從「道地」到「對道地的想像」：媒介社會中一種社會自我觀察的可能起點

From "Authenticity" to the "Imagination of Authenticity": An Alternative Point of Departure for Society's Self-Observation

何謂「道地」（authenticity）？「道地」（或不道地）的論述又是從何而來？如果道地與否關乎的是主觀感受，而非客觀標準的話，那麼試圖從客觀角度來檢視道地與否的問題具有何種意涵？如果僅將道地與否簡化為社會建構的產物，那麼我們如何理解人類社會從古至今在不斷想要釐清、爭辯、解決道地與否之問題上的努力？本文將從Charles Taylor 對「本真性」的討論出發，輔以班雅明、David Harvey等人的論述，最後則以Vattimo 有關「透明社會」的討論，試圖論述以下觀點：這個時代也許不需要「道地」，我們只需要有對道地的「想像」。本文也將論述，日常生活社會本身具有的道地性，在速度吊詭所開展的辯證過程中，也加深、增廣了對道地之想像的需要。更甚者，社會越是有對道地進行觀察與描述的需要，就越有可能生產出不道地的論述，並且透過不道地的論述來認識道地性。假如社會中不存在純然的道地性，或者我們不再有機會觸及道地性，為什麼我們仍必須將其視為日常生活與社會中重要的面向？我們對道地的想像又是如何關連於社會對自身的觀察與描述呢？

What is "authenticity"? Why do we need "authenticity"? How do people know whether it is authentic or not? The questions mentioned above are concerned with the relationships between people, people and society, and connect closely to how people and society understand themselves. The experience of authenticity/inauthenticity implies not only subjective knowing but also objective formation and understanding of it. This essay examines the concept of authenticity and its opposite, and suggests an alternative to access it. Through the lens of Charles Taylor, Walter Benjamin, David Harvey, we extract some shared thoughts among their discussion of the concept of authenticity/inauthenticity. At the last part of this article we suggest that, pace Gianni Vattimo's questioning of the "transparency" of modern/media society, there is no need to find or to testify "authenticity", rather there exists and requires only the "imagination" of it. To a great extent influenced by technological advancements it is not unnecessary to access authenticity, instead the requirement of it has been broadens and deepens than ever before. The more we need to pursue authenticity, the more we fall into the production of inauthentic discourses. This will be another starting point in nderstanding how modern society describes and observes itself.