of reflexivity in interdisciplinary luxury research.

摘要

回顾已完成的跨学科研究实地调查，探索奢侈品的生产者和推广者对奢侈品的话语建构，我注意到我——一个公认的消费文化专家——有我自己的自我意识、批判距离和归属感，受到对象的挑战和协商研究。这篇论文对奢侈品研究中的反身性进行了理论化，展示了当我从事奢侈品研究时，奢侈品是如何影响我的。我使用斯图尔特·霍尔 (Stuart Hall) 的经典解码模型为奢侈品研究中的反身性提出了一个概念框架：对立-批判、协商-嬉戏和霸权-抱负。首先，研究者可能扮演排斥奢侈的局外人；其次，研究人员可能会体验奢侈品营销策略的愉快运作，最后研究人员可能会探索奢侈品收购的可能性。